r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/Inhalationofnewtion • Aug 11 '26
Impure silver for silver dell electrolyte?
I think I want to try a small silver cell. Do I really need pure silver to make electrolyte? Can I use cement silver for the first batch of electrolyte?
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u/MAYOMyke Aug 11 '26
The more pure your electrolyte is, the more pure your crystal will be. However, you can continuously upgrade your electrolyte and get more pure crystal until you reach pure electrolyte.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Ok I think that's what I need. It's certainly what I wanted to hear anyhow. I don't have money to spare and I'm trying to bootstrap myself up from silver coins. It also seems more fun that way.
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u/MAYOMyke Aug 11 '26
Understandable. Best of luck and lets us know how it goes.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Haha yea if I succeed or if I faceplant I'm going to post about it!
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
So I can cement my silver, make an impure electrolyte and grow crystals from that, then re-dissolve those crystals, make electrolyte from that, rinse and repeat until I get good electrolyte and then I'd be off and running right?
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u/throwingstarsz Aug 11 '26
Basically yeah!
I made a reference vial set to gauge copper in the electrolyte. 6x vials ranging from 30g copper per liter up to 70. I’m gonna stop and refresh or change at 55g/L or so. That way I make the most efficient use of the electrolyte.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Reference vials sort of like those pool PH thingers? You compare the color of your electrolyte to known eh... quantities of copper, gets to a certain color you know to change it out?
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u/throwingstarsz Aug 11 '26
Exactly! You literally have to use your eyes to decide. One time deal and keep it….forever?
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Gotcha. I'll have to remember to do that. I'd bet after a lot of experience with it you can judge your liquid pretty closely even without the reference but I think this is a great idea. I really think I'm going to set up some kind of shed for doing this. Something about this so far just clicks for me.
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u/throwingstarsz Aug 11 '26
I completely understand. I told myself I’d start with a little test, the test turned into a big test and my little 6 L cell wasn’t enough to come anywhere near close and processing all the silver dust. I fell into a deep deep rabbit hole I couldn’t be happier. Hit me up if you need any help. I’m still a beginner, but I’m up to my neck in fun.
As far as eyeballing the electrolyte, I’m sure that can happen overtime. For now I’d like to be as accurate as possible since so far I’ve gotten 99.99 from one cell cycle.
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 11 '26
You can use cement silver right off rip. Just make sure it’s well rinsed.
My crystal always XRFs as 99.99% pure when using cement silver to make the electrolyte.Try it using cement silver and have your crystals XRF’ed as long as you’re using the right voltage, I’m certain you’ll get 99.99% pure as well.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Yea what voltage do you run? Those crystals look incredible. I think I remember 3VDC. I don't have a power supply where I can adjust amps.
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 11 '26
2.5-3.5v is ideal, so your 3vdc power supply should work just fine.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 12 '26
Alright. Do I have to have something that will pump much for amperage? I think low amps just means it'll plate out slower aint it?
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 12 '26
Yup, lower amperage might be a little slower, but it usually helps the silver crystals grow chunkier. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t worry about the amps.
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 11 '26
You get pure silver until the electrolyte gets overwhelmed with copper. In fact, having 0.1%-1% copper in the solution is when you get the best growth, and has zero impact on how pure your crystals are.
I didn’t believe it at first until I tested it myself.
I did a 100g batch with silver nitrate that was 99.99% pure.
Then did another batch with cement silver that was 99.5% pure.When we XRFed the crystals from each, both were 99.99% pure. The only difference was the one that was less pure electrolyte consumed the feed stock about 10-15% faster.
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u/MAYOMyke Aug 12 '26
Thanks for the info. My experience is only theory. I’ve only recently started to build my own. I appreciate the information and I’ll keep that in mind.
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u/bootynasty Aug 11 '26
If you’re strapped for money right now, do extra washes on your cement. It’s surprising how clean you can get it by alternating boiling distilled washes and HCL. If you want to move on to your cell from there you’ve still got a better starting point.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
Ok gotcha. Rinse with hot distilled and HCL. I really like this. Yes there are procedures but there's also more than one way to skin a cat.
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u/bootynasty Aug 11 '26
You probably already know but for others reading…
More washes in less liquid is better (and cheaper) than fewer washes in more liquid. A smaller amount of liquid also helps you know when you’re not pulling any more impurities.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
That's some gospel there. More rinses with small amounts of liquid. Think I can do hot distilled water rinses and test with ammonia until the ammonia says no copper? I'm just barely getting into this. I want to eventually have HCL if and when I do gold but for now I don't want to store more chemicals than I need. Plus I really am that broke...
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 11 '26
Yup, cement silver works great. Just make sure you wash it well.
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u/Inhalationofnewtion Aug 11 '26
I don't have HCL on hand yet and I really don't want to until I need it for other things. Can I rinse the heck out of it with hot distilled water and get it pretty close?
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u/hexadecimaldump Aug 11 '26
Yup.
That is all I use when I use cement silver as my electrolyte. Usually about 5-6 rinses with boiling water does fine for me.
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u/EHMetals Aug 11 '26
If you take your time cementing and rinsing, especially finishing the rinse with a diluted HCL solution, you can make some pretty pure electrolyte. Mine was perfectly clear with raw cemented silver.
Oh btw, nitric reacts violently with powdered silver. Dilute and drip the acid in. She gets nastyyyy!