Problems in the AP methode

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Hi,

today the liquid in booth pots is yellow (I've startet this morning the cleaned parts again, like I've discribed yesterday) but when I drop a few drops of H2O2 in it it turns first emerald, then yellow again, means that it's to much tin inside or it's to less O2 inside?

Thanks!
 
Either you have too little copper chloride so the copper cements onto other base metals and the yellow look is iron chloride left in solution, or the copper chloride is very weak but working and goes from green copper II chloride into brown to yellowish copper I chloride because there is no oxygen left to turn it back into copper II chloride.

Try to pour off a sample into a beaker without any metal in it. Oxygen from the air will turn it green again in a while, you can watch it from the side to see if there is a green layer closest to the surface. A bubbler, a few drops of H2O2 or pouring the liquid between two beakers a few times will speed up the process.
If the liquid doesn't turn green again when there is no metal you don't have any copper I chloride in solution, any copper in solution have cemented back onto the lesser noble base metals and you have basically just hydrochloric acid.

On Lazersteves website there is a document with the colors of various concentrations of copper chloride. Look at that and you will see that it takes just a tiny bit of copper chloride to get quite a strong color.
If you haven't done it yet you should read through that document a couple of times until it mostly makes sense.

I've just started a small experiment by sticking 42 ram sticks in a beaker with pure HCl to remove the components. So far some of the fingers have turned into small silver mirrors while the next finger could be shiny gold.

Göran
 
Hello everyone,

"silver mirrors while the next finger could be shiny gold."

yep, exactly.

And as you've suggest: a drop peroxyde in the solution and the liquid arround the drop turns immediatly green...a little bit of the solution in an test tube, waiting and shaking and it turns in a nice emerald.

O.K., now it works with much more air...some nice gold flakes.

My main mistake is that I was so fondly hoped that it work that I've started all in one, the badly cleaned boards are an other thing!

Thanks to anybody.

Nice weekend!
 
Hello,

i'll not start a new thread because the actuel problem deals with the ap methode too:

after processing some processor sockets and smaller IC sockets in AP all the copper is gone, the gold is settling down in the vessel and so I collect the used AP-sollution with some crystal needles in it (maybe Pb and other metal salts) but between the gold and the clear (better almost clear) AP sollution there are a grey fine sludge, all washing with hot water is useless for dissolving these strange, cement looking stuff.
After a few washings the water is colorless but the sludge remains, an other problem is the finer gold flakes are catched in the sludge so it isn't impossible to suck these waste in a syringe or something.

I try to dissolve the sludge with HCl, hot water...nothing happen.

What can these fine bul... be?
How co i discard it?

The connectors i've processed are older, so the solder composition changes to the solder they are use today and i know nothing about the base metal compositions so i haven't any inkling about these cement-looking sludge.

How can i continue?

Regards!
 
My guess on the grey sludge, metastannic acid.
The forum is full of tips on how to deal with it.

Göran
 
Hello,

i thought abouut metastannic but i think meta is more like a gel...if it's really meta i cuold easy dissolve it by adding KOH/NaOH or according to hooke it's soluable in H2SO4 (i will make a little test in a test tube***)

It looks exactly if you put cement in water an let sit it for a while...water above is clear and the heavyer mieralic parts stay under these clear water.

is it true? looks meta like gel?

***if it's really metastannic i have a few possible methods to solve it but because my flakes are mixed with a lot of coating pieces from boards the lye method should be the best: lye dissolves the green varnish AND meta?!



Regards, Frank!
 
Hello,

my bad english...no AL was in the base matals...I devised only that metastannic looks like a gel...the substance in my vessels isn't a gel, it is like a mix of very, very fine gray looking sand and water, after a while the "sand" sits down on the bottom of the glass and the clear water is above the "grey sand".

after a little bit of reading i thing the grey sludge (not a gel, i only think meta looks like a gel) is meta and so i will now make a little test with KOH.

Sorry for my bad english, every time again!

FranK!
 
Hello,

i've made little tests with NaOH and H2SO4 and nothing happend...i've looked for some pictures from metastannic and my sludge looks like it but as said: no reaction!

Regards!
 
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=85&t=22375#p234040

This is Harold's thread on incineration. If the sludge is tin, it will be soluable in HCl after being properly incinerated.

If still insoluble after incinerating, its something else. Try to dissolve a small amount in AR or HCl/Cl. If still insoluble, dissolve your gold and filter out the sludge.
 
Heyhey,

i know about incinerating of metastannic but I think! if this gunk is metastannic, it should

-dissolve in strong lyes (like NaOH)
-dissolve in strong H2SO4, like Hoke wrote... (both are heated)

and both do not happen so why should I incinerate....

I thought that it is maybe something organic, in this case incinerating is the best method....mhm strange!

Regards and thanks!


(at first i've tryed HCl, maybe I should try HNO3 too?)
 

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