"It's really goopy down there." For those of you wondering, I am a Chemist and I can assure you that "Goopy" is in fact the correct term for that material.🤣🤣🤣
@@jakeeasterwood3204 My favorite term, and it's the one that drives the engineers crazy is "squiggly." As in, "We can't accurately model this vein because it is too squiggly." The reality is that I have it modeled in 3d to a gnat's ass, but I just like to watch the engineers reactions.
Really enjoying all the silver stuff lately. Plus…anticipating a filter processing series! As always thanks for doing this stuff for everyone to enjoy. Endlessly fascinating and a lot of fun to watch. Enjoy your Memorial Day!
You’re welcome. I’d like to thank you for your clear concise instructional video library that covers all aspects of refining. It seems almost all of the questions you receive have been thoroughly covered in previous posts. Thank you Sir!👍👍🤟
Can you imagine this being your your middle school / high school chemistry classes. I always liked chemistry anyway but this would have taken it to a whole other level.
As a vet, I can say it's not about us it about those who paid to Ultimate price and didn't come home. Not trying to be that guy but we get veteran's day. The fallin get memorial day. But thank you for your service.
This makes me wonder about the natural formation of silver ore and electron flow within associated minerals and the natural telluric current of the earth.
Hey.. I guess if you can fish out or simply wash out the undissolved impure silver shots before nitric treatment.. You will save a lot on the nitric consumption while recovering gold and other pgm's from those anode baskets.. Lots of love❤ from India🇮🇳
possible suggestion: use multiple ‘levels’ of cementation buckets to recover silver (transferring solutions from one cementation bucket to the next until it reaches the waste disposal). This method minimizes silver loss, while not taking too much time and effort 🤔
Hey sreetips you should just melt all the anode basket filters up into one big bar and hit it with an xrf gun so we can see what ends up leftover then granulate it and process it. At least that way you won't have to fight with all that carbon from the filters all the way threw the refining process!
the last time you did the filters, you had a hard time getting all the remaining silver bits to dissolve why not rinse out remaining gunk into a classifier to get the larger silver bits to just put back in impure bucket to be reloaded just a suggestion may be helpful
I can't wait to watch the recovery of the precious metals from your old filter baskets! That's going to be fascinating. I'm really curious to see how much gold you can actually find in them since so much impure silver goes through each filter.
@@gordonburns8731 His channel wouldn't be growing the way it is if all he posted was the same vanilla video (turning scrap jewelry into a .999 ingot) again and again. Unpredictable yields, challenges and new techniques make for truly interesting content. Sreetips and most of his longtime viewers are fully aware that this recovery won't even net him minimum wage, but we aren't here to watch someone make money, we're here watch cool chemistry and learn. He'll end up with a bead of gold, a bead platinum-group metals, a few ounces of silver, liters of waste and thousands of happy viewers. This time, the journey is more important than the destination.
I got a large glass lemonade pitcher, with glass stir stick from the thrift stores for 25% off $7. Planning to use it for refining my gold filled material...someday.
I think the process of purifying the slimes/slimebags is the only operational phase we haven't seen you perform. Of course, I am happy to be able to properly use the word "slimebag". You have a fair number of hundreds of $$ in silver tied up in those anode baskets until the day they are liberated.
What Sreetips uses here to kick the silver out of solution with copper is called the reactivity serie. PMGs (Platinum) is less reactive than gold which is less reactive than silver which is less reactive than copper. So in his silver cell, the gold and PMGs aren't "interested" to disolve because the silver in the silver nitrate is more stable in there. They stay in the basket. But the copper will disolve and kick what it can of the silver out of solution. Basicly he starts with pure silver nitrate that will allow silver ions to disolve and flow to the cathode and form cristals. The copper will remain in solution. If too much copper is present, then the flow of silver would slow down because it can't go less and less into solution anymore and reach the cathode since the copper is more stable in there. When the flow of silver ions becomes too poor, he changes the nitrate solution for a fresh one. When it happens, there's still plenty of silver in solution (but not enough for a good ion flow) and kicks it out with copper. He could the kick copper out with lead or nickel to recover it and make copper ingots, but that's another story (is copper more expensive than lead? yes. about 4 times)
So then would reversing the anode and cathode move the copper out of the solution and back up into the filter basket? ( Assume that the pure Silver Crystals are removed and a fresh filter with impure silver is installed)
I'm addicted to learning and I ALWAYS learn many new pieces of knowledge from every single video you produce I just can't get enough you could refine pot ash and make it knowledgeable and entertaining thank you for the countless terabytes of top shelf knowledge for all to learn from ... I can only imagine all the amazing job offers you've had and currently get
BTW, thanks again for all the inspiring videos. I have really learned a lot! Spent 6 hrs last night watching the platinum series. Wow! I can't imagine the work these videos must entail.
