TUMBLER CELL
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bswartzwelder
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VERY NICE. The only drawback I can see is that it appears you use about 3 gallons of sulphuric acid. Is that close? Sulphuric in an electrolytic cell never wear out? It does appear it gets dirty over time. How do you clean/filter it? If you have finished the 3000 grams of pins, how much gold did you recover? WOW, this is really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
A
Anonymous
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I am not sure which cell you are referring to,but here is some information on Firewalkers cell.
The acid came from reducing a 5 gallon container of battery acid,to 90%+ sulfuric.The result was a little less than 7000ml of usable acid.If memory serves, it took about 1 gallon to fill the container enough to an appropriate level.You could deplate about 1 oz of gold,before the acid would be too saturated to continue using.Once stripped of the gold,the acid can be reduced again,and reused several times before becoming too saturated with base metals,to continue using.Firewalker was attempting to figure out a way to plate out the base metals,when he retired from refining.The tumbler was Firewalkers answer,to lack of continuous continuity with pins in a cell.
After he built the first cell,I followed suit with a slightly larger cell,but soon ran into problems with keeping continuity.Firewalker gave the original cell to me,to thank me for helping him.I used it several times at first,with no problems,but decided it meant more to me to keep it as a trophy,considering the tumbler was his creation.
He is a very smart,and giving man,unfortunately he has run into some bad health problems in the last couple of years.He still calls me several times a week,just to "check on Johnny".I would be very sad without those calls.
The acid came from reducing a 5 gallon container of battery acid,to 90%+ sulfuric.The result was a little less than 7000ml of usable acid.If memory serves, it took about 1 gallon to fill the container enough to an appropriate level.You could deplate about 1 oz of gold,before the acid would be too saturated to continue using.Once stripped of the gold,the acid can be reduced again,and reused several times before becoming too saturated with base metals,to continue using.Firewalker was attempting to figure out a way to plate out the base metals,when he retired from refining.The tumbler was Firewalkers answer,to lack of continuous continuity with pins in a cell.
After he built the first cell,I followed suit with a slightly larger cell,but soon ran into problems with keeping continuity.Firewalker gave the original cell to me,to thank me for helping him.I used it several times at first,with no problems,but decided it meant more to me to keep it as a trophy,considering the tumbler was his creation.
He is a very smart,and giving man,unfortunately he has run into some bad health problems in the last couple of years.He still calls me several times a week,just to "check on Johnny".I would be very sad without those calls.
Geo
Well-known member
mic said:
i had this problem too. this is what i did. after recording starting volume, i diluted the acid heavily with water at least X5 and let it stand a couple of days. i then evaporated rapidly at a fast boil and when the original volume was nearing, green crystals started forming and continued until the liquid was almost clear like thin honey.i then decanted when cool leaving the crystals behind as they didn't re-dissolve.
A
Anonymous
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The only problem I see with doing that is that the boiling tempurature of sulfuric rises,as the purity increases.So by the time you get to around,95% it takes an aweful lot of heat to boil it.When we reduced it,we used several 2000ml beakers and kept the sulfuric just below a boil.We only took it up to about 94-95% because of the amount of energy it takes to bring it to 98%+.
bswartzwelder
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Would it possible or practical to build a tumbler cell like the ones shown in this thread but make the following modifications? First use a large, flat plate of lead for the cathode. Next, lay fiberglass cloth over the cathode, then the rest of the tumbler cell. The idea here is that the fiberglass cloth will collect the powdered gold as it drops down through the holes in the basket making it easier than tearing everything down to recover the gold. Electrical current would pass through the fiberglass cloth. Yes, no?
A
Anonymous
Guest
That actually sounds like a good idea.Depending on the fiberglass mesh,the powder could potentially be wash and dissolved directly in the fiberglass,then the mat could be rinsed into the auric chloride container,and the process could continue as planned.
The moderators would like to thank all of the members that contributed to the original thread upon which this thread was based, as well as those that asked questions showing what was missing. Because of the extra length and interest in this thread we have created the above consolidated version making for an easier read. We encourage all members to read, comment, and ask questions in the original thread, Tumbler cell
The Library threads should not be considered to constitute a complete education. Instead, they're more like reading a single book on the subject of recovery and refining. There is so much more information on the forum, and it is impossible to include it all in these condensed threads. Members are strongly encouraged to read the rest of the forum to round out their education.
The Library threads should not be considered to constitute a complete education. Instead, they're more like reading a single book on the subject of recovery and refining. There is so much more information on the forum, and it is impossible to include it all in these condensed threads. Members are strongly encouraged to read the rest of the forum to round out their education.
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