Mini AP Setup

[nivrnb]

To all,

I just wanted to post my small setup of the AP process. Things seems to be going well just very slowly. Thanks to the many great posts on this forum.

nivrnb

 

[TXWolfie]

That looks really nice, and I can see your a very tidy person. I finally got a job after a while of looking and waiting but I start in October and then I can start buying all the neat lil toys of my new found hobby. Till then gonna keep reading and taking notes and building a work area for myself and collecting.

 

[nivrnb]

TXWolfie,

Thanks for the kind words, I hope all goes well with your new job. I have been reading and search on DIY lab things and it is real simple to make your own lab out of common day things. Would love to see you setup when you done.

Below is some pics of the copper sulfate drop. I don't know if people want to see this or not but it sure is neat experimenting.

nivrnb

 

[Palladium]

Below is some pics of the copper sulfate drop.
nivrnb

I think you mean copper metal drop don't you. Copper sulfate is a salt, not a metal. What you have here is copper metal.

 

[nivrnb]

Palladium,

Yes, copper metal thank you for the correction. I am supprised at how much came out of the wash solution.

nivrnb

 

[Geo]

its very fluffy in that state. once its washed and dried it will take up alot less volume.

 

[Shaul]

That's a nice setup. I've got a couple of those suction bottles myself, with those exact same rubber stoppers. What kind of tubing are you using in the rubber stoppers, glass or plastic?
Also, I hope those aren't edible plants in the background. Acid fumes can sure ruin the taste of your herbs and vegetables.

Shaul

 

[nivrnb]

Geo,

I see what you mean, It looks like alot of metal and I am in the process of drying it.

Shaul,

I am using glass in the rubber stopper. Thanks for the advice about the plants, I have Bonsai but they are about five feet away. I hope I haven't damaged them. :shock: This is one of the reasons I have to go with a smaller setup because of the fumes.

nivrnb

 

[seawolf]

Run a tube to a second flask filled half full of NaOH solution with the glass tube close to the bottom this will neutralize the fumes coming of the first flask.
Mark

 

[nivrnb]

seawolf,

Thanks for your tips on neutralizing the fumes. I don't have that many fingers to do that yet. On the next phase of the motherboards I will have to do.

Here are some photos of my update, things are going slowly and I believe I have lost some gold in the solution due to much H202 (peroxide). But not lost yet from reading, If I place copper into the dark AP solution (almost black) it should make it saturated with copper and push out the gold to black powder. I think I have a better understanding of the AP method and can see the solutions on a smaller scale.

When I am finished will post the weight of the used fingers to gold ratio. At the moment I have recovered 2.1g, thanks to this forum.

 

[nivrnb]

During this process, I have made some improvements. One was then I was taking out the material I would use tap water in a spray bottle to take off loose foils. And I noticed that the wash water would add up. So what I started doing was reusing the wash water to just washing and placing foils into a filter.

More photos.

 

[RESET]

I like this setup. With the amount of scrap that I can get my hands on, I think Mini is about as big as I will need. Consider this setup copied. Keep up the good work and Thank you for posting.

 

[dtectr]

I think those are the cleanest solid foils I have ever seen! Great work on your attention to detail.
dtectr

 

[nivrnb]

I like this setup. With the amount of scrap that I can get my hands on, I think Mini is about as big as I will need. Consider this setup copied. Keep up the good work and Thank you for posting.

Reset, yes I only have about 2 lbs of fingers, plus this is my first time attempting this. On the forum I was reading that fingers are a good thing to start with and are the easiest to recovery. Thanks for the encouragement, wishing you success on your process.

I think those are the cleanest solid foils I have ever seen! Great work on your attention to detail.
dtectr

dtectr, thank you for you comments. When I looked at the photos after I had taken it. I had to go back and look again, it was a lucky photo, everything was right the light hit it just right.

 

[travis86]

Below is some pics of the copper sulfate drop. I don't know if people want to see this or not but it sure is neat experimenting.

nivrnb

I care to see them! You have some nice clean foils so far. Im a newb at this and like you clean setup and might copy it. Are you using just a regular off the shelf fish tank air bubbler?

 

[nivrnb]

travis86,

I need to change the copper sulfate drop to copper metal drop I made a mistake. Yes, I am using just a plain fish tank air bubbler I picked up at Salvation Army awhile back. What I need to do so that the AP doesn't splash as much is to take out the glass tube, and just run the tubing into the solution. Heat the end of the tube closed and place pin holes in the tube so that the solution gets oxygen. Hope this helps.

nivrnb

 

[Geo]

if you just poke a pin or needle through the tube it will close up and no air will come through, you will have to heat the pin and melt the holes through the tube.

 

[travis86]

The air bubbler helps gold foils from being dissolved by the ap? How does it accomplish this?

 

[nivrnb]

Travis,

I beleive Palladium sums it up nicely,

Once you drop the Copper from ap with steel your solution is spent. The thing to do is if your solution is saturated and the volume has increased from hcl additions or H2O2 is to pour off some of the spent solution and add steel to precipitate the copper. Then you can take the left over solution that you didn’t add steel to and add fresh hcl and bubble air through it to use it again. Or you take fresh hcl and take a cup of your old solution before steel is added and pour it into the new hcl to jump start your reaction. By doing this you don’t have to add any peroxide to jump start the process. All you have to do is add air after that to keep the reaction going. This reduces your overall volume of solution. The only reason you use peroxide in the first place is to oxidize the copper to oxide so the hcl can dissolve it. Once copper is in solution the air from your aquarium bubbler takes over and it supplies the necessary oxygen from the air to keep the reaction going. You can actually start with just hcl and air but the progress will be slow at first until the copper concentration picks up in the solution. Fresh acids don’t always mean faster rates. In this instance the more copper in solution the better because your etch rate will pick up considerably. The only thing that governs the etch rate at that point is the free hcl that exist in the solution. Most people don’t use their ap to completion because they think it is saturated to much. A gallon of hcl will hold about 3 lbs of copper. Not other metals, copper! I love mine saturated and plenty of air.

 

[travis86]

O, ok thanks!