My mother once restored her heritage silver spoons, forks and knives by just boiling them in an aluminum kettle, using just a small amount of ordinary (iodized) table salt in also small amount of our quite hard tap water. The silverware had been tarnished due to little use and no protective paper wraps or anything. Previously they had been occasionally cleaned by some mildly abrasive paste, but that was tedious, one piece at a time. Moreover it removed some of the precious silver. This salt and aluminum method was in effect a bulk operation and also did not consume any of the silver.
Thank you! I just cleaned 15 years of black sulphide from our teapot using this method in a bucket. It worked brilliantly while I found I could 'encourage' the process by rubbing the stubborn parts with bicarbonate powder.
Your videos are great. I look forward to new ones. I'd suggest covering new reactions rather than revisiting the old. Technical discussion of retrosynthesis would be interesting, as would some heterocyclic syntheses.
OMG Thank you so much for this video. My silver expensive jewellery got very tarnished (turned dark purple bronze colour- was super panicked) in washing powder solution whilst hand washing some soaked clothes. Tried the baking soda solution on foil in a glass bowl with hot water didn't really make a difference.... Started to look online to buy a silver tarnish product. Came across your video followed your salt/ Baking powder instructions within 10 seconds I kid you not, I couldn't believe it. My jewellery is now gleaming...Thank you so much.I will donate to you the cost of the silver product I was seeking to buy online. Thank you.
Thanks man did this to my mothers silverware set, she was so happy to not be using a rag and buffing compound, did a full set in like 5mins, although she wasnt to happy with the smell of the kitchen afterwards.
at Robo t Slug - yeah Rob , it was really cool This man has accomplished what the alchemists wanted to do, turn the sulfer into gold or silver... this is done by getting rid of the sulfer from the silver and gold coins.. making them like new is the best way to create valuable silver and gold. if we can market the sulfer or the dirt as intrinsic value then its got more value more value than silver value, but we can pay this for shinny silver or gold coins too.
Try the reverse, since the electrical potential is -1.66V you're creating a battery with the tarnish and the aluminum. Try illuminating an LED or something similar with the recreation. The current is probably extremely low but you might be able to get it to work.
I think he is saying those are two different reactions with two different electrical potentials. So one is 0.69, the other is 1.66, they aren't done at the same time. He used the one with the higher voltage because it works better and is faster for reducing the coin.
Darn it...I forgot about this method. In 5th grade (60 years ago) , I won a penny-ante science fair at school by demonstrating this...I was hollered at by the teacher because of the smell it made and nearly suspended (must have been sulphur dioxide?)...The janitor brought in a large fan and the students had to leave the building. Later in the year I started making fireworks...No problem there, the teacher was My buddy and We made some nice black powder together. Blew up a lot of stuff. Alas, that was in the good days when 'adults' didn't flip their wig when a kid could be a kid. Nicely presented video, Sir. Thanks for reminding me of My childhood.
That is very educational video. It will also make people better understand why steel does not corrode when coated with zinc layer or in contact with a zinc object. Your example is so fast that it is much easier to observe than slow steel corrosion process.
Wow just wow. I must own no less than a kilo of heavy solid silver jewellery that I like spotless. And yes you guessed I hate hate polishing cleaning. So going to try this. Thank you
Utterly fascinating! I found several silver items in an old well. They are badly crusted with something - not mud or dirt but something that steel wool won't budge. I am going to try this in the hope it might work.
This has been a great help for me, in my cleaning of silver plated and solid silver flutes. They have fiddly bits that are hard to reach, and so this method is a great help. I sometimes have a gold plated onto silver area, where tarnishing on the silver below is starting to show through. If I use this method, would it remove the tarnish on the silver below the gold plating, without damaging the gold plating? Thanks
I just did this experiment today, and it is amazing. I use it to clean some of my wife's expensive toys and it worked so nice. I did a small alteration that did increase the reaction speed, a few seconds on the microwave :D that resulted on a reaction as fast as the electrolisis process
Wow, your video was very well done, and more informative than I could handle! Thank you. I've a question that lead me here in the first place, perhaps you could help: I was wondering if something similar would work on a carbon steel knife. Carbon steel oxidizes \ forms a patina when it comes in contact with moisture, and even more so with acidic elements. I've often used baking soda mixed with only a few drops of water as a slurry to rub deeply against the steel and thus remove the patina. Would iron \ steel enjoy the same process that silver does? Perhaps some metal "lower" than aluminum? Did this make sense? Thank you for your help! Dan
I want to ask if I can use this method when I will clean copper, bronze or brass, nickel, aluminium coins etc. I mean, I combine the salt, baking soda, water, and aluminium foil rather than using the vinegar salt method because it might have other side effects if the coin is not silver. I'm not using the battery. Only the natural way. Thanks. You are a professor, so I might get a better answer. So, can you explain?
