Newly created copper (ll) chloride leach vessel

[Ag and Au]

Greetings. I haven’t posted much lately because I have been spending copious time reading and studying the material in Hoke’s book and within the library of this wonderful forum. My chemicals have been safely locked up in my cabinets since Nov 2022, with them now eager to escape and get back to work (properly, this time).

This past winter has forced me to stop, study and think about my rookie mistakes from last year and how to now proceed correctly. I have accumulated quite a diverse collection of gold items from old commercial electronics and have (and still am) sorting them (and prepping them) into similar groups. I think we all can agree that refining trimmed gold fingers are a great place to start for a beginner. I have learned SO much from you guys, that I am now confident in utilizing my beginner skills once the weather improves here. Accordingly, I want to give back to this forum in any way I can, hence this post.

Here are photos of my newly created copper (ll) chloride leach (aka: AP, Acid Peroxide) weatherproof etching vessel and my weatherproof air bubbler. There are exactly 2000 grams of trimmed gold fingers (aka: edge connectors) removed from old, high-grade telecom and vintage Hewlett Packard equipment. I determined that 6 liters of HCL (~ 31 %) in a 5 gallon bucket will adequately cover the fingers. I am still undecided if I should use 0, 1 or 2 capfuls of H2O2 (3%) as an additional oxidizer to get things started.

Please feel free to critique and comment.

 

[Martijn]

Nice setup. Maybe let the pump draw in clean air? Be carefull sticking your nose in the bin when opening it after a while.
If you use H2O2, try to do so on clean copper, to avoid gold going in solution. It will precipitate back out on reactive metals like copper, so you won't loose anything if you keep it at 1 or 2 caps of H2O2.
you can make it without H2O2, and that is dissolve some copper oxide or carbonate in HCl and you will have the CuCl2 to get it going.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Greetings. I haven’t posted much lately because I have been spending copious time reading and studying the material in Hoke’s book and within the library of this wonderful forum. My chemicals have been safely locked up in my cabinets since Nov 2022, with them now eager to escape and get back to work (properly, this time).

This past winter has forced me to stop, study and think about my rookie mistakes from last year and how to now proceed correctly. I have accumulated quite a diverse collection of gold items from old commercial electronics and have (and still am) sorting them (and prepping them) into similar groups. I think we all can agree that refining trimmed gold fingers are a great place to start for a beginner. I have learned SO much from you guys, that I am now confident in utilizing my beginner skills once the weather improves here. Accordingly, I want to give back to this forum in any way I can, hence this post.

Here are photos of my newly created copper (ll) chloride leach (aka: AP, Acid Peroxide) weatherproof etching vessel and my weatherproof air bubbler. There are exactly 2000 grams of trimmed gold fingers (aka: edge connectors) removed from old, high-grade telecom and vintage Hewlett Packard equipment. I determined that 6 liters of HCL (~ 31 %) in a 5 gallon bucket will adequately cover the fingers. I am still undecided if I should use 0, 1 or 2 capfuls of H2O2 (3%) as an additional oxidizer to get things started.

Please feel free to critique and comment.

Looking good. How about a line from the box and outside?
You really do not need Peroxide at all.
Do you have some corroded copper to put in.
Or even put the corroded copper in some of your HCl for an hours or so.
Then use this as part of your initial HCl.

Or you could go directly, the Cupric Chloride will start itself.

Edit
Hmm late again

 

[Yggdrasil]

Greetings. I haven’t posted much lately because I have been spending copious time reading and studying the material in Hoke’s book and within the library of this wonderful forum. My chemicals have been safely locked up in my cabinets since Nov 2022, with them now eager to escape and get back to work (properly, this time).

This past winter has forced me to stop, study and think about my rookie mistakes from last year and how to now proceed correctly. I have accumulated quite a diverse collection of gold items from old commercial electronics and have (and still am) sorting them (and prepping them) into similar groups. I think we all can agree that refining trimmed gold fingers are a great place to start for a beginner. I have learned SO much from you guys, that I am now confident in utilizing my beginner skills once the weather improves here. Accordingly, I want to give back to this forum in any way I can, hence this post.

Here are photos of my newly created copper (ll) chloride leach (aka: AP, Acid Peroxide) weatherproof etching vessel and my weatherproof air bubbler. There are exactly 2000 grams of trimmed gold fingers (aka: edge connectors) removed from old, high-grade telecom and vintage Hewlett Packard equipment. I determined that 6 liters of HCL (~ 31 %) in a 5 gallon bucket will adequately cover the fingers. I am still undecided if I should use 0, 1 or 2 capfuls of H2O2 (3%) as an additional oxidizer to get things started.

Please feel free to critique and comment.

Many interesting things to do with these setups.
If it is closed with a gasket one can let it went outside.
One member built one with a vacuum diaphragm pump so he could have it inside.
With vacuum pump one can drop the air pump and let the atmospheric air be drawn through the Cupric Chloride.
So many options here.

