Does anyone have a faster way to remove the coating off entire boards than scraping? I have a large quantity of gold clad telecom boards sheared flush.I would like to process them whole without grinding.
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Bullion.Forum
Removal of green coating
- Thread starter 608rogerm
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Barren Realms 007
In Remembrance
You can soak them in hot sodium hydroxide. Steve has a video of the process some where.
patnor1011
Well-known member
Make notes. Weight of boards, amounts of solutions used..... Take pictures. I would like to see how you do on these. My understanding is (I did try some test runs) that cost of chemicals will be higher than any gold obtained it all depend what your prices are.
patnor1011
Well-known member
Claudie said:
That may lower cost if you do not count time spent by making it. I was thinking complex - what would be better to sell board as is or try to soak it in lye then acids to get that grain of gold...
In my case when I have problem to buy even HCl and I have HNO3 shipped from NI costs of chemicals far outweigh any potential gain even if it was board from Discovery or Soyuz. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks for the hints people. It might take a week or so,but will post notes and pics. We make our own hand and laundry soap,(large Amish community nearby) so lye isn't a problem. Just bought HCL yesterday at Menards.$3.49 pr. gl.
Due to lack of time,I haven't been able to process these boards yet for a yield figure.I think this is going to be different for every case. I'm guessing the yield is going to be the same as fingers,inch for inch of plated material. I cant be the only one stumbling over this question,and would like to post this process. The weight of the boards is 12 lbs. 
I used 1lb of lye to 4 gl. of water.
I purchased the 2lb bottle of lye at a Tractor Supply for $4.89,so my cost is roughly $2.50. They've been soaking for 18 hours outside at aprx. 74 deg.,and the coating is falling off when I stir them.
I sprayed one with the garden hose, and almost all the coating came off. If you're not in a hurry,I think you could use less lye and more time to cut cost even more. 1lb stripped these coatings pretty efficiently in 18hrs.
As 007 mentioned,I'm sure heat would be a factor as well.
I used 1lb of lye to 4 gl. of water. I purchased the 2lb bottle of lye at a Tractor Supply for $4.89,so my cost is roughly $2.50. They've been soaking for 18 hours outside at aprx. 74 deg.,and the coating is falling off when I stir them. I sprayed one with the garden hose, and almost all the coating came off. If you're not in a hurry,I think you could use less lye and more time to cut cost even more. 1lb stripped these coatings pretty efficiently in 18hrs. As 007 mentioned,I'm sure heat would be a factor as well.