Never thought that just two metals touching each other would be enough to completely get rid of the tarnish. You always learn new stuff, and the awesome thing is that you get it basically for free. Thanks for sharing! Oh forgot one thing, does someone know how to get rid of rust on iron/high carbon steel caused by hydrochloric acid? Tried polishing and rust removing agents but you can still see the orange/brown stuff caused by the HCl. I would highly appreciate it if someone knows how to get rid of it!
Great video. So what happens if you leave it to be electrolysized(?) for a long period of time, or even do it 2 or 3 times? Will it improve the look? Thank you,
I found a silver half dollar at an ocean beach with a very thick build up of patina, likely from the salt water. Would this method be effective in removing the patina and restoring the silver?
Would this work the same for 925 silver? (commonly used in jewelery) or would it have some other kind of reaction since that silver isn't quite so pure?
So if you leave the battery setup running in solution for a while, would you end up with a coating of whatever metal the wire is made of (I'm assuming copper) as the anode is oxidized to ions in solution? If so, is there any choice of electrode that'd avoid that?
We have been using this to clean silver ever since in our household, but we only used salt, no baking soda and it worked fine too, does the baking soda really make such a big difference?
It will permanently alter the features of the coin (albeit very slightly) depending on the amount of tarnishing. That's why he put the warning at the beginning of the video. You'd only do this if you solely care about the metal content.
Hey NurdRage! I know nearly nothing about chemistry but I really love watching your videos. I was wondering what gas was being produced by the positive wire going into the solution. Some gas bubbles also formed on the coin itself.
Hey Nurd Rage What is the cheapest DIY homemade solution for protecting copper traces on a PCB? Commercial liquid tin solutions are prohibitively expensive for general hobby use, in my opinion. My problem is the shelf life of liquid tin solutions and their limited reuse. What is a possible solution for a casual hobbyist to achieve at home without a fume hood or super hazardous materials handling? Tin is usually used because the process is done before adding components to the PCB. What if the problem is assessed from a different perspective by looking at our core objectives instead of considering alternative solutions to an established norm. Most hobbyist electronics PCBs are single sided. We are also mainly looking to protect the copper from oxidation. What protective options are possible when the PCB could be treated at any stage of the process, even after the parts have been soldered? A secondary consideration of note is appearance and visual appeal. We all want something pretty that reflects all of the thought and effort that went into our projects. The biggest challenge is cost. Let's say I etch 6 PCBs a year, one every 2 months. This will cost me around $20 w/shipping for a 125ml bottle of liquid tin from circuitspecialists. From everything I've read the solution is 'one-and-done' on this time scale. That's too much in my opinion, especially when etching a prototype myself is already far more expensive than ordering one from a Chinese PCB board house. What can I do at home for less than $5 per project? -Jake
Halbostfriese Yeah paints are an option. That's just less appealing to my 'two digit IQ "ewww!-somethin-S H I N Y"' half of my brain. A good 2 part epoxy coating would probably be best as it would bury and seal any missed contamination and has the most potential for durability if mixed and applied correctly. -At least from my perspective as an ex-auto body painter. My issue is that paint does nothing to help my subconscious dilutions of becoming the next John Fluke. The utilitarian ugliness of it is such a downer. Every time some racist bozo talks crap about a low budget device from China, and it looks better than my paint job, it hurts. My inner caveman needs a good handcrafted shiny, but my cheap bastard American poor house culture is holding me back.... I need help with my pretentious first world problems ;)
I protect copper traces just with a fair amount of rosin dissolved in ethanol. Then I dry it under a 100W desk halogen lamp. If you don't dry it, the coating may be sticky, but if you dry it that way, it seems to be elastic and not chip off. The bonus is just fanstastic solderability of such boards.
