- Joined
- Apr 3, 2024
- Messages
- 88
well, i was waiting for a bit of free time to reset the copper cell, and re-smelt things. while that week or so went by, things cleared up, some of the slime dropped off of the smelted (dare i use that word) bars and it allowed me to begin re-running. it seems like the sulfuric acid was just copper deprived, and needed the chance to re-dissolve what was sitting on the bottom (as well as on the cathodes) and get running again. i made a quick video, but it doesn't give justice to the sparkly silver that is just floating in suspension in that sulfuric acid. in fact, i'm wondering if i'm patient enough, if i can get the sulfuric cell to pick up the copper from the bottom, and just leave the slime on the bottom? it seems that the slime on the anodes restricted the acid from being able to dissolve more copper from them, so it began eating it from the precipitated copper that had fallen to the bottom, from me not changing out cathodes regularly enough????A bit short on time so a quick reply ...
I use filter bags to catch the slimes in as it avoids mixing them in with other contaminants (somewhat). Simple non woven nylon or polyester bags glued together with hot glue works well. Unbleached Muslim cloth should work also. I used a tooth brush or a small parts brush in stainless steel to scrub the clingy stuff off but didn't put it back into the electrolyte. Since your copper has already played out of solution I would just make up a new batch and clean off the anodes before starting again. Since your already trying it for yourself and have see the problems first hand you might remelt them as well.
weight the anodes, add that weight in copper to it and remelt it. This way you can see the difference for yourself how the volume of copper changes things.