I wonder if you could puncture like a few more filter holes in the same container lid while giving enough space for Silver Crystal growth & cranking up the current by the amount of filters you've got and just feed those from the main cable. For low amperage you wouldn't need to replace the main cable but if you end up adding many filters I'd use a thicker main cable for safety measures in case it gets hot by the current. If this works then it could speed up the recovery process immensely. Also, I love your videos man, great work ! The way you explain everything always leaves me in awe.
At the rate our copper mines are declining vs the massive increase in demand projected over the next decade, copper is going going to be worth recovering pretty soon.
Hello Mr. Sreetips, thank you for another stupendous video, these are actually lectures to get anyone to build their skills. It is possible to optimize your anode, make it work somewhat fater, and even reduce loss: when replenishing the basked, you add one or two spoons of the shots, then add the silver bar, and then you add other 2 spoons of shots. Instead of ion flow (like an electric circuit) you would have an electromagnetic field and a large volume of ions flowing. You might need to shuffle the shots more often though. Don't remember the equation out the top of my head, if you want I can easily find your current circuitry with the one I am proposing. Just saying.
Sreetips, thanks for these awesome videos, I just stumbled upon your channel recently. My question is, where are you getting the material that has all this gold, platinum etc, and silver? My interest is in getting my hands on silver, but the other metals would be a nice perk. Thank you and enjoy your weekend!
Silver (and some white gold) are carriers of platinum group metals. But it’s usually trace amounts. They will tend to follow the silver. Ultimately they usually end up in my gold refining stock pot, or as “slimes” in my silver cell anode filters. Then I recover the platinum and palladium and refine them. Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and Osmium are enigmas to me.
Have you ever thought about adding a cupelling step in your process? Removing the copper first, saving on filters and fluid changes. A little more gas and some bags of Portland cement.
I am having a heck of a time finding nitric acid and don't know what its really worth.. What do you think is a decent price for 67% Nitric (not including shipping)?? BTW have you arrived at a preferred ratio for the electrolyte for the silver cell since the early days? I am trying to make up a batch of electrolyte and kick off a silver cell of my own. Saw your original video back in the day and it really inspired me but have not had the time for a new hobby until recently (got old, LOL). Regards, Dach.
@@sreetips Thanks, just looked. Whew. Not cheap with the shipping but looks decent and definitely reliable quality. BTW, they have an affiliate program that looks real quick and easy to sign up for. Maybe you could generate a few extra biscuits to help with the overhead? Thanks Again, Dach.
You should have cell number one like it is, running the silver to get the pure silver, and THEN have cell number two running the crystals to purify the silver even more until the solution stays clear.
The dual set up.. the numbers being inconsistent drives me crazy 😂 but I'm learning. I am truly grateful you are educating myself and so many others. Great science being shared.
Truly amazing !! I'm learning a lot by watching every video that you have. One question I have. If I don't have in pure silver like you have. What can I use instead? I'm trying to build silver cell setup like you to pay for my son school. Please let me know. Thank you
I’ve used pure silver coins or bars to make the electrolyte. I by sterling silver at local sales. I use it to refine gold. Then I recover the silver from that and run it through my silver cell. Then I add it to my savings and forget about it.
Question ❓ do you pay taxes on your recovered silver? I cement Sterling silver and I thought I would refine some gold filled scrap to start my gold journey off to a good start . I want to thank you for teaching this to people I love to learn and be a DIY person so it will be another added skill ..
Thank you so much for sharing your vast knowledge I have a question regarding the anode , How much silver shot do you use per run of a bowl till harvesting a bowl of grown silver Thanks in advance Kind regards Sam
I'm not an engineer, nor a chemist, nor do I handle acids, nor do I recycle metals. So take a heap of salt with what comes next...because I've got an imagination. I'm imagining a different setup. Two vessels, not unlike what you have here - I imagine one could still be steel and the other plastic, but connected by a pipe. I guess if you can imagine a chicken stock pot and a home depot bucket with pvc connecting them in some way. Would the electrons flow properly to deposit the silver ions from the plastic to the steel? I can also imagine just using two steel pots connected by a pipe - but I don't know what happens when you make the anode contact steel. Anyway. Don't know if it's been done, don't know if it would work. That's what I was thinking about during your entire video - streamlining the process to get maximum yield...assuming my brain functions at the same level as reality.
