Stannous Chloride... POWDER (???)

[howdee500]

Is it possible to use bit of tin can tops? Are they really tin or steel?
My soldier all either contains lead, has no or vague contents labeling or is non magnetic
Beena while since buying any fishing gear, didn't know about any non-lead weights, wally world=Walmart?
I know I can buy the powder online but was hoping to test today

 

[philddreamer]

Go to Radio Shack, buy some Lead-Free solder, 96% Tin/4% Silver.
Take care!
Phil

 

[FrugalRefiner]

Is it possible to use bit of tin can tops? Are they really tin or steel?
My soldier all either contains lead, has no or vague contents labeling or is non magnetic
Beena while since buying any fishing gear, didn't know about any non-lead weights, wally world=Walmart?
I know I can buy the powder online but was hoping to test today

Howdee,

"Tin cans" usually do not have any tin content anymore.

Wally World does = Walmart. I bought some tin split shot sinkers there that work well. They have a few different sizes, all the same price. Check them all for the greatest weight per bag. I've also seen tin sinkers at stores other than Walmart.

Dave

 

[AUH-R]

Go to Radio Shack, buy some Lead-Free solder, 96% Tin/4% Silver.
Take care!
Phil

Does the bit of copper matter in that type of solder?

I saw a guy on youtube using 60/40 tin/lead solder for his stannous and it looked to be working fine. What would be the problem using this?

Regards,

AuH-R

 

[butcher]

Lead is pretty much insoluble as a chloride, so most of the lead would precipitate from the stannous chloride solution as a white powder of lead chloride.
So it could work.

Here is the problem I see with using 60/40 solder, when I work with gold, I have a lot of time, energy and usually money invested, pure tin solder is cheap, easy to get, gold is very expensive and not easy to get, as important as testing is to determine where your gold is, and where it is not, or to determine if you dump a solution into the waste bucket that may or may not hold value, trusting a test solution is important, and can determine if you win or lose, so why gamble with anything other than the pure tin to make such an important decision.
Solder can also contain fluxes, so you want to be aware your 95% tin solder does not have a flux involved.

With lead being removed from much of our solders nowadays tin solder is very common, tin can be found in fishing weights, which is also getting much more common.

copper is a metal that will strongly color solutions, with the stannous chloride test we need to read a color, why make your test solutions with a metal that will influence the color of such an important reaction.

 

[g_axelsson]

Solder can also contain fluxes, so you want to be aware your 95% tin solder does not have a flux involved.

The easy way to remove the flux would be just to melt the solder before usage.

copper is a metal that will strongly color solutions, with the stannous chloride test we need to read a color, why make your test solutions with a metal that will influence the color of such an important reaction.

Don't know where the copper came from.

If lead would be a problem then we shouldn't be able to use stannous in solutions saturated with lead chloride. I don't think there should be a problem to use 60/40 tin/lead solder, just test it with your standard solution before usage as with any stannous. I've tested it once just for fun and it worked just fine. I dissolved the solder from a circuit board
But I would use tin whenever I have it available, the lesser unknowns in a reaction the fewer problems you will run into.

Göran

 

[AUH-R]

Solder can also contain fluxes, so you want to be aware your 95% tin solder does not have a flux involved.

The easy way to remove the flux would be just to melt the solder before usage.

copper is a metal that will strongly color solutions, with the stannous chloride test we need to read a color, why make your test solutions with a metal that will influence the color of such an important reaction.

Don't know where the copper came from.g_axelsson

Here in the UK I'm finding it really difficult to get hold of pure tin for some bizarre reason. I have done endless searches on google and fleabay. The copper came from the lead free solder available to me, they all seem to have this break down: LEAD FREE SOLDER - 95% TIN / 4% SILVER / 1% COPPER

If lead would be a problem then we shouldn't be able to use stannous in solutions saturated with lead chloride. I don't think there should be a problem to use 60/40 tin/lead solder, just test it with your standard solution before usage as with any stannous. I've tested it once just for fun and it worked just fine. I dissolved the solder from a circuit boardg_axelsson

Good to know thanks.

But I would use tin whenever I have it available, the lesser unknowns in a reaction the fewer problems you will run into.butcher

Butcher thanks for the response I really want to use pure tin but I'm struggling to find a cheap source here in the UK.

Best wishes,

 

[jason_recliner]

Why does Stannous Chloride only last a short time?
I made mine by chunks of fluxless 99.3% Sn / 0.7% Cu solder in a glass bottle of HCl. It's always got spare metal in the bottom and has a well sealing lid. It appears to still be acidic (I don't have litmus paper, but putting a swab down still makes scrap timber go yellow).

 

[g_axelsson]

Why does Stannous Chloride only last a short time?
I made mine by chunks of fluxless 99.3% Sn / 0.7% Cu solder in a glass bottle of HCl. It's always got spare metal in the bottom and has a well sealing lid. It appears to still be acidic (I don't have litmus paper, but putting a swab down still makes scrap timber go yellow).

It oxidizes.

Göran

 

[jason_recliner]

I'm making some new stuff again today. Last time I cut and squeezed my fluxless, almost pure tin, "solder" into chunks with pliers to increase surface area. This time, just for kicks, I thought I'd see how far tin will hammer out, for faster dissolution.
Seems to go a long way! The length of rod hammered on was about as long as the coin.

