Silver Nitrate Electrolyte Question

[hfrank]

Hi, I am very new to the world of silver refining but am very interested in starting my own silver cell. My first pressing question is this: Can I use silver nitrate crystals dissolved in distilled water as my silver nitrate electrolyte as opposed to dissolving pure silver in nitric acid? If so is this a bad idea or is it as practical as dissolving the silver would be? Thanks to anyone reading this

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Just dissolve some sterling silver in nitric. You want some copper in your electrolyte.

Dave

 

[Yggdrasil]

Hi, I am very new to the world of silver refining but am very interested in starting my own silver cell. My first pressing question is this: Can I use silver nitrate crystals dissolved in distilled water as my silver nitrate electrolyte as opposed to dissolving pure silver in nitric acid? If so is this a bad idea or is it as practical as dissolving the silver would be? Thanks to anyone reading this

I can't see why not, but what are you going to do for topping up and such?
The reason most people use Silver and Nitric, is that they have control and can make more as needed.
It is also possible to run it on Sterling.

Edit
Dave beat me to it

 

[hfrank]

I can't see why not, but what are you going to do for topping up and such?
The reason most people use Silver and Nitric, is that they have control and can make more as needed.
It is also possible to run it on Sterling.

Edit
Dave beat me to it

When topping off is it a matter of just adding more electrolyte to the cell as it gets lower or do I need to monitor the exact levels I’m adding and keep an eye on specific things in the solution?

 

[Yggdrasil]

When topping off is it a matter of just adding more electrolyte to the cell as it gets lower or do I need to monitor the exact levels I’m adding and keep an eye on specific things in the solution?

Ideally speaking you need to monitor both Silver concentration and how contaminated it is.
In real world the Silver concentration is what counts until it start plating contaminants.
Search the forum, there are many threads including running Silver cells without Nitric.

Edit for spelling.

 

[hfrank]

Ideally speaking you need to monitor both Silver concentration and how contaminated it is.
In real world the Silver concentrationnis what counts until it start plating contaminants.
Search the forum, there are many threads including running Silver cells without Nitric.

Awesome thanks for replying

 

[cejohnsonsr1]

Sreetips has quite a bit of information on his YouTube channel about electrolyte. One very recent video goes through the process from start to finish. One thing to note is that he uses pure silver from his cell to make his electrolyte. If you don’t have any pure silver, you could use silver nitrate, but if your reason for doing it that way is mainly to avoid using nitric, then you’re probably not going to get very far with sterling. I do understand that some people don’t have easy access to nitric. But if you do have access to it, that’s the best way to digest Sterling Silver and allows for the easiest removal of most of the copper.

 

[command2001]

I just did my first silver cell and came out with silver sand and lot of dark brown mud in the anode basket. Assume the mud was impurities in the silver I used in the basket. Don't know why only sand like silver. Any thoughts?

 

[Yggdrasil]

I just did my first silver cell and came out with silver sand and lot of dark brown mud in the anode basket. Assume the mud was impurities in the silver I used in the basket. Don't know why only sand like silver. Any thoughts?

What distance between your electrodes and what Voltage/Amps were you running?
And what was the concentration of the electrolyte?

 

[command2001]

What distance between your electrodes and what Voltage/Amps were you running?
And what was the concentration of the electrolyte?

Used three electrodes about 4-5 in from the basket. Volts around 2.5. Don't know how to tell the concentration of the electrolyte. Electrolyte started the recommended amount of silver in Nitric, was clear. After the run it is blue.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Used three electrodes about 4-5 in from the basket. Volts around 2.5. Don't know how to tell the concentration of the electrolyte. Electrolyte started the recommended amount of silver in Nitric, was clear. After the run it is blue.

What do you use for anode?
Do you have an anode bag for the slimes?
For big Silver crystals it is best with as low Voltage as possible.
There are hundreds if not more, threads on Silver electrolytic systems here.
Search the forum and you will find.

 

[command2001]

What do you use for anode?
Do you have an anode bag for the slimes?
For big Silver crystals it is best with as low Voltage as possible.
There are hundreds if not more, threads on Silver electrolytic systems here.
Search the forum and you will find.

I used silver rounds to mold a flat bar and melted a silver round on the end of it for my anode. Had a bag for the slimes which filled the bag with a brown mud like stuff.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I used silver rounds to mold a flat bar and melted a silver round on the end of it for my anode. Had a bag for the slimes which filled the bag with a brown mud like stuff.

How fast did this happen?

 

[command2001]

How can you tell when to change the electrolite in the silver cell?

 

[Yggdrasil]

How can you tell when to change the electrolite in the silver cell?

Why did you post this in this thread?
Why not in one of the threads you already are using?

Edit:
I moved it for you.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

How can you tell when to change the electrolite in the silver cell?

I usually go by color. As copper builds up, the electrolyte will turn more blue. If there is any palladium, it will tint it kind of brown.

Dave

 

[lazersteve]

How can you tell when to change the electrolite in the silver cell?

Check out this post and the thread it's in.

https://goldrefiningforum.com/threads/1st-silver-cell-run.25550/post-271797
The appearance of the silver deposit you are getting is an indicator of when copper levels get too high. It either gets dark, fluffy, or looks like fuzzy copper instead of well formed, almost white dense crystals.

Steve

 

[Anil]

Why did you post this in this thread?
Why not in one of the threads you already are using?

Edit:
I moved it for you.

When Copper content exceeds 40% you should change the electrolyte, replenish with fresh electrolyte, and remove the old one. Also, it is advisable to have a Silver concentration in the electrolyte of more than 30% ( ideally 40%) for higher efficiency of the plant.

 

[Yggdrasil]

When Copper content exceeds 40% you should change the electrolyte, replenish with fresh electrolyte, and remove the old one. Also, it is advisable to have a Silver concentration in the electrolyte of more than 30% ( ideally 40%) for higher efficiency of the plant.

I guess this reply was to Command1 not to me.
So why not reply to the one you have info for?

 

[Anil]

How can you tell when to change the electrolite in the silver cell?

When Copper content exceeds 40% you should change the electrolyte, replenish with fresh electrolyte, and remove the old one. Also, it is advisable to have a Silver concentration in the electrolyte of more than 30%
( ideally 40%) for higher efficiency of the plant.