Unless you're running on solar, you should be able to automate the process while also expanding the surface area of the reaction (bigger bowl, bigger basket), and If you run the power supply at about 80% of it's maximum output (strict maximum at any point in the reaction) then automate the operation within off-peak hours of your electrical company, you would get maximum yield in the shortest and cheapest amount of time.
They are averaging less than 10 watts. At $0.17 a kwh these cost $14 a YEAR to run. The savings in electricity wouldn't be worth the loss in production speed. He's already made a second cell due to throughput limitations. It wouldn't be worth spending on a third power supply to keep production up just to save less than 5 dollars in electricity a year. You'd never recoup the costs of setting up a third cell. Not even close.
I would make the assumption that the dirty filter just inhibits fluid flow. You could possibly increase efficiency by adding a small pump to draw electrolyte from the larger part of the cell to pour over the granules.
I know you don't recover the copper that is in solution, but, if someone wanted too, how would they do it.. That, I think would make a good video.. Thank you for sharing.. My wife & I love watching.. I have learned so much, from watching..
Not to put a negative slant on what you do, but your title is a bit of a click bate. Your Mrs goes out with maybe $1000-$2000 and hits all the local flee markets and garage sales and intelligently buys silver items on the cheap (relatively). Then you have the knowledge to refine those items into pure silver. Hence your title. Most of us in foreign countries (or the USA) do not have that luxury or bankroll. How about a video on how to buy silver items cheaply and what to look out for? That would be very educational. You can call it "How to buy junk silver cheaply". But do keep up the good work. Your good at it.
Did you know, my dear sir, that you are a truly generous teacher who presents information in a simple way that enters any mind, regardless of its level? Did you know, my dear sir, that in my country, which is full of ignorance and opportunists, the same information you provide for free would cost me thousands of dollars? What if I told you that yesterday, as I was searching for a nickel-chromium plating formula for surfaces and metals, someone asked me for $1,000. to teach it to me? Therefore, All expressions of thanks, appreciation, and respect cannot match your level.
I remember once you said when attempting to cement out silver that if the solution is wrong the metal will crystallize or stick to the copper. What was that again?
If the silver nitrate is concentrated then it will passivate with a thick hard crust of silver metal that shields the copper from further reaction with the silver nitrate solution. To remedy simply dilute the silver nitrate before adding copper metal.
Her Streetips, been watching & lurking commenting some too. Wo dering how much $ the electric bill went up running a few amps thru the cells 24/7 from the powersupplies? I have a few lbs of old silicon fast acting high amp fuse clips/ends. Industrial electrician and saved them from hoppers over the years. New ones are plated copper but old ones appear solid silver (industrial grade) that i would like to try this out on. I also have some tear out Type R thermocouples (platinum & platinum/rhodium) would like to refine back to a small ingot/bead. Also have salvaged a bunch of old Electrical Contactor "buttons" that can be refined some way.?
Second question, when you are doing the refinings, what is your rough expense cost? (Gold and Silver). I am not trying to get into your personal finances just curious how much it costs.
@@ethanwilson1001 They, theoretically, could be. However, the slimes are rich in platinum group metals, gold and more silver. Recovering them requires the Dacron to be ashed in a furnaces and the metals extracted from the ash. The metal value far exceeds the cost of the filters. The same principle is in play when he ashes all his filter paper that he creates when he filters his raw gold solutions before he gets to the SMB step. The residue on that paper is going to be rich in PGM and maybe some bits of leftover gold and silver. That media is valueless compared to winning more valuable metal product.
What I want to know is how much does it cost for this setup and where do you get the materiel and chemicals. Also, what is the cost per ounce of pure silver?
I like watching how you refine these precious metals. I know that the copper causes the silver to drop out because it is more reactive than silver and displaces it in the solution. Silver is more reactive than gold and platinum so would it be possible/worthwhile to first put a chunk of pure silver into the solution to displace the gold and platinum group metals? Is it possible to separate the metals by first dissolving everything in aqua regia then stepping through pure metal sheets (i.e. first gold to concrete out the platinum, then silver to concrete out the gold and finally copper to concrete out the silver)?
We buy sterling silver at local sales. I use it to refine gold. Silver is a by-product of my gold refining. I recover the silver from that and run it through my silver cell to produce high purity silver. I don’t buy pure silver. I refine it myself. For myself.
I sincerely hope that you never come across sterling silver from the UK, hall marked in the name of the Bateman family... the objects are worth far more than pure silver metal. Historically, The Bateman family were superb silversmiths. I have several pieces, hall marked by daughter Hesta Bateman, Peter Bateman, John Bateman, and family. The Bateman family were Silversmiths to the Royal Family.