First, a disclaimer: I don't make my own PCBs, I don't tinplate myself. However, what I can do is look up information really, really well. I also have an interest in science like this, so I wanted to see how to go about doing it, to try and help out a fellow science nerd. Solutions have a limited shelf life because of the chemical composition; it deteriorates once mixed, thus the issue there. Thus my quick suggestion for a professionally made tin solution replacement would be Tinnit Tin Plate ( www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-Tinnit-Tin-Plate/dp/B0002BBV0A ) it ships the dry chemicals in two packages that must be mixed together with water to activate. It's also fairly cheap, though I'd try to combine it with other items so you're not paying twice the price, effectively, just because of shipping and handling. The two packages make almost 500 mL, too (they say it makes 1 pint), so it's rather cheaper than most commercially available liquid tin solutions in much greater quantity as well. If you want to make your own entirely, however, you can use a combination of Stannous Chloride, Thiourea, and Sulfamic Acid in a 1:4:6 ratio; 0.5g Stannous Chloride, 2g Thiourea, 3g Sulfamic Acid mixed with 100mL of heated, distilled water makes almost as much as the 16 dollar bottle of liquid tin from MG Chemicals. You can get a lot of these materials for fairly cheap, too; 1800g Sulfamic Acid, $17: www.amazon.com/Aqua-Mix-Sulfamic-Acid-Crystals/dp/B000GFJTVA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395317&sr=8-5&keywords=sulfamic+acid (image shows 4lb, but it's the 1lb order) 500g Thiourea, $26: www.amazon.com/HiMedia-GRM611-500G-Thiourea-R-500/dp/B00DYOE12M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395243&sr=8-2&keywords=thiourea 100g Stannous Chloride, $22: www.amazon.com/Science-Company-NC-7784-Stannous-Chloride/dp/B07621WNNV/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395220&sr=8-5&keywords=stannous+chloride With these volumes, you could make 200 batches at the volumes given above (the limiter being the Stannous Chloride), or about 20 litres of product. These are also just quick searches for each chemical to show an example, as well; if you look around I'm sure you can find better deals or better volumes for your specific needs, or if there's a local chemical supplier you can get in touch with, that would work too. NileRed actually has a video on making Stannous Chloride as well, ua-cam.com/video/zziLOly2R8U/v-deo.html Note that he remarks that isolating solid Stannous Chloride is hard to do, so the effort involved might not be worth it at all.
There are three commercial options for tin plating PCBs. 1)"Tinnit" this is a two-part dry chemical that you dissolve in water, once mixed it has a three month shelf life although I've continued to use it for up to a year and a half(turns yellow and smells terrible). 2) "liquid tin" from MG chemicals, this is a pre-mixed clear solution which keeps for a couple years and can be reused until it stops working. Keep a separate bottle for your used solution and keep your fresh bottle fresh. 3) the "Plug N' Plate" kit from Caswell plating, this is a brush plating kit it's actual electroplating so you'll need to move your ground from net to net as you go, the solution apparently keeps forever and the consumables are available. There's a version of this kit for all the commonly plated metals making the gold fairly tempting, however the gold kit is twice the price of the more lowly metals and the solution has a fairly brief shelf life. There is however another way for hobbyist to produce good-looking corrosion free PCBs. I'm going to build this up a little because I read this many times when I was learning this skill and I refused to believe it. I was convinced it was amateurish, and tedious, and time-consuming but here and now I am wholeheartedly recommending it. By far the simplest quickest and cheapest way for a hobbyist to produce beautiful, shiny, corrosion free PCBs is to simply solder over the traces while your assembling the board, really. Just leave the resist on until you're ready to assemble. However I'm also quite interested in Nerdrage's perspective on this problem.
Is there a way to find the minimum voltage required to electroplate copper onto the nickel coin? Do you taken just the standard reduction potential of Cu + negative - stnd oxidation potential of nickel?
What would happen if you left the wires attached to the battery pack for say an extended period of time? The silver changed in around 2 seconds, which was glorious, but what would happen that coin if you did it for say 20 seconds? Or 2 minutes? Would you see a noticeable build up on the coin? Thank you in advance.
Does the reaction produces electric current and measure it if we're using copper wire connecting the silver and the aluminum foil rather than making them touch directly?
Would this work with other metals than silver and different compounds not baised on sulphur? Just out of curiosity, I'm not a chemist so I don't really know anything about it :/
Really cool! I did this on silverware using a 9V battery and copper wire. As can be seen also on your video, some blue stuff forms on the positive wire. Is it copper hydroxide? I did this on a stainless steel tabletop and also noticed afterwards that two small marks had appeared from somewhere. Could it be something related to this?
How is the wear on the silver using this kind of restoration compared to silver polish? Does one of them cause more long term wear on the silver than the other?
Is it possible to refine the Silver from Silver plated EPNS objects? (EPNS is an alloy of Nickle, Zinc and Copper) What I have tried before is to dip hot objects into Nitric Acid, the silver plating dissolves quickly and is then displaced by the nickle, copper and zinc. But surely there is a better way that doesn't generate toxic end products?
So the collectors never clean their coins? I don't get it why they would hate this particular method, which if I'm getting it correctly does not remove actual silver, unlike how physical cleaning might.
Many times silver might be protected with a patina, and this cleaning method will remove that as well. The only accepted cleaning method I read of is painstaking hand cleaning with soap, spirits, small tool tips and mild abrasive. Edit: Should only be done respectably by someone who knows what they are doing, oc Even removing dirt can be destructive.