 

[stella polaris]

Perhaps an idea to remove the iron handle, from the bucket, if you want to avoid iron in the AP.

Edit: It will rust hefty.

 

[Ag and Au]

Nice setup. Maybe let the pump draw in clean air? Be carefull sticking your nose in the bin when opening it after a while.

Yes and yes. Thank you.

Looking good. How about a line from the box and outside?
You really do not need Peroxide at all.
Do you have some corroded copper to put in.

Thank you. What do you mean by a line? I understand now - it will be an outdoor set up.
I have plenty of copper - what is the best way to corrode copper?
Yes, there are many options with this set up, but I will start simple and leave it outside for 1 - 2 weeks.

Perhaps an idea to remove the iron handle, from the bucket, if you want to avoid iron in the AP.

Good observation. It has already rusted from a previous batch. I will remove it and replace it with something non-metallic. Thanks.

​

 

[Yggdrasil]

Yes and yes. Thank you.


Thank you. What do you mean by a line? I understand now - it will be an outdoor set up.
I have plenty of copper - what is the best way to corrode copper?
Yes, there are many options with this set up, but I will start simple and leave it outside for 1 - 2 weeks.


Good observation. It has aleady rusted from a previous batch. I will remove it and replace it with something non-metallic. Thanks.

​

Easiest is to find some green Copper, next find some Copper in general and add a plash of water and Copper into a bucket
and a little HCl or salt and let it sit for a few days outside with a loose lid. It only need a wet bottom of the bucket.

 

[Ag and Au]

I created this small PVC test vessel (to drop into the same AP bucket) whereby I can determine the effect of the copper II chloride on four different items without fouling the solution. Please feel free to critique and comment.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I created this small PVC test vessel (to drop into the same AP bucket) whereby I can determine the effect of the copper II chloride on four different items without fouling the solution. Please feel free to critique and comment.

It is going to use the same liquid isn’t it?
So I don’t understand how you are containing things.
There is no point in over engineering unless it is for the fun of it.

 

[Ag and Au]

Yes, inside the same AP bucket as the fingers. So, this small PVC tube (with several holes in it) will contain 5 small gold plated items. I do not know the base metals underneath the gold plating, but they are not magnetic. I have many of these small items and wish to determine to what extent the copper II chloride dissolves their base metals (without running two AP buckets at the same time).

 

[Yggdrasil]

Yes, inside the same AP bucket as the fingers. So, this small PVC tube (with several holes in it) will contain 5 small gold plated items. I do not know the base metals underneath the gold plating, but they are not magnetic. I have many of these small items and wish to determine to what extent the copper II chloride dissolves their base metals (without running two AP buckets at the same time).

You still need to have enough AP to cover the cylinder.
Inside the other bucket?
Which means you will fouls all the AP if it gets fouled.
Which I do not believe, I have never had the AP being fouled by "fingers".
Better use small tall containers inside the bucket and apparatus.
This way you can run as many batches as you want and have air lines to.

 

[Ag and Au]

I am sorry - let me clarify. This small perforated "test cylinder" will contain 5 small samples inside of it. This "test cylinder" will simply be dropped into the same AP bucket with the trimmed fingers (perhaps sink to the bottom). The reason I am keeping the test sample size small is to prevent the unknown base metals causing problems (foul), not that the fingers foul the AP.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I am sorry - let me clarify. This small perforated "test cylinder" will contain 5 small samples inside of it. This "test cylinder" will simply be dropped into the same AP bucket with the trimmed fingers (perhaps sink to the bottom). The reason I am keeping the test sample size small is to prevent the unknown base metals causing problems (foul), not that the fingers foul the AP.

Well since the cylinder is in the same solution and the holes are there, there is not much difference between mixing them and keeping them separate.
You are makings things more complicated than they need to be.

 

[Ag and Au]

OK thank you, as always.

 

[Martijn]

I used a perforated transarent plastic pot for that reason, just to keep different materials apart and be able to wash it clean of foils in the AP.
It is helpfull to be able to watch the progress and reaction, like e.g. cementing of copper on pins, indicating their reactivity.

 

[Ag and Au]

I used a perforated transarent plastic pot for that reason, just to keep different materials apart and be able to wash it clean of foils in the AP.
It is helpfull to be able to watch the progress and reaction, like e.g. cementing of copper on pins, indicating their reactivity.

That is exactly what I was trying to say yesterday to Yggdrasil - but you explained it better than me. Thanks for helping me with my English

Also, of great interest to me is the small item in the PVC pipe picture (the 2nd item from the left; the crushed item with ceramic on top). I literally have several pounds of these and I wish to determine if the copper II chloride will fully digest the base metal and just leave the ceramic inside the PVC pipe (the gold will fall through the holes). What do you guys think?