source of tin?

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big red 211

Active member
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
25
I'm finally to the testing stage and I was just wondering were everyone gets their tin from? I figured it has to be pure tin? So I didn't know if the 'tin can' would work.
 
A tin can will not work, it is steel. Go to Lasersteves site and order his metal shavings or get some 95/5 plumbing solder and heat in HCL to make testing solution.
 
Save yourself the trouble and buy some Stannous Chloride. Mix up only what you need. The solution has a short shelf life, so mixing up too much is a waste of chemicals. 4 Oz. of anhydrous Stannous Chloride will last you decades if stored properly.
 
haha, I know. I was actually thinking about a roll of 'tin' that I think was used to make extra air ducts in our basement. But I know that can't be pure tin so I didn't know if everyone was chemically making the tin or just buying it somewere.

I'm sure I'll buy a ton of stuff from Steve after I get some gold powder made. Until then I'm trying to keep my investment in all this to a minimum just in case.
 
Irons said:
Save yourself the trouble and buy some Stannous Chloride. Mix up only what you need. The solution has a short shelf life, so mixing up too much is a waste of chemicals. 4 Oz. of anhydrous Stannous Chloride will last you decades if stored properly.
Click to expand...
Yet again, words of wisdom from ol' Gabby.
I refined for more than 20 years, and used stannous chloride on a daily basis for the greater part of the last 15 years. I made all of my testing solution from stannous chloride crystals, adding bits of tin metal to keep it fresh. I made it in two ounce lots and used it almost to the end, rarely having to discard any because it had lost it's ability to detect values. In all those years, I bought stannous chloride only twice. A pound of the stuff, stored properly, will see you to your grave if you refine on an irregular basis.

Curious how to make the testing solution from the crystals?

Read Hoke.

Harold
 
Irons said:
Save yourself the trouble and buy some Stannous Chloride. Mix up only what you need. The solution has a short shelf life, so mixing up too much is a waste of chemicals. 4 Oz. of anhydrous Stannous Chloride will last you decades if stored properly.
Click to expand...
I wish it could last for so long. I have couple og kilograms of 15-30yo chloride and its oxidized in more than 10%. containers were originally hermetically closed and it did not help. No matter if glass plastic container s are used tin chloride will oxidize. My friends claims that it's reducing power decreases by about 20% in 30 years of storage.
 
Well I got some 95/5 tin solder and some hcl acid. I cut up the solder into 1 inch pieces and let it sit in the acid for 2 days unheated. It was reacting but the solder strips didn't even come close to dissolving. I then cleaned that off with acid several times. Then droped 1 piece of solder into a clean glass of acid and let it sit for about 15min unheated. I dipped a cue tip into the acid and scrubbed a gold plated screw on a car amp and it just turned a little black. So I then heated the acid and used another cue tip and got the same black spots on the cue tip. Next I went to some of the gold plated pieces that are in cat converters and nothing happened there either.

So, obviously I didn't 'make' the stannous chloride right. What was I suppose to do?
 
big red 211 said:
Well I got some 95/5 tin solder and some hcl acid. I cut up the solder into 1 inch pieces and let it sit in the acid for 2 days unheated. It was reacting but the solder strips didn't even come close to dissolving. I then cleaned that off with acid several times. Then droped 1 piece of solder into a clean glass of acid and let it sit for about 15min unheated. I dipped a cue tip into the acid and scrubbed a gold plated screw on a car amp and it just turned a little black. So I then heated the acid and used another cue tip and got the same black spots on the cue tip. Next I went to some of the gold plated pieces that are in cat converters and nothing happened there either.

So, obviously I didn't 'make' the stannous chloride right. What was I suppose to do?
Click to expand...

I don't think you are going to have any success making the testing solution and just trying to rub it on the gold plated parts to get a reaction. You will need to disolve some gold in something like HCL/clorox and test the liquid with the disolved gold in it on a Q-tip. Keep a small concentrated container of gold solution so you can check your testing solution when you think it might be giving you a false indicator or colors you are not sure of.

And heat your testing solution when you are trying to make it. You will get a more concentated testing solution.
 
Ok, I just rewatched the vid that Steve did and that's what he did. Is there any way to check to see if something is gold plated without dissolving it first? Kinda like a quick check so I know if I should bother getting/buying it.
 
Most all modern gold plating has white nickel under it. A few careful strokes with a pencil eraser will remove the gold and reveal the white nickel. Go slow and look. I know of no electronic parts that have brass plating or any other yellow base metal plating on them. If it's yellow with white nickel under it, it's gold. There may be exceptions, but I've never seen any.
 
Just remember, there are only 2 metallic elements on the planet with color, gold and copper (and most of their alloys). All other metallic elements are some shade of white or gray, with no exceptions. Silver is the whitest metal on the planet. If a metal has any color at all, after removing any tarnish or oxides, etc., it has to contain gold or copper, or both.

Once you develop a touch with the eraser, you can actually ballpark the thickness of the gold - believe it or not! Only do a few strokes at a time or you'll erase the nickel.
 
ander said:
Irons said:
Save yourself the trouble and buy some Stannous Chloride. Mix up only what you need. The solution has a short shelf life, so mixing up too much is a waste of chemicals. 4 Oz. of anhydrous Stannous Chloride will last you decades if stored properly.
Click to expand...
I wish it could last for so long. I have couple og kilograms of 15-30yo chloride and its oxidized in more than 10%. containers were originally hermetically closed and it did not help. No matter if glass plastic container s are used tin chloride will oxidize. My friends claims that it's reducing power decreases by about 20% in 30 years of storage.
Click to expand...

I'm old enough that 50 g will last a lifetime. :mrgreen:
 
You're right.For testing is enough. But stanous chloride is very useful reducting agent for ogranic chemistry- I had 50kgs of that and exchanged it for high vacuum pump.
 
Can someone explain to me the ratios needed of 95/5 solder and HCL to make a small amount of Stannous?
 
I've never made it with solder, but the way I make stannous is to simply combine 1 gram of tin with 30 mL of ~31% HCl, heat until it begins fizzing , be sure to leave some solid tin in the bottom of the container to keep it fresh. After the fizzing stops you can put a top on the solution to keep the air out and store it in a cool dark place.

Follow these advices and your stannous will stay active for several months.

If you feel the test becomes unreliable confirm the stannous chloride is still active by testing a standard gold solution.

Steve
 
ljmolina,

You'll want mix up very small amounts since you won't need much at a time anyway. I don't think there's an exact ratio that has to be followed. 50 ml of HCL with ~1 gram 95/5 plumber's solder seems to work really well for me. The 5% antimony will be the black chunks at the bottom. After reaction stops venting gas you can store where it's cool in an amber glass bottle (to block out light) for longer shelf life.
 

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