silver cell confusion

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lee501

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
7
well guys iam confused lee501 here new to the forum. i have been studying the silver cell post and have a question. i understand the the reason of using sterling for the anode to refine that sterling to retrieve the pure silver right? but whats the reason for some of the pure silver anode bars i see some of the cells using. its already pure no refineing needed. is there any true growth going on there? for example if they use one once pure anode bars are they retrieveing two once of crystal growth. thanks for any help on this subject. lee
 
the reason the silver cell is used is to bring purity to .9999. sterling and .925 have other metals such as hardeners and brighteners such as Rhodium to brighten.by dissolving the impure silver and cementing with clean copper, you bring the purity of the silver high enough that it doesn't foul the electrolyte during processing.silver bullion has to be .999 (i believe) to be considered bullion.if your goal is to sell to a refiner, then there's no need for you to use a silver cell.if on the other hand you want to achieve the kind of results Kadriver has, then you will have to learn how to operate the cell.cemented silver can be as high as .995 under perfect conditions (im not perfect) so thats as far as some of the home refiners will ever go.
 
thanks for the reply geo. my goal is to make a few bucks.and enjoy myself as well.iam still not sure about the growth of these cells if any. i have a copy of laser steves dvd enroute may be this will answer some questions. thanks lee
 
lee501 said:
iam still not sure about the growth of these cells if any.
Click to expand...

Lee, I think you maybe confusing the use of the word 'growth' in this situation.

lee501 said:
is there any true growth going on there? for example if they use one once pure anode bars are they retrieveing two once of crystal growth.
Click to expand...

If you are starting with an anode of 995 silver weighing 100grams, you have 99.5 grams of silver and .5 grams copper, palladium etc
After running the anode through the cell you will finish up with 99.5grams of silver crystals (9999 pure) and .5 grams of slimes (in a perfect world).

The word growth in this context refers to the growth of the crystal structure rather than a growth in weight.

Hope this helps to clear your confusion.
 
Hi Lee!

I hope you are aware of the hazards & dangers of handling the acids that are been used for recovering & refining precious metals, ESPECIALLY nitric acid. You should do the work under a fume hood or outside...
Read thoughroughly the SAFETY posts and learn how to handle & store the chemicals. Have you read Hoke's yet?

Take care & be safe!

Phil
 
thanks for the replay phil. no hoke yet but i will take precations when i start. but iam still confused about the pure silver anode bars i see kadriver useing whats the point? if i use 1oz. pure anode bar to get 1oz. of pure crystal growth weres the profit at? thanks for any help lee
 
You're not seeing "pure" anode bars, you're seeing cemented silver melted into ingots used as anodes. You're seeing 95-98% pure anodes converted into .99x crystals grown under electrolysis. Crystallization, generically, typically produces very pure substances. The anode, held inside a permeable membrane, loses some impurities as slimes on the membrane, and some others are dissolved into the electrolyte. But the crystals themselves are remarkably pure. You're right, there would be little point in using .999 anodes. The desire is to use the cleanest silver you can produce outside the cell for anodes, because copper (probably the most common pollutant) degrades the electrolyte. 90% silver coins degrade the electrolyte pretty quickly. Sterling, a little less quickly. The cleaner the anode, the longer your electrolyte will last.
 
ok thanks element47 this clear some things up. but does'nt look like much profit margin to me. thanks lee
 
I figured out that the word “Grow” in the silver cell process means that you grow from 92.5 sterling to .999 pure silver and not growth in weight of silver. I was confused of this process until I read some chats. Thank you to all who helped me reach this conclusion
 
Barthel732 said:
I figured out that the word “Grow” in the silver cell process means that you grow from 92.5 sterling to .999 pure silver and not growth in weight of silver
Click to expand...

Actually it is because the crystals grow on the cathode. And it is quite visible.

In the process of going from .925 to .999 the starting weight of sterling loses about 7.5% of its weight as the purity goes up. So the feed silver (anodes) actually shrinks.
 
Barthel732 said:
I’m new. I still can’t find how to post a new comment. No need to be rude
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I'm not rude I just asked you a question.

When you want to ask a question find a section or thread dealing with the same topic as your question.
And there are a lot of threads dealing with Cupels.
Have you read th info you were given in the beginning?
One of the key elements on this forum is the search function, learn to use it.
It will make your life easier.
 
Yggdrasil said:
I'm not rude I just asked you a question.

When you want to ask a question find a section or thread dealing with the same topic as your question.
And there are a lot of threads dealing with Cupels.
Have you read th info you were given in the beginning?
One of the key elements on this forum is the search function, learn to use it.
It will make your life easier.
Click to expand...
Yeah I figured it out. Sorry I was being rude. I’m so used to Facebook and those members being rude constantly that I’m unfortunately letting it seep out into this group. My apologies 🙏
 
I’m not sure if those chemical names are interchangeable but cupel’s are not meant for smelting that would be a crucible.

It will takes some time to get comfortable using the forum. It is large and search results can often be intimidating. I still get hung up at times trying to find information using the search engine.

I don’t see Facebook as being a social platform. To me it is anti-social and always has been.
 
Shark said:
I’m not sure if those chemical names are interchangeable but cupel’s are not meant for smelting that would be a crucible.

It will takes some time to get comfortable using the forum. It is large and search results can often be intimidating. I still get hung up at times trying to find information using the search engine.

I don’t see Facebook as being a social platform. To me it is anti-social and always has been.
Click to expand...
Cupels are for refining. I get that. Yeah it’s a little confusing dealing with this forum
 

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