Please Help! Gold Plated Lights

[flankdrive04]

Need some advise from all you pres. metal guru's!

I have two(2) chandollers? (spelling) you know big ass old fashioned light that they swing of in the movies!!

Anyway I'm sure you know what I mean. They are reported to be 22ct plated (gold) how should I test? How should I strip the AU?

Cheers!

 

[flankdrive04]

Beuller?......Anyone??

 

[lazersteve]

You can test a small piece of the material in the sulfuric cell and see if it strips and leaves a black powder.

Another method would be to put 4 drops of HCl and 1 drop of HNO3 on the surface of the item and swab. Test the swab with fresh stannous chloride and look for a purple reaction.

Steve

 

[Irons]

Before you do, if they are antique, they may be worth more as a lamp.

 

[flankdrive04]

I wouldn't say antique, but about 35 yrs old. The plate seems to be peeling off in a few spots were the non plated sections have started to rust.

I can't find a stamp anywhere, so I will try the test that Steve suggests.

Thanks again mate! :wink:

 

[flankdrive04]

....so that's 4 drops Muratic and 1 drop Nitric? yes?

 

[lazersteve]

Flank,

That's right, just a small amount of AR is what you are testing with.

Steve

 

[Harold_V]

I wouldn't say antique, but about 35 yrs old. The plate seems to be peeling off in a few spots were the non plated sections have started to rust.

Red flag!

If the base metal is iron or steel, test ONLY some of the metal that has peeled, removing it from the base metal. Otherwise, it's entirely possible you'll dissolve the surface, which may be gold, and it will precipitate on the base metal, so your test with stannous chloride may prove negative.

Fact is, if I was to test the material, I'd pull off a sample of the peeling metal and test it with only nitric acid. I'd use no HCl. If it happens to be brass plated, the entire sample will dissolve in nitric, leaving nothing behind except for a blue solution. If you find a solid after testing with nitric, I would then dissolve it with AR (nitric and HCl) for the test with stannous chloride.

Harold

 

[flankdrive04]

Thank you Steve and Harold for you wisdom and comments!

Wish me luck!!