Trouble reverse plating gold using copper basket

[Anonymous]

I watched Steve's video and built a cell using a lead cathode and copper basket anode I purchased from Steve. I bought a 12V / 10 amp manual battery charger, built my copper basket, put in a pound of gold pated connector pins, hooked up my red lead to the copper basket and black lead to the lead cathode and turned it on.

The meter on my charger pegged so I could not tell how much current it was drawing but enough to make the lead cathode pretty warm and it looked like it disolved some lead into the solution in the form of dukll silver sludge floating on top of the acid. It deplated the pins pretty well but after 5-7 min. I disconnected it to let the acid cool. When I tried to reconnect, it shut my charger down (I assume to much current). I ended up making a smaller copper basket with a lot fewer pins (maybe 1/5th pound) and finally got the current in the 6 amp range but the charger still will shut down.

What did I do wrong? Why did it draw so much current?

 

[butcher]

for a fixed voltage and varible current supply (your battery cgarger) the amperage will be determined by cell resistance, like a dead short, or alot of metal in the electrolyte, really close spacing.

Here is a trick to limit current and give you an indicator as to cells operation stick a tail lamp from an automobile in series wit cell on the possitive electrode lead


bat plus-------lamp-----------Anode(cell)cathode------------bat neg

note if cell is a dead short it will not matter, as lamp limits the current drawn from the power supply, (need more current change lamp wattage).
also if cell resistance low lamp will be dim.

 

[lazersteve]

If your charger is one of the digitally controlled types it may be shutting off in protection mode. You want a charger with minimal circuitry: Power switch transformer, diode, analog meter, and themal cutoff. I refer to them as 'manual' chargers as oposed to the electronic 'automatic' type.

If you have the right kind of charger then verify you are using 90% or stronger acid. Sulfuric acid will absorb water from the air if it is left open for too long.


Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys for the info. I will give the lamp a try to limit current.

I am using a Schumacher manual SE 1052 50/10/2 charger on the 10 amp setting.
The Sulfuric (I think I said HCI on the original post but it's sulfuric) I am using is Rooto Professional drain opener. From your video, it looks like the same drain opener you are using Steve. You might verify that for me. It does not state the contents on the 1 gallon container but it does say "Contains concentrated Sulfuric Acid". I'll try looking up the MSDS sheet on line.

Thanks again for the advice. I'll keep you posted on any results

 

[GrailSeeker]

I watched Steve's video and built a cell using a lead cathode and copper basket anode I purchased from Steve. I bought a 12V / 10 amp manual battery charger, built my copper basket, put in a pound of gold pated connector pins, hooked up my red lead to the copper basket and black lead to the lead cathode and turned it on.

jcomtrader, do you have anyone near you familiar with electronics making a lower voltage power supply? You could buy one but it is costly though worth the investment. He could take the lines from an old psu, they give 3.3 5 +12 -12 volt rails. I suspect that 12 volts is a tad too much for potential. You would be better off with 5v or less. Anytime soon I am thinking of buying from steve a pair of electrodes and try it with my own.

 

[Anonymous]

I can do that. I've been a tech for 30 yrs. I looked around my shop and found a power supply that will probably do the job. It has all the wires coming out into a plug so all I would have to do is identify the specific wires each voltage uses and add alligator clips

I have tried to attach a pic of the spec label. Hope it comes through.

Thanks for the suggestion
jcomtrader

 

[g_axelsson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_power_supply#Wiring_diagrams

/Göran

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for the PSU winring diagram. Especially helpfull is the power on line and the info telling me to drive the line low to turn PSU on!

jcomtrader

 

[Anonymous]

Just a follow up as to how the reverse plating worked out. I have not had a chance to try everything suggested buy I ended up using a new batch of acid (no glycerin), a smaller copper basket (about 5" x 6" overall and shapped to hold pins), and limiting the quantity of pins to less than 1/4 lb. They stripped very nicely using the 12V battery charger with typical current about 6 to 8 amps.

Thanks everyone for all your helpfull suggestions