Newbie needs help

[Chillin4life187]

Hello from NC. My name is Dave. I'm a new member bur have been kind of lurking and reading when and where time allows. I recently came across some old circuit boards that I gutted from some old TV sets and some other random stuff. From what I csn tell it has a thin layer of gold. Just trying to find a way to extract using household chemicals. I live in an apartment so I'm kind of limited on what I can do. Any help with these would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (as a low strength way of making acecitic acid) and have had very little luck other then turning it all into a slushy mess. What am I doing wrong? Of course I started with a small piece in a gladden jar just to see what woukd happen. As you can see circuit board has a layer of gold on it. And I have quite a few of those. Need your guys help...thank you in advance

 

[nickvc]

For gods sake do not do this in your apartment even household chemicals can create some highly toxic fumes and solutions that could cause serious damage to you your neighbors and even the building.

 

[goldshark]

In for a penny, in for a pound. If you are going to strip old CBs and such, you might as well do it right. In an apartment is not the place, unless you construct a fume hood with a fume scavenging scrubber on it, and follow all safety protocols. Don't know if you can do this in the particular unit, but if requirements for the safety of all cannot be met, don't do it. Be open and honest with the forum, before proceeding.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hello from NC. My name is Dave. I'm a new member bur have been kind of lurking and reading when and where time allows. I recently came across some old circuit boards that I gutted from some old TV sets and some other random stuff. From what I csn tell it has a thin layer of gold. Just trying to find a way to extract using household chemicals. I live in an apartment so I'm kind of limited on what I can do. Any help with these would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying vinegar and hydrogen peroxide (as a low strength way of making acecitic acid) and have had very little luck other then turning it all into a slushy mess. What am I doing wrong? Of course I started with a small piece in a gladden jar just to see what woukd happen. As you can see circuit board has a layer of gold on it. And I have quite a few of those. Need your guys help...thank you in advance

Welcome to us.
You obviously had not been lurking long enough when you broke out your chemicals and started.
Luckily we have what you need to get up to speed on what to do and what not to do.
The first thing to do is to pack down your stuff solutions, chemicals and material put it in a safe place,
hint: not inside a building containing people, pets or structures that may be harmed by corrosive gases.

Household chemical while relatively benign when used as intended,
the moment you dissolve metals into them become toxic and a reason for concern.
Vinegar is low strength acetic acid, but have NO use in recovery and refining.

Another thing is that the circuit boards you show pictures of is Copper plated not Gold plated.
All the values will be inside the components attached to the board.

Her is what you need to study:

We ask our new members to do 3 things.
1. Read C.M. Hokes book on refining jewelers scrap, it gives an easy introduction to the most important chemistry regarding refining.
It is free here on the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=19798
2. Then read the safety section of the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/forums/safety.47/
3. And then read about "Dealing with waste" in the forum: https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/dealing-with-waste.10539/

Suggested reading:
https://goldrefiningforum.com/forums/the-library.101/
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/when-in-doubt-cement-it-out.30236/
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threa...le-read-this-before-you-post-about-ore.33333/


Forum rules is here.
https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/gold-refining-forum-rules.31182/

 

[Chillin4life187]

All the chemicals are stored and were used outside I just brought in the jar to take a picture. I do have an outside patio. Just rather small. Thank you for the resources. I will begin reading. I know it has a reddish tint to it bur the actual boards are shiny yellow
Are they really copper? Never seen yellow copper before but I suppose their is a first time for everything.

 

[Yggdrasil]

All the chemicals are stored and were used outside I just brought in the jar to take a picture. I do have an outside patio. Just rather small. Thank you for the resources. I will begin reading. I know it has a reddish tint to it bur the actual boards are shiny yellow
Are they really copper? Never seen yellow copper before but I suppose their is a first time for everything.

If there is a really important reason to use Gold it may be used, if not,
it is not used as it will make no economic sense to select a exceptionally more expensive material than needed.
Copper traces covered with solder mask often look like Gold.