Electrochemistry My Ugly Anode

[rusty]

How this 25 pounder came to be, I could not lift the crucible from the furnace and had no choice other than to let it cool then break the crucible away leaving this very ugly heavy chunk of copper to deal with.

I originally drilled some holes into the top of the anode so that I could attach some heavy copper wires to suspend the anode in the cell but soon figured it would not hold for the duration.

Decided it would be a better idea to machine a lug then cross drill the lug to insert my copper wires.

The anode is now under 10 lbs, pulled it this afternoon to clean the mud from the cell.

Previous observations showed a concave pocket had developed on the underside of the anode, this afternoon I noticed that a very perfect hole corresponding to the machined lug directly above has now appeared.

The hole is very clean and perfectly round for the entire depth, it looks that it had been drilled.

 

[Anonymous]

Lol.....I think you accidently put the wrong pic Gill.

 

[rusty]

Lol.....I think you accidently put the wrong pic Gill.

The crude hand drawn picture was supposed to represent the anode as it appeared before and after. I have now uploaded actual pictures of the anode to replace the drawing.

 

[qst42know]

Those black slimes are your values then?

I would guess the hole is the only spot the slimes wouldn't stick, perhaps a fizzing bubble burrowed into your anode?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow Gill,that is impressive!

 

[Smack]

How this 25 pounder came to be, I could not lift the crucible from the furnace and had no choice other than to let it cool then break the crucible away leaving this very ugly heavy chunk of copper to deal with.

Rusty, anything in your crucible should just fall out after it cools because it shrinks. Sounds like you need a better crucible, as it should have been shaped to prevent your charge from being stuck when cooled.

Also, the black powder on your anode may be values cementing out.

 

[rusty]

Those black slimes are your values then?

If your anode contains gold the slimes sloughing off will be brown, silver and metals from the platinum group are black.

 

[Dr. Poe]

Rusty, if you can weld, or acquire the funds, you should have a tilting furnace. 25 lbs of copper dore' plus the weight of the crucible and of the flux is a lot to handle when it's molten. Take it from this old man; get lazy, be safe, convert to a tilting furnace. Dr. Poe :|

 

[rusty]

Rusty, if you can weld, or acquire the funds, you should have a tilting furnace. 25 lbs of copper dore' plus the weight of the crucible and of the flux is a lot to handle when it's molten. Take it from this old man; get lazy, be safe, convert to a tilting furnace. Dr. Poe :|

I had a very large clay graphite crucible which as you say in itself was heavy, tired of looking at it decided it was time to part company with it.

Yes my next furnace will definitely be a tilting one, last year I had a smaller crucible break spilling 8 lbs of molten copper onto the ground dispatching into thousands of tiny beads.

I would be the first to admit my furnace is poorly designed.

 

[rusty]

The hole is through lucky I caught it before my copper conductor wires were totally eroded away, my anode would have dropped to the bottom of the cell. New wires attached along with a safety net making this a no fishing zone.


Looking closely at the anode you can see the various colors of the other metals alloyed in with the copper.

 

[Photobacterium]

UGLY ?

i think that thing is a Work of Art. seriously, it's cool-looking.

 

[butcher]

Are you bagging the anode , or just relying to recover sludge from the bottom of your cell?
from the looks at your califlower cathode on the other page the copper anode must be of a high percentage of copper (if these two are related from the same cell).

 

[rusty]

Are you bagging the anode , or just relying to recover sludge from the bottom of your cell?
from the looks at your califlower cathode on the other page the copper anode must be of a high percentage of copper (if these two are related from the same cell).

Yes the cathode on the other thread is related to this anode, no bagging.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

Rusty,

Do you have your annode and cathode at the same level in your solution or is your cathode lower causing the anode to deplate from the center first?

 

[kjavanb123]

What was the source material to make this Dore bar?

 

[rusty]

What was the source material to make this Dore bar?

Copper pins from IC's plus soldered elbows from refrigeration and air conditioners,

 

[pinwheel]

What is getting pulled out of the ac's above the copper?

 

[niteliteone]

What is getting pulled out of the ac's above the copper?

Silver from the silver solder or brazing filler connecting the joints.