scranney said:
I gave it all a good shake and the solution seems a lot clearer than yesterday. There were no vapors so i didnt wear a mask and i had a slight chlorine smell and no gold flakes in it and it seems like the fingers are still unpeeled. I dont know what is going wrong. I followed lasersteves video but he added more peroxide. But I geuss if I have disolved gold I dont want to add more or do I have to now?
should I just stop it all?
not quite sure what to do now.
Because it appears you don't know what you're doing, do yourself a favor and DO NOT shake any solution. Buy a glass stir rod or a bubbler/air filter pump and do it that way. DO NOT shake any acids and you're not even sure what to do next. Stirring will give the same results of the shaking, WITHOUT the possibility of you shaking acid on yourself. That's crazy. I'm not sure where you heard or learned that from, but I've been refining for almost 3+ years now and I have never shook any acids. Don't do it.
If the gold is still on the fingers, then that most likely mean that the solution haven't worked to its capacity or, you may have other junk in the solution that is on your fingers. Any components on the fingers can and will hamper your recovery efforts if they're still attached to them.
There should be no capacitors, relays, chips, or ANYTHING on your fingers except the fiber board and the gold strips. Anything else, the acids are going to attack them first and then the gold last, for the most part. By then, you've wasted your chemicals and haven't even begun the main process.
DO NOT add any more anything to what you have until you understand what you have. If you stir it every so often (an hour or so, it'll do the same as having a bubbler. It's more labor intensive to have to check it and stir it, but at least you'll get the knowledge you'll need to be refining gold fingers.
I really hope you've read Hoke's book or you're still reading it because there is your foundation on refining. Learn from that. Hoke's book will teach you because it expects you have never touched, refined or dealt with this field before. But, if you have experience in this field, it'll boost your knowledge up even more.
Oh, and as was mentioned to you before, some processes may take days to complete. Don't expect an overnight sensation with this. Your life and others are on the line every time you use and combine the acids needed to refine. This is not a "
I messed up, but that's ok" deal here. You have to understand and learn where you messed up.
The mixture of the acids?
The time I let the mixture work?
Did I use too much of this or that?
Did I use enough heat or too much?
What is the weather like while working outside?
Did I dispose of my solution or did I properly pour it into a "stock" bucket?
Do I have enough material to refine?
Is that gold fingers or copper fingers?
... and on and on and on...
Another thing to help you out on this forum if possible for you and anyone, and that is to include photos of what you have. Photos have a way of letting the gurus here look and pretty much tell you what is possibly your problem(s), on any refining subject at hand. Take pictures and post them. Show the steps and let others learn from the photos and others help give the needed advice you need.
Refining with acids is very dangerous, and so is leaving your home everyday to go out into the public.
