Bought 1 pentium pro ran a test to check yield. Used hcl/per method, Broke up the processor put it in a beaker with solution on hotplate overnight. This morning checked it.All gold removed expected to see foil. Nothing. Pins and plate all bare. No foil present. I have done a ton of boards this way with sucess. Wonder if this leached all gold into solution. Shouldnt have but where would it have gone.Suggestions?
pentium pro test !! puzzled!!
- Thread starter shel8483
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philddreamer
Well-known member
Did you stannous test your solution?
Phil
Phil
Geo
Well-known member
the gold is probably stuck to the pins where it cemented back out after it dissolved.also, did you rub a place where the plating was? use a soft cloth and rub the side of one row of pins to see if the gold color will show through. AP works well when converting copper oxide to copper chloride. CPU pins are not copper based metal. its iron based metal called Kovar. AP will break down Kovar but its really slow unless you heat the solution and keep adding peroxide.when you dissolve metal, it takes on a slight positive charge. this will make it collect on the gold plate and make the gold look like bare base metal.
oh well, i guess ill leave it alone. just check the couple of things i mentioned and see.
oh well, i guess ill leave it alone. just check the couple of things i mentioned and see.
philddreamer
Well-known member
If you do a search on"Pentium Pro yields" you can find some information on their yield, which will confirm your observation...
Here's one: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=14209#p142558
Also: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=12845&p=128177&hilit=pentium+pro+yield#p128252
My experience with them is a yield of .4 of a gram each. If you got a .25 of a gram, you might have some gold left in solution or still on the ceramics.
Phil
Here's one: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=14209#p142558
Also: http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=12845&p=128177&hilit=pentium+pro+yield#p128252
My experience with them is a yield of .4 of a gram each. If you got a .25 of a gram, you might have some gold left in solution or still on the ceramics.
Phil
As Geo has stated, I would assume as well that you have dissolved some basemetal, which has cemented back onto the pins, and made them look "bare".
AP is good when it comes to dissolving one single BM and no other, or very few other basemetalss are present - which is the case with goldfingers.
But if there are numerous basemetals in that solution, the acid will attack the one that is easiest to get and then cement it right back onto the most valuable metal. In this case it could be the iron, which is converted into FeCl and then cements onto your gold.
I have recommended before, to use several steps with AP if you have a multi-metal-mix and the predominant basemetal is not copper.
I would make a fresh new AP solution and give it a second go. And maybe even a third with fresh solution. Filter it each time after the reaction ends, check the colors of the filters and eleminate the basemetals one by one (iron, aluminum, copper(II),copper(I)), always with fresh AP solution and test after finishing with SC. After copper(I) you material will be quite free from basemetals and you should only see gold and above in your solution.
Btw: talked to a recycling company that ran 2 Kg of PP for yield testing and the reported around 1g/CPU to me. But as you may have read in the past, this yield varies from 0,3g to even 3g...
AP is good when it comes to dissolving one single BM and no other, or very few other basemetalss are present - which is the case with goldfingers.
But if there are numerous basemetals in that solution, the acid will attack the one that is easiest to get and then cement it right back onto the most valuable metal. In this case it could be the iron, which is converted into FeCl and then cements onto your gold.
I have recommended before, to use several steps with AP if you have a multi-metal-mix and the predominant basemetal is not copper.
I would make a fresh new AP solution and give it a second go. And maybe even a third with fresh solution. Filter it each time after the reaction ends, check the colors of the filters and eleminate the basemetals one by one (iron, aluminum, copper(II),copper(I)), always with fresh AP solution and test after finishing with SC. After copper(I) you material will be quite free from basemetals and you should only see gold and above in your solution.
Btw: talked to a recycling company that ran 2 Kg of PP for yield testing and the reported around 1g/CPU to me. But as you may have read in the past, this yield varies from 0,3g to even 3g...
geo i think you were right, I ghanged the hcl peroxide and there was a coating on everything and the goald was tin colored so just going to repeat and rinse until all the pins dissolve. this would probably be a good indicator that the process is finished. The kovar is just about the only base metal on these so Im thinking 2 or 3 changes should do it. thanks for the help everybody