Hmm... I'm trying to restore some Constitutional that's tarnished almost black, but this (following your directions) doesn't seem to do what it shows. I mixed: 200mL tap water (hot when drawn and mixed in plastic cup with plastic fork) 20g Morton's table salt 10g Arm&Hammer baking soda Then put that into a paper bowl with a decent-sized piece of foil and dropped the 90% Ag, 10% Cu coins onto the foil. No result. What am I doing wrong?
Amazing reaction! I have never expected a electrochemistry happening so fast! I have a question regarding to this reaction though. Are the H2S introduced by yourself, or is it a common contaminant that attacks silver?
Appreciate this video tried this for cleaning my wife's silver jewelry but the last item a necklace isn't fully working. How often should I replace the solution with a new batch? Should I trim my copper wires? They have a blue color to it. Thanks again for this video!
@NurdRage thanks, also found out that touching the positive wire directly on the silver causes it to turn dark or even more tarnished.. swapped out solution and made sure not to touch the silver with the positive copper wire. I let it bubble a little bit and looks much better.
I'm about to ask a dumb question. It is because I have high school level understanding of chemistry and unable to figure this out for myself. The question is what would one need to reverse bronze in this way, and copper. Let's say I have Penny's that I want to make look new again just for the sake of education. What would change? Could I use this exact method or would I have to change out my metal for my anode? The penny would be the cathode correct?
Hi, I was very excited when I watched the video. I work a lot with silver and tried the method with the batteries today. I used a 9 Volt battery and tried it on a spoon. I used cables with crocodile clamps. It was heavily bubbling and the water turned almost black which got me thinking it works for me too. However: The spoon is still dirty but the positively charged crocodile clamp fully dissolved in the water! What did I do wrong if so?
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Any of my old videos that you think i should redo?
NurdRage do your video on making nitric acid! I loved that one!
NurdRage magnetic salts!!!
Plz
What about the Hydrazine sulfate one?
Pyrimethamine! :P
Just cleaned all of my grandfathers old coins. He will be so pleased.
Lmao
😆
dread emoji
My mother once restored her heritage silver spoons, forks and knives by just boiling them in an aluminum kettle, using just a small amount of ordinary (iodized) table salt in also small amount of our quite hard tap water. The silverware had been tarnished due to little use and no protective paper wraps or anything. Previously they had been occasionally cleaned by some mildly abrasive paste, but that was tedious, one piece at a time. Moreover it removed some of the precious silver. This salt and aluminum method was in effect a bulk operation and also did not consume any of the silver.
Thank you! I just cleaned 15 years of black sulphide from our teapot using this method in a bucket. It worked brilliantly while I found I could 'encourage' the process by rubbing the stubborn parts with bicarbonate powder.
Awesome! i'm glad it worked for ya :)
Your videos are great. I look forward to new ones. I'd suggest covering new reactions rather than revisiting the old. Technical discussion of retrosynthesis would be interesting, as would some heterocyclic syntheses.
OMG Thank you so much for this video. My silver expensive jewellery got very tarnished (turned dark purple bronze colour- was super panicked) in washing powder solution whilst hand washing some soaked clothes. Tried the baking soda solution on foil in a glass bowl with hot water didn't really make a difference.... Started to look online to buy a silver tarnish product.
Came across your video followed your salt/ Baking powder instructions within 10 seconds I kid you not, I couldn't believe it. My jewellery is now gleaming...Thank you so much.I will donate to you the cost of the silver product I was seeking to buy online. Thank you.
What did you do
You gotta warn people about the smell! Doing that reaction releases malodorous sulfur compounds. It’s a good experiment to do outside.
Thanks man did this to my mothers silverware set, she was so happy to not be using a rag and buffing compound, did a full set in like 5mins, although she wasnt to happy with the smell of the kitchen afterwards.
I'm delighted and enlightening by the science. Please don't stop making these types of vids. I really enjoyed it :)
Best silver cleaningvideo I've found. Thanks a bunch
That was EXTREMELY cool. I had no idea this was a thing, thank you, as always, for your informative and interesting content!
at Robo t Slug - yeah Rob , it was really cool
This man has accomplished what the alchemists wanted to do, turn the sulfer into gold or silver...
this is done by getting rid of the sulfer from the silver and gold coins.. making them like new is the best way to create valuable silver and gold.
if we can market the sulfer or the dirt as intrinsic value then its got more value more value than silver value, but we can pay this for shinny silver or gold coins too.
Wish you were my chemistry teacher back in the day! I would have had an A+ instead of a B! Love the content, keep the videos coming!! Thanks!
Try the reverse, since the electrical potential is -1.66V you're creating a battery with the tarnish and the aluminum. Try illuminating an LED or something similar with the recreation. The current is probably extremely low but you might be able to get it to work.
Shouldn't the cell voltage be -0.69-(-1.66)=0.97V? That wouldn't be enough to light an LED.