@@sreetips Dang! I thought I had a good idea but it was already yours. I still think more holes, on the side of the basket, could speed the process by eliminating physical barriers.
I fully expect to see a video where Mrs. S is annoyed with Mr. S because every time she opens a kitchen cabinet to find a dish to use, its missing and has relocated to Mr. S’s lab.
"It's really goopy down there." For those of you wondering, I am a Chemist and I can assure you that "Goopy" is in fact the correct term for that material.🤣🤣🤣
Do you use technical terms like “thingy” and “whachamacallit” too?
Yes
@@jakeeasterwood3204 My favorite term, and it's the one that drives the engineers crazy is "squiggly." As in, "We can't accurately model this vein because it is too squiggly."
The reality is that I have it modeled in 3d to a gnat's ass, but I just like to watch the engineers reactions.
@@rockbutcher I can imagine. “Just a smidge” could certainly make them break out in a cold sweat too.
Can't wait to see this goopy material on my screen
So excited, I love the silver cell anode recovery videos. Looks like it’s gonna be a good one this year. Hoo Rah senior chief.
Really enjoying all the silver stuff lately. Plus…anticipating a filter processing series! As always thanks for doing this stuff for everyone to enjoy. Endlessly fascinating and a lot of fun to watch. Enjoy your Memorial Day!
Happy memorial day sir! Thank u for ur service!!!
Thank you!
Very informative and wonderfully presented for anyone who wants to learn. Thank you.
You’re welcome. I’d like to thank you for your clear concise instructional video library that covers all aspects of refining. It seems almost all of the questions you receive have been thoroughly covered in previous posts. Thank you Sir!👍👍🤟
You don’t have to pay for silver when you have an awesome wife that brings home silver all the time! Lucky man.
Can you imagine this being your your middle school / high school chemistry classes. I always liked chemistry anyway but this would have taken it to a whole other level.
Your amazing man! From one vet to another happy memorial day
As a vet, I can say it's not about us it about those who paid to Ultimate price and didn't come home. Not trying to be that guy but we get veteran's day. The fallin get memorial day. But thank you for your service.
Enjoy the long weekend! -kamala harris
@@familyengineering5591 why do you feel the need to be that guy and bring politics into the mix? .!. -.- .!.
Because kamala harris hates our fallen vets and everyone needs to know that
@@uwillnevahno6837 its the only thing his type know how to do. All of his friends live on talk radio.
I really enjoy watching your work... I only wish I had my own house instead of living in a apartment where I can undertake this venture.
This makes me wonder about the natural formation of silver ore and electron flow within associated minerals and the natural telluric current of the earth.
Hey.. I guess if you can fish out or simply wash out the undissolved impure silver shots before nitric treatment.. You will save a lot on the nitric consumption while recovering gold and other pgm's from those anode baskets.. Lots of love❤ from India🇮🇳
I tried that the last time I processed the silver cell slimes. But it was a weak effort. Seems like a good idea but turns out to be lots of work.
possible suggestion: use multiple ‘levels’ of cementation buckets to recover silver (transferring solutions from one cementation bucket to the next until it reaches the waste disposal). This method minimizes silver loss, while not taking too much time and effort 🤔
Hey sreetips you should just melt all the anode basket filters up into one big bar and hit it with an xrf gun so we can see what ends up leftover then granulate it and process it. At least that way you won't have to fight with all that carbon from the filters all the way threw the refining process!
Excellent you are going to be really busy with the harvest thank you for sharing this six stars sir
Nice to keep up to date on the functionality of the silver cell. Excellent
the last time you did the filters, you had a hard time getting all the remaining silver bits to dissolve why not rinse out remaining gunk into a classifier to get the larger silver bits to just put back in impure bucket to be reloaded just a suggestion may be helpful
One day I will own all the turquoise on this wretched planet.😊
Once I can retire I want to copy a lot of what I've seen you do. I hope your channel stays up forever so that this info is easy to find.
I can't wait to watch the recovery of the precious metals from your old filter baskets! That's going to be fascinating. I'm really curious to see how much gold you can actually find in them since so much impure silver goes through each filter.
It'll be a case of spending many dollars on recovering just a few cent's worth milligrams of precious metals.
He is a fool!
The loudest one in the room is usually the fool.
@@gordonburns8731 His channel wouldn't be growing the way it is if all he posted was the same vanilla video (turning scrap jewelry into a .999 ingot) again and again. Unpredictable yields, challenges and new techniques make for truly interesting content. Sreetips and most of his longtime viewers are fully aware that this recovery won't even net him minimum wage, but we aren't here to watch someone make money, we're here watch cool chemistry and learn. He'll end up with a bead of gold, a bead platinum-group metals, a few ounces of silver, liters of waste and thousands of happy viewers. This time, the journey is more important than the destination.
