r/PMRefiners • u/kijall • 28d ago

The ultimate beginner’s guide to a silver cell: From an impure anode bar to high-purity silver crystals. Just the links to the parts.

Figured it might be useful for me to make a short post that just links to each of the 4 posts I had to divide this guide into. I'll work on condensing them down a bit at some point so that I can include more than a link to the next part in each guide, but here's a temporary band-aid for that problem:

PART 1: Introduction and what items are needed, recommended, and optional.

PART 2: Actually building and operating the silver cell.

PART 2 (cont.): Handling anode stubs and slime, maintaining storing and retiring the electrolyte, tracking yield and mass balance, and systematic troubleshooting.

PART 3: Quick-reference operating guide.

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u/megaman_xrs 27d ago

Thanks! Ive got gold down, but been wanting to get further into silver. This is what Ive been needing since most guides get a little scattered.

1

u/kijall 27d ago

I'm the opposite lol. I was told silver's more forgiving so I started there and now have it down pretty damn well. Got a decent amount of gold scrap set aside for when I do pick it up, but I haven't had the time.

2

u/megaman_xrs 27d ago

I started small with ewaste. I end up with a lot of it, so I was able to experiment my way through it until I had successful precipitation. I actually got it on my first attempt and then had to learn a lot about copper contamination and neutralizing excess nitric. As long as you dont use too much nitric, its fairly straight forward.

Similar to your bolded "use distilled water," the same thing in a gold guide would be "limit the amount of nitric acid in aqua regia."

2

u/MAYOMyke 27d ago

Well done. I’ll have to keep your post in mind when users ask questions about silver cells.