I think he is saying those are two different reactions with two different electrical potentials. So one is 0.69, the other is 1.66, they aren't done at the same time. He used the one with the higher voltage because it works better and is faster for reducing the coin.
That reminds me of when I was a kid watching Mr. Wizard. A dramatic effect explained by science. Bravo!
Taking a corrosion course currently, this is so interesting. Cheers, man. Loved it!
Darn it...I forgot about this method. In 5th grade (60 years ago) , I won a penny-ante science fair at school by demonstrating this...I was hollered at by the teacher because of the smell it made and nearly suspended (must have been sulphur dioxide?)...The janitor brought in a large fan and the students had to leave the building. Later in the year I started making fireworks...No problem there, the teacher was My buddy and We made some nice black powder together. Blew up a lot of stuff. Alas, that was in the good days when 'adults' didn't flip their wig when a kid could be a kid. Nicely presented video, Sir. Thanks for reminding me of My childhood.
4:35 Moments like that are why I love chemistry. Great video, as usual.
That is very educational video. It will also make people better understand why steel does not corrode when coated with zinc layer or in contact with a zinc object. Your example is so fast that it is much easier to observe than slow steel corrosion process.
I did this with my kids yesterday. Amazingly easy and fun to watch.
It has been 4 years, have your kids maintained their shiny glow? Or have they begun to tarnish? :)
@@jholland404
😂😂😂
Also did they retain their numismatic value ??
Great video,You don,t waste our time and you taught me a lot very quickly.
This is amazing, thanks for all the work you put into your videos!
Awesomeness happening before our own eyes! Thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for this, especially 3:57 onwards. If only I'd known about this back in the '80s!
I wish my chem professors had taught my chem classes the visual way you do in your videos
Wow just wow. I must own no less than a kilo of heavy solid silver jewellery that I like spotless. And yes you guessed I hate hate polishing cleaning. So going to try this. Thank you
4:38 I can already see this becoming a trending gif
Lol yup, "over less than 2 seconds" not sure how long that is......
Yesterday i was In a mineral bath and my silver pendant stained itself instantly, this vid Will be realy useful.
Great presentation!
I just subscribed only after the 1st video. Can't wait to see more like this. Thank you
Utterly fascinating! I found several silver items in an old well. They are badly crusted with something - not mud or dirt but something that steel wool won't budge. I am going to try this in the hope it might work.
Did it?
Did it?
Please do more videos like this one. Using different chemicals and different metals👍
Well done 👍👍Great video 👍👍Thanks 👍👍
This has been a great help for me, in my cleaning of silver plated and solid silver flutes. They have fiddly bits that are hard to reach, and so this method is a great help. I sometimes have a gold plated onto silver area, where tarnishing on the silver below is starting to show through. If I use this method, would it remove the tarnish on the silver below the gold plating, without damaging the gold plating? Thanks
I just did this experiment today, and it is amazing. I use it to clean some of my wife's expensive toys and it worked so nice. I did a small alteration that did increase the reaction speed, a few seconds on the microwave :D that resulted on a reaction as fast as the electrolisis process
Nice to see you have a (mostly) new stirbar. :D
That was very cool, it looked like it was oxidizing the copper in your wires too in the battery example
When he wants you to watch it in 4k but you click too early and watch in 360p 😂
Perhaps a redo of the "Get Lithium from a battery"?
*Watches in 480p anyways*
Thanks for the great videos! I've been a loyal subscriber since 2010. Keep it up!
Wow, your video was very well done, and more informative than I could handle! Thank you.
I've a question that lead me here in the first place, perhaps you could help:
I was wondering if something similar would work on a carbon steel knife. Carbon steel oxidizes \ forms a patina when it comes in contact with moisture, and even more so with acidic elements. I've often used baking soda mixed with only a few drops of water as a slurry to rub deeply against the steel and thus remove the patina.
Would iron \ steel enjoy the same process that silver does? Perhaps some metal "lower" than aluminum?
Did this make sense?
Thank you for your help!
Dan
I want to ask if I can use this method when I will clean copper, bronze or brass, nickel, aluminium coins etc. I mean, I combine the salt, baking soda, water, and aluminium foil rather than using the vinegar salt method because it might have other side effects if the coin is not silver. I'm not using the battery. Only the natural way. Thanks. You are a professor, so I might get a better answer. So, can you explain?
Never thought that just two metals touching each other would be enough to completely get rid of the tarnish.
You always learn new stuff, and the awesome thing is that you get it basically for free.
Thanks for sharing!
Oh forgot one thing, does someone know how to get rid of rust on iron/high carbon steel caused by hydrochloric acid? Tried polishing and rust removing agents but you can still see the orange/brown stuff caused by the HCl. I would highly appreciate it if someone knows how to get rid of it!
Great video. It would be great to see a video on copper plating coins of different metals, or perhaps nickel plating or aluminum plating such coins.
