Reverse electroplating

[meggido]

Hey folks,
Newbie here. I just started messing around with reverse electroplating. Frankly, nitric acid and byproducts are scary. I wanted to try something less toxic. I'm having considerable success with standard "pickling" vinegar. At least as far as deplating goes. Any caveats I should be aware of? I'm reverse plating a number of plumbing fixtures. two to four hours appears to cause most of the gold to come off in solution, the rest scrapes of rather easily with a blade. Suggestions on how to speed up the process?, I dropped an aspirin in, no conclusions as of yet. Any toxins I should be wary of? am I wasting my time?

 

[Palladium]

Refining can be a real headache sometimes. That's the first time i have heard of the asprin trick. Was it a Bayer asprin?
Welcome to the forum.

 

[Harold_V]

am I wasting my time?

Only you can answer that question. If you don't mind spending time scraping, and the two to four hours you spend attempting to strip, I see no harm. Looking at it from the perspective of a guy that refined for a living, there's no way in hell I'd be interested in a process that required extended processing time and constant attention when there are better ways to achieve the same end. It's strictly a matter of making, or not making, a profit. There is no right or wrong.

Welcome to the forum.

Harold

 

[shyknee]

Asprin?
Excellent for headaches, after stairing and scraping