@@gordonburns8731 Abraham Lincoln - Quote - Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt
@@gordonburns8731 why would you say something like that? are you jealous or just a keyboard moron?? both i suspect.
My Man! You are loving the dream!
I got a large glass lemonade pitcher, with glass stir stick from the thrift stores for 25% off $7. Planning to use it for refining my gold filled material...someday.
I think the process of purifying the slimes/slimebags is the only operational phase we haven't seen you perform. Of course, I am happy to be able to properly use the word "slimebag". You have a fair number of hundreds of $$ in silver tied up in those anode baskets until the day they are liberated.
What Sreetips uses here to kick the silver out of solution with copper is called the reactivity serie. PMGs (Platinum) is less reactive than gold which is less reactive than silver which is less reactive than copper. So in his silver cell, the gold and PMGs aren't "interested" to disolve because the silver in the silver nitrate is more stable in there. They stay in the basket. But the copper will disolve and kick what it can of the silver out of solution. Basicly he starts with pure silver nitrate that will allow silver ions to disolve and flow to the cathode and form cristals. The copper will remain in solution. If too much copper is present, then the flow of silver would slow down because it can't go less and less into solution anymore and reach the cathode since the copper is more stable in there. When the flow of silver ions becomes too poor, he changes the nitrate solution for a fresh one. When it happens, there's still plenty of silver in solution (but not enough for a good ion flow) and kicks it out with copper. He could the kick copper out with lead or nickel to recover it and make copper ingots, but that's another story (is copper more expensive than lead? yes. about 4 times)
So then would reversing the anode and cathode move the copper out of the solution and back up into the filter basket? ( Assume that the pure Silver Crystals are removed and a fresh filter with impure silver is installed)
I don’t think that would work.
@@sreetips I was just thinking out loud again. My only thought was, " Removing the copper accumulated". It wouldn't be significant anyway. My bad.
@@sreetips It would not indeed.
I'm addicted to learning and I ALWAYS learn many new pieces of knowledge from every single video you produce I just can't get enough you could refine pot ash and make it knowledgeable and entertaining thank you for the countless terabytes of top shelf knowledge for all to learn from ... I can only imagine all the amazing job offers you've had and currently get
BTW, thanks again for all the inspiring videos. I have really learned a lot! Spent 6 hrs last night watching the platinum series. Wow! I can't imagine the work these videos must entail.
And most importantly THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE my friend the Pendleton household highly apperciates you and ALL service members sacrifice
Thank you
Mstr. Ch., that should be your next video, recovering all those baskets...That'll be cool to watch...Shabbat Shalom and Happy Memorial Day...
I wonder if you could puncture like a few more filter holes in the same container lid while giving enough space for Silver Crystal growth & cranking up the current by the amount of filters you've got and just feed those from the main cable. For low amperage you wouldn't need to replace the main cable but if you end up adding many filters I'd use a thicker main cable for safety measures in case it gets hot by the current. If this works then it could speed up the recovery process immensely.
Also, I love your videos man, great work ! The way you explain everything always leaves me in awe.
At the rate our copper mines are declining vs the massive increase in demand projected over the next decade, copper is going going to be worth recovering pretty soon.
Hello Mrs and Mr screetips. Happy memorial day,to you and all my famely on the best canal🎉. Thanks for sharing sir. A good day to you😊 Arne
Same to you, thanks Arne.
You welcome Sir😊
Have a great day both of you
Hello Mr. Sreetips, thank you for another stupendous video, these are actually lectures to get anyone to build their skills.
It is possible to optimize your anode, make it work somewhat fater, and even reduce loss: when replenishing the basked, you add one or two spoons of the shots, then add the silver bar, and then you add other 2 spoons of shots.
Instead of ion flow (like an electric circuit) you would have an electromagnetic field and a large volume of ions flowing.
You might need to shuffle the shots more often though.
Don't remember the equation out the top of my head, if you want I can easily find your current circuitry with the one I am proposing.
Just saying.
Sreetips, thanks for these awesome videos, I just stumbled upon your channel recently. My question is, where are you getting the material that has all this gold, platinum etc, and silver? My interest is in getting my hands on silver, but the other metals would be a nice perk. Thank you and enjoy your weekend!
We buy sterling silver at estate sales. Silver is a carrier of platinum group metals and gold.
What a skill to have!! Great video Sreetips!