Great video. So what happens if you leave it to be electrolysized(?) for a long period of time, or even do it 2 or 3 times? Will it improve the look? Thank you,
Thank you so much for making this video.!!
Love this stuff! TY for taking the time!
Does hooking up the positive lead to the silver and negitive to the solution cause the silver to rapidly tarnish?
Yup. It's also known as anodization.
Where would it get the sulfur?
You'd have to add some. One of the older NurdRage videos goes into it: ua-cam.com/video/VrA7Jyw1uOs/v-deo.html
I just tried the aluminum foil way with my silver. It smells like sulfur.
I found a silver half dollar at an ocean beach with a very thick build up of patina, likely from the salt water. Would this method be effective in removing the patina and restoring the silver?
Did you end up finding a way to clean it up?
Wow, this is just amazing.
The reaction is so fast.
it was really usefull,thanks a lot.but i have a question. is this possible to connect the negative end of the battery to the aluminium foil?
Would this work the same for 925 silver? (commonly used in jewelery) or would it have some other kind of reaction since that silver isn't quite so pure?
Wow! I enjoyed this very much!! Thank you for posting.
So if you leave the battery setup running in solution for a while, would you end up with a coating of whatever metal the wire is made of (I'm assuming copper) as the anode is oxidized to ions in solution? If so, is there any choice of electrode that'd avoid that?
This is amazing chemistry in life!!
I fricken love your channel! Your chemistry is so cool!
@NurdRage Were your fluorescent dyes made in 4k? The colors were brilliant nonetheless.
We have been using this to clean silver ever since in our household, but we only used salt, no baking soda and it worked fine too, does the baking soda really make such a big difference?
What would happen if you'd keep the silver coin in after there is no silver sulfide left on the coin?
You can see some blueish green in the water coming off the copper wire as you pull it out - is that copper sulfide?
So if you stirred around the coin,
And caused bubbles,
Wouldn't it work better?
More oxygen?
This is amazing, will any of the tarnishing and untarnishing damage the silver?
It will permanently alter the features of the coin (albeit very slightly) depending on the amount of tarnishing. That's why he put the warning at the beginning of the video. You'd only do this if you solely care about the metal content.
Do you know of an electrolyte solution and anode that will work on tarnished nickel or nickel plate that's non-toxic?
how did the under side of the coin turn out ? Any marks from laying on the metal or did the ground wire from the battery leave a mark on the coin ?
Great experiment. I'll be using this on my silver.
Very Nicely Done ! 👍
Hey NurdRage! I know nearly nothing about chemistry but I really love watching your videos. I was wondering what gas was being produced by the positive wire going into the solution. Some gas bubbles also formed on the coin itself.
Really neat! Thanks
Hey Nurd Rage
What is the cheapest DIY homemade solution for protecting copper traces on a PCB?
Commercial liquid tin solutions are prohibitively expensive for general hobby use, in my opinion. My problem is the shelf life of liquid tin solutions and their limited reuse. What is a possible solution for a casual hobbyist to achieve at home without a fume hood or super hazardous materials handling?
Tin is usually used because the process is done before adding components to the PCB. What if the problem is assessed from a different perspective by looking at our core objectives instead of considering alternative solutions to an established norm. Most hobbyist electronics PCBs are single sided. We are also mainly looking to protect the copper from oxidation. What protective options are possible when the PCB could be treated at any stage of the process, even after the parts have been soldered?
A secondary consideration of note is appearance and visual appeal. We all want something pretty that reflects all of the thought and effort that went into our projects.
The biggest challenge is cost. Let's say I etch 6 PCBs a year, one every 2 months. This will cost me around $20 w/shipping for a 125ml bottle of liquid tin from circuitspecialists. From everything I've read the solution is 'one-and-done' on this time scale. That's too much in my opinion, especially when etching a prototype myself is already far more expensive than ordering one from a Chinese PCB board house. What can I do at home for less than $5 per project?
-Jake
A first guess would be resin or clear nail polish as cheap DIY solutions? o:
Halbostfriese
Yeah paints are an option. That's just less appealing to my 'two digit IQ "ewww!-somethin-S H I N Y"' half of my brain. A good 2 part epoxy coating would probably be best as it would bury and seal any missed contamination and has the most potential for durability if mixed and applied correctly. -At least from my perspective as an ex-auto body painter.
My issue is that paint does nothing to help my subconscious dilutions of becoming the next John Fluke. The utilitarian ugliness of it is such a downer. Every time some racist bozo talks crap about a low budget device from China, and it looks better than my paint job, it hurts. My inner caveman needs a good handcrafted shiny, but my cheap bastard American poor house culture is holding me back.... I need help with my pretentious first world problems ;)
I protect copper traces just with a fair amount of rosin dissolved in ethanol. Then I dry it under a 100W desk halogen lamp. If you don't dry it, the coating may be sticky, but if you dry it that way, it seems to be elastic and not chip off. The bonus is just fanstastic solderability of such boards.