:?: Now, how do the rest of you highly ecologically responsible people dispose of expired, oxidised stannous chloride? (maybe that's perchlorate?)
Keeping in mind all the issues tin raises in potential future recovery of values from the pot, I thought it would be better to keep a separate stash of "Stannous Chloro Wastus" than to stock pot it. Maybe just a dedicated jar outside with sodium hydroxide solids in the bottom and no lid?

 

[g_axelsson]

Put the old stannous with the other liquid wastes. Only liquids with values in it should go to the stock pot.

Göran

 

[jason_recliner]

Cheers, Göran.

 

[ExNuke]

Solder can also contain fluxes, so you want to be aware your 95% tin solder does not have a flux involved.

The easy way to remove the flux would be just to melt the solder before usage.

copper is a metal that will strongly color solutions, with the stannous chloride test we need to read a color, why make your test solutions with a metal that will influence the color of such an important reaction.

Don't know where the copper came from.

If lead would be a problem then we shouldn't be able to use stannous in solutions saturated with lead chloride. I don't think there should be a problem to use 60/40 tin/lead solder, just test it with your standard solution before usage as with any stannous. I've tested it once just for fun and it worked just fine. I dissolved the solder from a circuit board
But I would use tin whenever I have it available, the lesser unknowns in a reaction the fewer problems you will run into.

Göran

I'm a raw beginner/hobbyist at refining but I've been an Electrician/ET most of my life. Be aware that a lot of electronics since the ""War on Lead" started have gone to using "lead Free" solder or 90%+ Tin. This is good and bad, Tin in solid state electronics, carrying electrical current, tend to grow whiskers of Tin that were suppressed by the lead in normal solder. Those whiskers are the cause of a lot of failures of electronic products.

 

[g_axelsson]

I'm well aware of newer solders usually are lead free. The gist of my post was to show that older lead-tin solder is perfectly all right to use and people doesn't need to hunt for lead free solder to make stannous chloride test solution.
It even works by just putting a piece of an old circuit board with solder on it in hydrochloric acid, I've tried it. So any excuse for not using stannous to test for gold in solution is just a bad excuse.

But of course, lead fee solders works just as fine to make stannous chloride, just as an old pewter bowl does.

Göran

 

[Vinny PaisAuno]

Just as an experiment, I dissolved some stannous chloride crystals (SnCl2 * 2H2O) directly in tap water and have been using it for at least three weeks now without problems. I used no HCl or tin metal in the solution, and have left it uncovered the whole time. I mixed about .2gm powder and 5ml water in a test tube and it's still producing dark purple to black stains when tested on a paper towel with gold chloride solution. Thanks Butcher for explaining the chemistry of this test, and why the solution expires. It oxidizes.

 

[Yggdrasil]

Just as an experiment, I dissolved some stannous chloride crystals (SnCl2 * 2H2O) directly in tap water and have been using it for at least three weeks now without problems. I used no HCl or tin metal in the solution, and have left it uncovered the whole time. I mixed about .2gm powder and 5ml water in a test tube and it's still producing dark purple to black stains when tested on a paper towel with gold chloride solution. Thanks Butcher for explaining the chemistry of this test, and why the solution expires. It oxidizes.

Yes it works fine.
But dissolving Tin in HCl has a few advantages, it has an excess of acid which is important in some situations due to the need to be acidic.
You can leave some extra Tin in there which will keep the solution fresh.
Last but not the least you can't beat the price.

Why make something so simple hard?

 

[Justincase]

I just saw in the original post it said "STANNOUS CHRLORIDE ACS - For Analysis SnCl2 * 2H2O".
First I hope that is a type error should have been "STANNOUS CHLORIDE"
Also as it says "For Analysis" it was most lightly intended as a calibration sample.
They tend to be of very high purity from labs with an impeccable records or even a governmental establishment that will sell you a standardized sample of urine for £1000.
For this reason, they tend not to be economical to use in every day reactions.

 

[eaglekeeper]

I made this stannous roughly 2 years ago from BGA chip solder balls (free), so it has a slight copper contamination. Even after 2 years in a clear bottle it still works fine, as shown by the standard Au test.

I've never had to add any additional Tin during that time.

Just collect a bunch of solder balls (Remove any solder balls that has obvious copper traces still connected to them), dissolve in Hcl for a day or two, then filter off any left over crap...ready to use.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I made this stannous roughly 2 years ago from BGA chip solder balls (free), so it has a slight copper contamination. Even after 2 years in a clear bottle it still works fine, as shown by the standard Au test.

I've never had to add any additional Tin during that time.

Just collect a bunch of solder balls (Remove any solder balls that has obvious copper traces still connected to them), dissolve in Hcl for a day or two, then filter off any left over crap...ready to use.


View attachment 56652

The key to Stannous is the standard solutions so one can verify its condition.

 

[Marcel]

@eaglekeeper:
Mixing a solution that incorporates only one metal, namely tin, is the most reliable approach for consistent results. Stannous Chloride is an ideal solid crystal to use for this purpose, but a saturated mix of the crystals will only last for a few days. To make it last longer, it is recommended to add a piece of pure tin or to mix your own solution using pure tin.

It is important to note that all base metals, such as tin or copper, also act as precipitants in an acidic environment. Therefore, if there is a copper and tin mix in your solution, the copper will cement onto the tin. Even if the copper content is as low as 5%, it may affect the color reaction and make it harder to detect Precious Metals. Thus, using a solution that only contains pure tin is the best way to ensure consistent and accurate results.