Very Interesting. I havent looked through your videos yet but am interested in the detection and removal of platinum group metals
Silver (and some white gold) are carriers of platinum group metals. But it’s usually trace amounts. They will tend to follow the silver. Ultimately they usually end up in my gold refining stock pot, or as “slimes” in my silver cell anode filters. Then I recover the platinum and palladium and refine them. Rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and Osmium are enigmas to me.
Mr. Sreetips needs a soup ladle for that impure silver shot! 😂
Have you ever thought about adding a cupelling step in your process? Removing the copper first, saving on filters and fluid changes. A little more gas and some bags of Portland cement.
None of the professional refiners that I learned from used cupel.
@@sreetips I noticed that you said that you don't save the copper, so I figured why not remove it first. Less buckets lol.
Love these videos - Thanks for making them!
How long does it take for a filter to become loaded with slimes?
About a week
So cool!!! Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful display and example.
Maybe it would be better to place a dextron filter outside the the rubber basket and leave some room for the slimes.
Another great, educational video. Thanks for posting!
Gotta love chemistry
Thanks for sharing
I am having a heck of a time finding nitric acid and don't know what its really worth.. What do you think is a decent price for 67% Nitric (not including shipping)?? BTW have you arrived at a preferred ratio for the electrolyte for the silver cell since the early days? I am trying to make up a batch of electrolyte and kick off a silver cell of my own. Saw your original video back in the day and it really inspired me but have not had the time for a new hobby until recently (got old, LOL). Regards, Dach.
Try dudadiesel.com for nitric.
@@sreetips Thanks, just looked. Whew. Not cheap with the shipping but looks decent and definitely reliable quality. BTW, they have an affiliate program that looks real quick and easy to sign up for. Maybe you could generate a few extra biscuits to help with the overhead? Thanks Again, Dach.
Glad to see you stepped up your game Kev. More silver never hurt anyone
You should have cell number one like it is, running the silver to get the pure silver, and THEN have cell number two running the crystals to purify the silver even more until the solution stays clear.
The dual set up.. the numbers being inconsistent drives me crazy 😂 but I'm learning. I am truly grateful you are educating myself and so many others. Great science being shared.
There are many variables that determine the numbers.
Truly amazing !! I'm learning a lot by watching every video that you have. One question I have. If I don't have in pure silver like you have. What can I use instead? I'm trying to build silver cell setup like you to pay for my son school. Please let me know. Thank you
I’ve used pure silver coins or bars to make the electrolyte. I by sterling silver at local sales. I use it to refine gold. Then I recover the silver from that and run it through my silver cell. Then I add it to my savings and forget about it.
Great silvercell update. Sure will be interesting to see you process those slimes in the filter papers. 👍
@Streetips looks like they're at it again 😭
I've never paid for pure silver either! The stuff in my teeth was adulterated with mercury.
Idea for storage of bulk silver: Cast or forge it into furniture like end tables then oxidize so it just looks like old furniture. 🤔
First 👍's up sreetips thank you for sharing
Close to a quarter mill subs Sreetips!
Great vid, thanks for sharing...
Question ❓ do you pay taxes on your recovered silver? I cement Sterling silver and I thought I would refine some gold filled scrap to start my gold journey off to a good start . I want to thank you for teaching this to people I love to learn and be a DIY person so it will be another added skill ..
I pay all my taxes, without exception.
Hobbies are not taxed, just as hobbies are not a deductible expenses from your income.
If I sell the metal then it gets counted as income so I report every cent.
I am able to cement the silver but having issues with draining the solution to just down to the powder any advice?
@@sreetips Make sure you also report (claim) every cent you spend on it (and that includes electricity).
I think the low current after the exchange of the filter is caused by thin oxide layers on the impure silver shot.
A clean new filter will cause the current flow to increase dramatically.
Thank you so much for sharing your vast knowledge
I have a question regarding the anode ,
How much silver shot do you use per run of a bowl till harvesting a bowl of grown silver
Thanks in advance
Kind regards
Sam
For every 100g of impure silver I put in, I’ll get about 98g of high purity silver out, roughly.
the silver crystal sitting down in the blue liquid inside the cathode bowl reminds me of the inside of a geode for some reason.
I'm not an engineer, nor a chemist, nor do I handle acids, nor do I recycle metals. So take a heap of salt with what comes next...because I've got an imagination.
I'm imagining a different setup. Two vessels, not unlike what you have here - I imagine one could still be steel and the other plastic, but connected by a pipe. I guess if you can imagine a chicken stock pot and a home depot bucket with pvc connecting them in some way.
Would the electrons flow properly to deposit the silver ions from the plastic to the steel? I can also imagine just using two steel pots connected by a pipe - but I don't know what happens when you make the anode contact steel. Anyway. Don't know if it's been done, don't know if it would work. That's what I was thinking about during your entire video - streamlining the process to get maximum yield...assuming my brain functions at the same level as reality.