First, a disclaimer: I don't make my own PCBs, I don't tinplate myself. However, what I can do is look up information really, really well. I also have an interest in science like this, so I wanted to see how to go about doing it, to try and help out a fellow science nerd.
Solutions have a limited shelf life because of the chemical composition; it deteriorates once mixed, thus the issue there. Thus my quick suggestion for a professionally made tin solution replacement would be Tinnit Tin Plate ( www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-Tinnit-Tin-Plate/dp/B0002BBV0A ) it ships the dry chemicals in two packages that must be mixed together with water to activate. It's also fairly cheap, though I'd try to combine it with other items so you're not paying twice the price, effectively, just because of shipping and handling. The two packages make almost 500 mL, too (they say it makes 1 pint), so it's rather cheaper than most commercially available liquid tin solutions in much greater quantity as well.
If you want to make your own entirely, however, you can use a combination of Stannous Chloride, Thiourea, and Sulfamic Acid in a 1:4:6 ratio; 0.5g Stannous Chloride, 2g Thiourea, 3g Sulfamic Acid mixed with 100mL of heated, distilled water makes almost as much as the 16 dollar bottle of liquid tin from MG Chemicals. You can get a lot of these materials for fairly cheap, too;
1800g Sulfamic Acid, $17: www.amazon.com/Aqua-Mix-Sulfamic-Acid-Crystals/dp/B000GFJTVA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395317&sr=8-5&keywords=sulfamic+acid (image shows 4lb, but it's the 1lb order)
500g Thiourea, $26: www.amazon.com/HiMedia-GRM611-500G-Thiourea-R-500/dp/B00DYOE12M/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395243&sr=8-2&keywords=thiourea
100g Stannous Chloride, $22: www.amazon.com/Science-Company-NC-7784-Stannous-Chloride/dp/B07621WNNV/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1507395220&sr=8-5&keywords=stannous+chloride
With these volumes, you could make 200 batches at the volumes given above (the limiter being the Stannous Chloride), or about 20 litres of product. These are also just quick searches for each chemical to show an example, as well; if you look around I'm sure you can find better deals or better volumes for your specific needs, or if there's a local chemical supplier you can get in touch with, that would work too.
NileRed actually has a video on making Stannous Chloride as well, ua-cam.com/video/zziLOly2R8U/v-deo.html Note that he remarks that isolating solid Stannous Chloride is hard to do, so the effort involved might not be worth it at all.
There are three commercial options for tin plating PCBs.
1)"Tinnit" this is a two-part dry chemical that you dissolve in water, once mixed it has a three month shelf life although I've continued to use it for up to a year and a half(turns yellow and smells terrible).
2) "liquid tin" from MG chemicals, this is a pre-mixed clear solution which keeps for a couple years and can be reused until it stops working. Keep a separate bottle for your used solution and keep your fresh bottle fresh.
3) the "Plug N' Plate" kit from Caswell plating, this is a brush plating kit it's actual electroplating so you'll need to move your ground from net to net as you go, the solution apparently keeps forever and the consumables are available. There's a version of this kit for all the commonly plated metals making the gold fairly tempting, however the gold kit is twice the price of the more lowly metals and the solution has a fairly brief shelf life.
There is however another way for hobbyist to produce good-looking corrosion free PCBs. I'm going to build this up a little because I read this many times when I was learning this skill and I refused to believe it. I was convinced it was amateurish, and tedious, and time-consuming but here and now I am wholeheartedly recommending it. By far the simplest quickest and cheapest way for a hobbyist to produce beautiful, shiny, corrosion free PCBs is to simply solder over the traces while your assembling the board, really. Just leave the resist on until you're ready to assemble.
However I'm also quite interested in Nerdrage's perspective on this problem.
Is there a way to find the minimum voltage required to electroplate copper onto the nickel coin? Do you taken just the standard reduction potential of Cu + negative - stnd oxidation potential of nickel?
What would happen if you left the wires attached to the battery pack for say an extended period of time? The silver changed in around 2 seconds, which was glorious, but what would happen that coin if you did it for say 20 seconds? Or 2 minutes? Would you see a noticeable build up on the coin?
Thank you in advance.
can you please make a video on your lab
Would this work the same on metals that were treated with a solution to add tarnish via patina?
Does the reaction produces electric current and measure it if we're using copper wire connecting the silver and the aluminum foil rather than making them touch directly?
