What Type of Strainer Can I Use For Sulfuric Cell - Rinse?

[Anonymous]

Hello members,

I'm going to start using my sulfuric cell again in a few days when it gets warmer here, but I wanted to know which type of strainer I can use to strain my pins with.

For starters, in my rinse pail (plastic hospital bed pail) I have all the pins that I rinsed when I was done with them in my sulfuric cell. The problem I saw after letting the solution drip back into the cell, then dumping the pins in the rinse water, I now have a large amount of black sludge at the bottom of the pail.

What I want to do is have (2) pails, 1 to rinse in the water with the pins in the strainer, and the 2nd pail to put the rinsed pins in.

So, my question is: What type of mesh can/should I use (plastic or metal/stainless)? If I can use a stainless strainer with the plastic handle on it, I have a few of them, and I also have a 5 piece strainer set I used for classifying my paydirt during my gold recovery.

I'm going to go through my rinse solution with the stripped pins in them and strain everything to get to the black mud, and then from there I'll be rinsing the 2-part way to make sure I'm not discarding any black powder.

Also, most of the pins that I have won't go through a common mesh strainer, so, the mesh size can be a typical hand held size.

Thanks

Kevin

 

[Palladium]

Try a piece of fiberglass window screen fabric.

 

[Anonymous]

Try a piece of fiberglass window screen fabric.

I have some of that laying around from stripping an old aluminum screen window. Wow, I almost threw it out, but something told me to keep it because I may need it one day. That day may have come. I'll test it out.

Thanks Palladium.

Kevin

 

[Barren Realms 007]

I have used a lint catcher from a clothes dryer before.

 

[Anonymous]

I have used a lint catcher from a clothes dryer before.

Yeah, but that is metal. That's what I'm curious about. If a metal and a plastic mesh strainer would work.

I'll try the fiberglass screen I have, then I'll try a plastic mesh screen if I can find one with small enough holes to keep the pins in, then I'll try a metal/stainless mesh screen to see how they all hold up.

Thanks for the tips and input everyone.

Kevin

 

[nickvc]

Kevin if the hole size on the plastic strainers are too large try dipping them into nearly boiling water, it tends to shrink the mesh size down but use caution as if it's in too long the mesh basket becomes a flat bed, don't ask me how I know :lol:

 

[Barren Realms 007]

I have used a lint catcher from a clothes dryer before.

Yeah, but that is metal. That's what I'm curious about. If a metal and a plastic mesh strainer would work.

I'll try the fiberglass screen I have, then I'll try a plastic mesh screen if I can find one with small enough holes to keep the pins in, then I'll try a metal/stainless mesh screen to see how they all hold up.

Thanks for the tips and input everyone.

Kevin

The one I use has a plastic mesh.

 

[kadriver]

I have used copper mesh screen to make a basket for some gold plated pins in my sulfuric acid stripping cell - it worked well.

kadriver

 

[kkmonte]

Laser Steve also uses copper mesh, and he sells it on his website in 1 sq. ft squares. I think the price is around $10 for 1 sq ft of it.

 

[Anonymous]

I have copper mesh screen, which I purchased from Lasersteve, but it wouldn't be good for rinsing because of the mesh size, and I'm sure some black powders will remain in it, along with the pins.

All I'm gong to do is when the pins are finished stripping, I'm going to dump them in another mesh strainer, swish it around in some rinse water, then dump the pins in another bucket of rinse water. My goal is to not keep transferring the black powders into the rinse bucket with all the stripped pins in them.

At least I have some mesh screen and other strainers to work with. I just didn't want the wire mesh to degrade in a short period of time. Either way, I'll try one or more different mesh screens.

I still have plenty of black powder in my rinse bucket and I do want to recover it and process.

Kevin

 

[tek4g63]

Kevin,
Stainless strainers will hold up well to the sulfuric acid. Plastic can be troublesome if you pour the pins straight from the cell into it then go right to the rinse water, due to the initial reaction between the sulfuric acid and the water. It can all depend on the type of plastic. But just as long as you keep the concentration of the sulfuric acid low in your rinse water, most stainless steels and plastics will hold up well enough.

For larger pins I use a little green plastic strainer that I bought from Walmart. Its like a cereal bowl sized spaghetti strainer. For smaller pins I use an old ceramic tea/ dessert plate and swish it around like panning for gold. Except I keep the pins in the plate and wash out the black gold powder. Its not the fastest way to get things done, but I'm a patient man and I enjoy the thinking time.

 

[butcher]

Alternative to finding a screen.
Pins are heavy and liquids or fine powder can be poured off from the heavier metal (decanting).
Pour your pins in a jar, pour off liquid leaving the pins in the bottom of the jar, you can rinse the pins in the jar pouring off liquid.