I’d like to see a video of that configuration.
Waiting on slimes refining 😊
I like that highly scientific silver term "goupy."
Love it, thanks.
I notice a lot of blue liquid. I would think mostly copper. What would be used to cement that back out of solution?
I cement the copper on iron
Slightly disapointed that this isn't a video where you reveal that you are actually a pirate
😂😂
Unless you're running on solar, you should be able to automate the process while also expanding the surface area of the reaction (bigger bowl, bigger basket), and If you run the power supply at about 80% of it's maximum output (strict maximum at any point in the reaction) then automate the operation within off-peak hours of your electrical company, you would get maximum yield in the shortest and cheapest amount of time.
They are averaging less than 10 watts. At $0.17 a kwh these cost $14 a YEAR to run. The savings in electricity wouldn't be worth the loss in production speed. He's already made a second cell due to throughput limitations. It wouldn't be worth spending on a third power supply to keep production up just to save less than 5 dollars in electricity a year. You'd never recoup the costs of setting up a third cell. Not even close.
I would make the assumption that the dirty filter just inhibits fluid flow. You could possibly increase efficiency by adding a small pump to draw electrolyte from the larger part of the cell to pour over the granules.
Thank you Mr Sreetips. How did you get that thick glass rod ?
Bought it on eBay
@@sreetips thank you sir, we love you!
I know you don't recover the copper that is in solution, but, if someone wanted too, how would they do it.. That, I think would make a good video..
Thank you for sharing.. My wife & I love watching.. I have learned so much, from watching..
I remove the copper by adding it to pieces of iron. The copper cements out and falls to the bottom of the bucket.
@@sreetips Thank you..
Looky at your subs!!
I believe I said "before 2024 or no later than January 2024" that you'd hit A QUARTER MILLION SUBS!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
You were right!
I have one question, why did you not use a thick plexiglass lid ,so you could see what's happening in your cell without having to move lid?
It’s been tried. Condensation forms and obscures the view.
Not to put a negative slant on what you do, but your title is a bit of a click bate. Your Mrs goes out with maybe $1000-$2000 and hits all the local flee markets and garage sales and intelligently buys silver items on the cheap (relatively). Then you have the knowledge to refine those items into pure silver. Hence your title. Most of us in foreign countries (or the USA) do not have that luxury or bankroll. How about a video on how to buy silver items cheaply and what to look out for? That would be very educational. You can call it "How to buy junk silver cheaply". But do keep up the good work. Your good at it.
Hi Kevin, can't call you. I'm in Australia and I don't have sms service.
I'll have to refine some placer gold and get my junk silver pile going too!
Did you know, my dear sir, that you are a truly generous teacher who presents information in a simple way that enters any mind, regardless of its level? Did you know, my dear sir, that in my country, which is full of ignorance and opportunists, the same information you provide for free would cost me thousands of dollars? What if I told you that yesterday, as I was searching for a nickel-chromium plating formula for surfaces and metals, someone asked me for $1,000. to teach it to me? Therefore, All expressions of thanks, appreciation, and respect cannot match your level.
That’s incredible.
I remember once you said when attempting to cement out silver that if the solution is wrong the metal will crystallize or stick to the copper. What was that again?
If the silver nitrate is concentrated then it will passivate with a thick hard crust of silver metal that shields the copper from further reaction with the silver nitrate solution. To remedy simply dilute the silver nitrate before adding copper metal.
@@sreetips thank you as always
copper is starting to get expensive... Maybe you should refine out that too?
Nice adding a second cell 👌 👍
Looking forward to you processing the leftovers as I'm interested in the amount of accumulated gold you recover.
Can't wait for the slimes video. Been waiting literal years for you to finally refine all those damn filters
Her Streetips, been watching & lurking commenting some too. Wo dering how much $ the electric bill went up running a few amps thru the cells 24/7 from the powersupplies?
I have a few lbs of old silicon fast acting high amp fuse clips/ends. Industrial electrician and saved them from hoppers over the years. New ones are plated copper but old ones appear solid silver (industrial grade) that i would like to try this out on.
I also have some tear out Type R thermocouples (platinum & platinum/rhodium) would like to refine back to a small ingot/bead.
Also have salvaged a bunch of old Electrical Contactor "buttons" that can be refined some way.?
The feed stock going into the anode must be relatively high purity to begin with.
Second question, when you are doing the refinings, what is your rough expense cost? (Gold and Silver). I am not trying to get into your personal finances just curious how much it costs.