Would this work with other metals than silver and different compounds not baised on sulphur? Just out of curiosity, I'm not a chemist so I don't really know anything about it :/
Really cool! I did this on silverware using a 9V battery and copper wire. As can be seen also on your video, some blue stuff forms on the positive wire. Is it copper hydroxide? I did this on a stainless steel tabletop and also noticed afterwards that two small marks had appeared from somewhere. Could it be something related to this?
Same thing happened with me, I think it may be copper chloride
No matter how many times I see that happening, it feels like the first time as a kid seeing the silver clearing in front of your eyes.
How much of the silver goes into solution? What happens if you leave the electrodes in longer? Does it strip any silver from the coin?
Is this reversible by reversing the voltage? So we could make an electrically switch-able mirror?
Possibly, though a faster and more reliable electrical mirror can be made from liquid crystals.
How is the wear on the silver using this kind of restoration compared to silver polish? Does one of them cause more long term wear on the silver than the other?
Love the videos! You made me love chemistry!
I thought it was oxygen that caused silver to tarnish? Or perhaps it does form and oxide but the tarnish color comes from sulfur?
very cool demo & explanation.
Is it possible to refine the Silver from Silver plated EPNS objects? (EPNS is an alloy of Nickle, Zinc and Copper) What I have tried before is to dip hot objects into Nitric Acid, the silver plating dissolves quickly and is then displaced by the nickle, copper and zinc. But surely there is a better way that doesn't generate toxic end products?
So the collectors never clean their coins? I don't get it why they would hate this particular method, which if I'm getting it correctly does not remove actual silver, unlike how physical cleaning might.
Perhaps it's because it removes proof of it's age.
Many times silver might be protected with a patina, and this cleaning method will remove that as well.
The only accepted cleaning method I read of is painstaking hand cleaning with soap, spirits, small tool tips and mild abrasive.
Edit: Should only be done respectably by someone who knows what they are doing, oc
Even removing dirt can be destructive.
Brandon Wiker never clean a coin collectors want them original untouched it can kill up to 80% of the value
+lucky43113 whoops, I know, I meant to mention that many things, (not necessarily collector) are restored professionally.
can you provide a source fot that ?
Hmm... I'm trying to restore some Constitutional that's tarnished almost black, but this (following your directions) doesn't seem to do what it shows.
I mixed:
200mL tap water (hot when drawn and mixed in plastic cup with plastic fork)
20g Morton's table salt
10g Arm&Hammer baking soda
Then put that into a paper bowl with a decent-sized piece of foil and dropped the 90% Ag, 10% Cu coins onto the foil. No result. What am I doing wrong?
Amazing reaction! I have never expected a electrochemistry happening so fast! I have a question regarding to this reaction though. Are the H2S introduced by yourself, or is it a common contaminant that attacks silver?
You should do the glow stick video again
Very nice video. Also, why does the collectors' community not like the restored coins? Is the coin's corrosion a sign of originality and age or what?
Appreciate this video tried this for cleaning my wife's silver jewelry but the last item a necklace isn't fully working. How often should I replace the solution with a new batch? Should I trim my copper wires? They have a blue color to it. Thanks again for this video!
If the solution looks dirty or has a color, then change it out.
@NurdRage thanks, also found out that touching the positive wire directly on the silver causes it to turn dark or even more tarnished.. swapped out solution and made sure not to touch the silver with the positive copper wire. I let it bubble a little bit and looks much better.
More electrochemistry please
hello there NurdRage are you using cold water or hot water in your experiment
I'm about to ask a dumb question. It is because I have high school level understanding of chemistry and unable to figure this out for myself. The question is what would one need to reverse bronze in this way, and copper. Let's say I have Penny's that I want to make look new again just for the sake of education. What would change? Could I use this exact method or would I have to change out my metal for my anode? The penny would be the cathode correct?
Can I use an aluminium vessel to hold the water+salt+baking soda solution and immerse the silver thingies(i m considering rings) inside?
Can you transfer the sulfide from the silver to the nickel using a battery and then transfer it back by touching the metals without the battery?
Can you do please a restauration of copper metal
Should water be hot throughout the process why do we boil the water any idea
Will different types of salt affect the restoration process? I have Himalayan pink salt and would like to try it.
This is great. Well done!
What would be the solution for corrosion stuck to copper?
Did you tarnish the coin between takes via chemical means or did you just have them around?
Thank you for the video. Will this work on ancient coins that has a thick and heavy silver oxide buildup?
yes it works, takes a bit longer
I'll gladly re-watch any video you want to make again in high quality!
Hi,
I was very excited when I watched the video. I work a lot with silver and tried the method with the batteries today. I used a 9 Volt battery and tried it on a spoon. I used cables with crocodile clamps. It was heavily bubbling and the water turned almost black which got me thinking it works for me too. However: The spoon is still dirty but the positively charged crocodile clamp fully dissolved in the water! What did I do wrong if so?