Non-Chemical Silver form wiring in an old car

[Cody Reeder]

today I was stripping the wiring from an old car. I saved all the plug conections because they looked like they wher plated in silver. I ended up busting the plugs with a hammer and removing all the contacts. I then put the silver coated metal in a clay crucible and using an oxy accetyleen torch and melted it (some kind of thermite type reaction takes place).

once melted I turned off the accytyleen and blew pure oxygen into the metal thus oxidising all the base metals (copper)
once most of the copper was burned up I pored out the oxide, let it cool, then crushed it.

I disolved the oxides away with hydrocloric acid (took longer and used up more hydrocloric than I thought it would)
I was left with about hafe a spoon full of metal droplets, still mostly copper but whitish in aperence.

next I disolved the metal droplets in some nitric acid, and added some salt to drop the silver from solution.

Finaly I furnaced doun the (little bit of) silver cloride and got aproximatly 300Mg of silver metal.

it was hardly worth all that for 45 cents of silver but was fun. and hey maybe if I can get a whole bunch more plugs... 8)

 

[qst42know]

I then put the silver coated metal in a clay crucible and using an oxy accetyleen torch and melted it (some kind of thermite type reaction takes place).

Be very careful, at that point in your experiment is when any zinc from the brass connectors present would burn off producing a white sooty smoke that is very hazardous to your health. Torch burning off base metals can be a bit dangerous. I Hope you had ample ventilation.

Another member has found palladium in automotive connectors have you tested your batch?

 

[Cody Reeder]

oh so they are brass I always thought that they wher just copper.I guess that does make sence, I did knotice some fumes but I did this outside and I stayed out of them, I was a little worried that it might contain lead. I used the torch becouse it was quick, easy, and I was only doing a smallish amount.
I figure that the the thermite reactions wher from the coppper oxidising and then reacting with unoxidised reactive metal such as zinc, producing bursts of sparks but stoped after a short while.
if I do this again I will proably just dip them in some nitric and mostly skip the heat. (I did it this way mostly to save my rather expencive acid)

I didnt even think about paladium and I only just saw his topic. does paladium disolve in nitric? if so then I have already disposed of the solution and lost it. but if not then I might still have it becouse I kept the stuff that didnt disolve in nitric I was thinking that it might have gold or something but I havent tested it. and I cant say that I have read anything on how to test for paladium, maby I should look into it...

 

[jimdoc]

and I cant say that I have read anything on how to test for paladium, maby I should look into it...

Simply look into Hoke's book. And study the rest of the book when you get a chance, you will learn a lot.

Jim

 

[qst42know]

Just a friendly reminder, if you need a break while reading Hoke, you might look into a spell checker program. :wink:

 

[piccolim]

Just a friendly reminder, if you need a break while reading Hoke, you might look into a spell checker program.

the reply box has a spell checker built into it, but maybe ppl just don't know how to use it. some maybe better at these magic boxes than others.....

 

[Cody Reeder]

Spell cheak and I are not exsataly best of friends. but If I can find it I will use it. thanks for the tip

 

[eeTHr]

Just a friendly reminder, if you need a break while reading Hoke, you might look into a spell checker program.

the reply box has a spell checker built into it, but maybe ppl just don't know how to use it. some maybe better at these magic boxes than others.....

I must be one of those people who don't know how to use it. I can't even find it!

Where is it---what do you click?

 

[jimdoc]

It looks to be automatic, for me anyway with Firefox.
Just spell "sumthing rong" and it will be underlined in red squiggly lines.


Jim

 

[Cody Reeder]

not for some of us aperently.

 

[eeTHr]

It looks to be automatic, for me anyway with Firefox.
Just spell "sumthing rong" and it will be underlined in red squiggly lines.

Jim

Do you have MS Word installed? I don't have it on this computer, but I think it's spell checker works in other programs. The wiggly lines sounds like it.

 

[jimdoc]

I am using Firefox with Ubuntu. I would guess it is the Firefox making it work. I have Open Office installed not MS Office, but I am not using it.

Jim

 

[Cody Reeder]

hey seince we are on the subject; how does one quote someone from a previous post?

 

[Claudie]

hey seince we are on the subject; how does one quote someone from a previous post?

Click on the "Quote" button in the lower right hand corner of the person's post that you want to quote.

 

[Cody Reeder]

Click on the "Quote" button in the lower right hand corner of the person's post that you want to quote.

sweet thanks, I never saw that. (oviously I need to where my glasses when working on the coumputer)

 

[jimdoc]

(oviously I need to where my glasses when working on the coumputer)

Obviously when you find where your glasses are, then you can wear them when you are working on the computer.


What happened with the spell check??????

Jim