I really don’t know. I use sterling silver to refine gold. Then I recover the silver, melt into granules, then run it through the silver cell.
Very interesting......thnx!!
Sir you are the real and non criminal Walter White.
do you recommend a manufacturer of anode filter basket ?? or is it a homemade ??
I bought those at the grocery store. I think they were GLAD
Very informative video! Is it feasible to clean or rinse out those dacron filter bags when they get filled with the slimes?
No, they’re custom fit.
The slimes are where the money is.
@@williamfoote2888 Are those dacron bags reusable?
@@ethanwilson1001 They, theoretically, could be. However, the slimes are rich in platinum group metals, gold and more silver.
Recovering them requires the Dacron to be ashed in a furnaces and the metals extracted from the ash.
The metal value far exceeds the cost of the filters.
The same principle is in play when he ashes all his filter paper that he creates when he filters his raw gold solutions before he gets to the SMB step.
The residue on that paper is going to be rich in PGM and maybe some bits of leftover gold and silver.
That media is valueless compared to winning more valuable metal product.
What is the purpose of the glass rod left in the silver cell?
To stir the electrolyte
What I want to know is how much does it cost for this setup and where do you get the materiel and chemicals. Also, what is the cost per ounce of pure silver?
Have you had any luck washing out the dacron filters and reusing them?
No, they are custom fit in the anode basket.
I like watching how you refine these precious metals.
I know that the copper causes the silver to drop out because it is more reactive than silver and displaces it in the solution.
Silver is more reactive than gold and platinum so would it be possible/worthwhile to first put a chunk of pure silver into the solution to displace the gold and platinum group metals?
Is it possible to separate the metals by first dissolving everything in aqua regia then stepping through pure metal sheets (i.e. first gold to concrete out the platinum, then silver to concrete out the gold and finally copper to concrete out the silver)?
No, that’s probably not going to work.
@@sreetips Yep it's dawned on me that it wouldn't work because the Hydrochloric acid would react with the silver which would mess up the process.
if the slimes clog the filter, and causes the current to slow ..... why you don't increase the current from the DC power supply ???
Because constant 3.5 volts DC is critical.
@@sreetips
critical for silver deposition ??
Critical so that other metals won’t co-deposit with the silver crystal and contaminate it.
@@sreetips
what is the criteria in choosing this volt 3.5
Ancient Chinese secret; I learned it for professional refiners on the goldrefiningforum.com
Hi. What can i use instead of inpure silver. Can i use silver shots?
I was wondering where you get your silver material, to refine, that you never pay for? That’s why I clicked on this video
We buy sterling silver at local sales. I use it to refine gold. Silver is a by-product of my gold refining. I recover the silver from that and run it through my silver cell to produce high purity silver. I don’t buy pure silver. I refine it myself. For myself.
@@sreetips Nice thanks. What geographical location in the US are you in?
@@sreetips Do you have like a course or a video that gives an exact step by step how to do this process, for a total beginner?
I'm curious why you don't remove the silver shot from the clogged filters.
I thought about it. But those are coated with thick black sticky silver cell slimes.
@sreetips could you just remelt them into shot. It seems to refine them a second time is a waste of chemicals and time.
Yes
what is the metal bar on the electrode bar? it looks like pure silver. sorry I'm a social work major not a hard science major 😂
Yes, pure silver
How much do you accumulate before you process your used filters?
It’s hard to put a number on it.
is there much demand for pure metals that have been refined like this?
Yes
I sincerely hope that you never come across sterling silver from the UK, hall marked in the name of the Bateman family... the objects are worth far more than pure silver metal. Historically, The Bateman family were superb silversmiths. I have several pieces, hall marked by daughter Hesta Bateman, Peter Bateman, John Bateman, and family. The Bateman family were Silversmiths to the Royal Family.
I’ve never seen Bateman. But I’ll keep an eye out for it.
Do you refine contact tip for other people I have around 17 pounds of I would like to have done.?
I only work on stuff that my wife and I find at local sales.
Pour some electrolyte through the filter basket to give it a kick start. The drippings from the clogged baskets would work.
I actually put two, 3ml shot of silver nitrate in the filter basket to get it started
@@sreetips Dang! I thought I had a good idea but it was already yours. I still think more holes, on the side of the basket, could speed the process by eliminating physical barriers.
I actually did that with these new anode baskets.
@@sreetips Saw them
I fully expect to see a video where Mrs. S is annoyed with Mr. S because every time she opens a kitchen cabinet to find a dish to use, its missing and has relocated to Mr. S’s lab.
I'm wondering when you will do another silver cell filter bag refining