This Could Be Revealing

[stoneware]

PC Power supply wire, two identical tokens, one in hydrochloric acid with the other in nitric, the major element is copper what do you suppose the other is.

If the weak acid solutions do not freeze up into ice during the night we should know the secret in the morning.

 

[stoneware]

If the coating turns out to be precious then this type of wire would be a good candidate for a copper parting cell.

Put my flower pots to work.

 

[stoneware]

We do not have to wait until morning, I can at least confirm the coating is not tin.

The wire is folder over with the cut ends pointed towards the bottom of the vessel and it appears the nitric is attacking the copper slowly working it way up the wire.

Wouldn't that be a hoot if it turns out to be platinum, then from this wire could weave it into a mesh and use it as an anode..

Or cast the wire into anodes for parting.

I'm not going to stannous test it simply because common sense tells me palladium is less resitent to nitric.

 

[Yggdrasil]

We do not have to wait until morning, I can at least confirm the coating is not tin.

The wire is folder over with the cut ends pointed towards the bottom of the vessel and it appears the nitric is attacking the copper slowly working it way up the wire.

Wouldn't that be a hoot if it turns out to be platinum, then from this wire could weave it into a mesh and use it as an anode..

Or cast the wire into anodes for parting.

I'm not going to stannous test it simply because common sense tells me palladium is less resitent to nitric.

I'm a bit baffled here, is there any reason for such a wire to have a PM plating?

 

[orvi]

We do not have to wait until morning, I can at least confirm the coating is not tin.

The wire is folder over with the cut ends pointed towards the bottom of the vessel and it appears the nitric is attacking the copper slowly working it way up the wire.

Wouldn't that be a hoot if it turns out to be platinum, then from this wire could weave it into a mesh and use it as an anode..

Or cast the wire into anodes for parting.

I'm not going to stannous test it simply because common sense tells me palladium is less resitent to nitric.

Common wire coatings are tin, nickel and silver. Silver being found very unlikely these days. And in consumer electronics, I am afraid that even silver is luxury. Never seen Pt plated wire. Pd plated - yes, but in switches and military gear from soviet era.

Considering it should be more than 1g/kg of PM, price for the wiring would skyrocket, multiply itself few times simply, no

 

[stoneware]

The wire on the left hand side had it been tin or nickel clad copper the coating would have dissolved in hydrochloric acid.

This morning I heated the HCL as you can see there was no change.

The clade wire in nitric the coating was attacked after 12 hours, look closely you'll notice it was an incomplete digestion. There's still visible clad.

 

[orvi]

That would be more than surprising for me to find PMs in cable plating... I would zapp them with XRF. That would tell for sure what it is... You can be onto something, that is for sure. Try to stick a piece in nitric and test with saltwater for Ag presence.

There is old saying among refiners here - if it does not dissolve in nitric, it start to be exciting. If it does not dissolve in AR, you can probably toss it into the trash

 

[Yggdrasil]

The wire on the left hand side had it been tin or nickel clad copper the coating would have dissolved in hydrochloric acid.

This morning I heated the HCL as you can see there was no change.

The clade wire in nitric the coating was attacked after 12 hours, look closely you'll notice it was an incomplete digestion. There's still visible clad.

View attachment 53252 View attachment 53253

Hmm, this might be interesting.

 

[stoneware]

orvi what tweaked my curiosity, one refiner buying waste specifically mentioned computer wire as one of the items they would purchase.

Due to platinum's resistance to corrosion and electrical conductivity property's, I believe the platinum clad copper wire is used more often than we're currently aware.

Platinum is more ductile than gold, wondering if clad copper chops would abrade, we know the copper parting cell works but have no interest in a time consuming process.

I can see copper clad platinum wire being used in automotive wiring, washing machines anything operated in a harsh environment.

If anyone with an XRF cares to shoot the wire, would love to know the results.

Platinum Conductivity​

Platinum is an element with high electrical conductivity and is more ductile than gold, silver, or copper. It is less malleable than gold. The metal has excellent resistance to corrosion, is stable at high temperatures, and has stable electrical properties.

 

[stoneware]

I'm going to strip more of this wire and use it as the anode in a small chlorate cell. This experiment should reveal some truths.

Platinum is one of the few metals that will stand up in a sodium chloride salt cell.

