Non-Chemical PINS REFINING

[taborc]

Hi all,

I just got my winnings from Steve, thanks to the forum and Steve what I'm wanting to know is what is the best way to do these pins AR or the cell ?

Thanks for the help,

Chris

 

[lazersteve]

Taborc,

Try using the Experimental Anode as in the Tutorial:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=91

You'll need a functioning cell to use it.

Alternately, you can pull the pins from the header plastic and use the crockpot method:

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=155

Keep us posted here on the forum and ask lots of questions in the Tutorials Comments/Questions section for whichever method you choose.

Steve

 

[Noxx]

I agree ! HCl in a crockpot would be a good idea.

 

[taborc]

Do I use just HCI ??? cus I heard of puting some thing else in with it

 

[Noxx]

Nop !
Plain HCl will do the trick.

 

[champ110]

does that leave you with little gold flakes that you can filter off and would muriatic acid work for this?

 

[Noxx]

Champ, Muriatic Acid is HCl but in a lower concentration (31%). It works perfectly.
Yes, it will gives you nice gold flakes.

 

[champ110]

so you just throw those pins in and let em roast...sounds good

 

[Noxx]

Yup !
Please give results of your experiments when they'll be done.

 

[catfish]

noxx:

What is the ratio of HCl (ML) to the amount of pins (Grams)?

Also what temp should one run the crock pot and how long does it take.

I have accumilated quite a few very small pins that I need to do something with. They are too small for the Cell and I dont like to run them through AR for they have a lot of junk metals in them.

I thought about running them through Steve's H2O2/HCL bucket, but the pins are so small that they would go through the holes in the basket bucket.

I have done some in Nitric, but the nitric is much more expensive than HCL.

This sounds very interesting , maybe somthing I need to try.

Thanks

Catfish

 

[alexmaywood]

Hi!
I pulled app. 8 oz gold coated pins from Motorola MAC CPUs and put them into muriatic acid. However, I did not heat them but left in barn. They stayed there for 5 days. The temperature was about 70 F. Recently I looked what's going on. The pins did not turn into flakes but are looking now more like silver ones.
What should it mean? Did I something wrong?
Alex

 

[lazersteve]

Alex,

Have you tried stirring the pins?

The gold tends to fall to the bottom or get lodged in the mass of pins when left undisturbed. If you don't stir occassionally, this can lead to a large 'solid' mass of pins in the bottom of the pot that lift out as one piece. You can bust it up or just add some fresh acid to loosen them and poke them apart with a wooden or plastic stick. You should still be able to see some floating gold around.

The silvery color may just be a whiteish cuporus chloride (CuCl). It will change to green if exposed to air. HCl will dissolve it to a dark green/black liquid.

Steve

 

[alexmaywood]

Thanks, Steve.

Yes, I stir it once a day and it does not form any clump yet. The acid is clear, by stirring becomes a dark grey. I do not see any visible amount of gold "dust" there. Probably, some particles. The pins are mostly silverish now.
The question is - should I wait till the acid "eats" all the metals out? How long will it take? Actually, I do not have any alternatives.
What is the ratio pins:HCl? probably, I add to little acid for to much pins?
What is meaning of H2O2 adding to HCl? Does it speed the process? Or makes the acid more powerful?
I read once on ebay, that by dissolving of procs or pins in AR one should keep the ratio of 1# of ceramic procs or 150 g of pins to 1 quart of AR. Otherwise gold will not precipitate. At another site I read that one have to add procs to AR till AR "eats" all the gold on them and stop adding only if it reacts no more. Who of them had the most reason?

 

[lazersteve]

You said the acid was clear and turns gray when stirred. Were the pins 100% gold plated or partially plated? Were they plated over brass, copper, or some other base metal. If the base metal is copper the solution will start off turning a green color and then become darker as time goes on. What is the HCl percent concentration? It sounds like you need more acid or more concentrated acid. I think the gold may be 'hiding' in the gray powder/ color. Extra acid may clear the gray out.

As for how much acid to use for the pins, add it until the pins are dissolved. Peroxide activates the acid to help it oxidize the copper in the pins. Too much peroxide, especially with heat added will cause the gold to dissolve into the liquid.

Your questions about AR can all be answered by Catfish's document which reports the various amounts of AR needed to process specific amounts of cpus and pins. If you PM him and request a copy of the spreadsheet, I'm sure he will be glad to send it to you.

Photos would help solve your problem with the pins.

Steve

 

[alexmaywood]

The pins are quite ordinary computer CPU pins, such as, for example, on Intel 486 processors, app. 0.2 in long, fully gold plated. What is the base metal - I don't know. Must be usual. If Motorola uses the same materials as Intel. Chips are 5-7 years old. But there is no any green color present, or even a shade of it. May it be nickel or steel alloy?

There is a tiny drop of (lead?) alloy on one end.

Muriatic acid is 31.45% solution. It may be so slow because it's cool now, outside temperatures are about 65 F. Probably it would give better reaction when heated. Or wait some time.

Tomorrow I will try to make a picture. Hope the colors will be reproduced adequately.

Thanks for information, altogether

 

[lazersteve]

Alex,

I seem to remember the motorola cpus having steel for the base metal of the legs. Are the legs magnetic? This could explain the lack of green color and the silvery base color. The gold should still be in the mix somewhere. If all the pins appear silvery you might be ready to move on to the filtering stage. You may not be able to see the gold due to the gray color. Hopefully the gray will wash out with the right acid wash.

Please post photos when you can.


Steve

 

[alexmaywood]

Hi!

I was on my business trip, sorry for delay. Here are the pictures of my pins. First one is taken when the acid was still and clear. The second one right after stirring. At the second picture you can see tiny particles of gold swimming around. There was some pins from another CPU (not Motorola). Their golden coats are flying in acid now as if weightless.

The problem is - how to get gold now out of acid. Filtering seems to give a little.

The pins are magnetic.

 

[alexmaywood]

The order of pictures is wrong. The second must be first.

 

[lazersteve]

Sounds like you need a better filter. Try using 5-6 coffee filters in a stack if you don't have a vaccuum setup. I would let it settle, pour off the bulk of the clear liquid, and filter the rest.

Steve

 

[alexmaywood]

But how to separate steel pins from gold dust?