 

[Alondro]

Get some in solution and do a stannous test. Hot AR will dissolve Pt. You'd only need a tiny amount in solution to test it. The stannous test is pretty definitive when Pt is present.

 

[stoneware]

Electrolysis in the salt cell produced this colored precipitate at the anode side with some black deposit on the cathode.

I think the precipitate maybe cadmium.

 

[stoneware]

Get some in solution and do a stannous test. Hot AR will dissolve Pt. You'd only need a tiny amount in solution to test it. The stannous test is pretty definitive when Pt is present.

Sound advice, but after paying a premium for my nitric acid have none to spare on this nonsense.

 

[stoneware]

Plated copper buss bars that we thought were tin coated could actually be cadmium.

Apr 29, 2021NAS44 copper busbars [copper alloy per ASTM B152] may be 'bare' or may be cadmium plated [bare-silvery Cd, no post-plating treatment]. Electrical grade [high purity] copper alloys tend to designed for very low resistance across bonds/grounds. Cadmium plating helps maintain a constant surface condition on the copper over-very-long-times.

 

[Shark]

If I though that solution contained cadmium I would have on a pair of gloves when handling it at a minimum.

I had a good load of wire a couple years ago that was silver plated. Large sized, stranded stuff and was used in solar panel charging stations. Actually it worked out well in a copper cell.

 

[stoneware]

If I though that solution contained cadmium I would have on a pair of gloves when handling it at a minimum.

I had a good load of wire a couple years ago that was silver plated. Large sized, stranded stuff and was used in solar panel charging stations. Actually it worked out well in a copper cell.

The guys refining silver contacts come into my contact with cadmium than I do, cadmium was one of the best paint pigments.

When I see someone sanding down old equipment for repainting, reds, yellow and orange paints - cadmium does not react to UV light.

One issue was artists would lick their brush to keep a good point on it for delicate work.

Personally I would have sold the silver clad copper wire as is for scrap price. What was silver worth at the time and how many ounces did you recover.

Scrap yards generally will not accept cell copper.

 

[stoneware]

If I though that solution contained cadmium I would have on a pair of gloves when handling it at a minimum.

I had a good load of wire a couple years ago that was silver plated. Large sized, stranded stuff and was used in solar panel charging stations. Actually it worked out well in a copper cell.

One coupon was subjected to cold then hot hydrochloric acid, neither produced a reaction.

Just because I suspected it to be cadmium based on color does not necessary mean that I'm correct with my assumption.

Still don't know what it is but you can bet it's toxic like most of the elements we deal with.

Reaction of cadmium with hydrochloric acid​

Cd reacts with hydrochloric acid forming CdCl2 [5].

Cd(s) + 2 HCl(aq)

CdCl2(s) + H2(g)

 

[Shark]

I melt what I don’t reuse into blocks and take it to a larger scrap buyer that I have dealt with for over 30 years. We have a nice working relationship. I get paid a fair price for 50 pound lots, and I get to keep the pm’s. I could sell direct to his buyer for a few more pennies on the pound but that takes another 24 hours and steps on toes that I do not wish to step on. I use copper often as a collector metal instead of silver because it was what I had to work with. It helps that I enjoy working with smallish copper cells. It is just making do with what I had to work with and who I had available to deal with. I admit I have been luckier than many in this hobby. I started this refining stuff for the knowledge and as a means to keep my mind busy, not so much to make money. If my health was better I would still be growing and slowing down a lot less.

 

[kurtak]

Nitric does not dissolve Pt - therefore if the wire was Pt plated & you put it in nitric - just like nitric gets under the gold plating of fingers/pins giving you "gold foils" --- so also would putting Pt plated wire in nitric give you "Pt foils"

Therefore if the plating is "dissolving" off the wire - the plating is not Pt

End of that test for Pt plating

If it is silver you have two options to determine that

1) put the wire in the nitric - let the nitric work until it will dissolve no more copper (may have to add more copper) once the nitric will no longer dissolve copper there will be "cemented" silver in the bottom of your beaker

2) put the wire in the nitric - once the silver is dissolved off the surface - but before the nitric is used up (still dissolving copper) pull the wire - silver will be in solution - add salt water or HCl to produce silver chloride

no silver cement (#1) or no chloride (#2) = not silver plating

End of that test for silver plating

If you don't get a positive for Pt (foils) --- or a positive silver (cement or chloride)

Why continue ????

Kurt