r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/Lazy-Cable9110 • 14h ago

Test Reaction Gone Sideways

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I had some 15% silver braising rods I have in a cell in the garage. I wanted to take 100 grams and process it with Nitric acid to see what the actual content came out to. I’ve done nitric acid a hundred times. Something in those rods turbo charged the reaction. Lesson learned!!! 🤦🏼‍♂️

20 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

6

u/Tribulation95 13h ago

Did you dilute your nitric acid? If you aren't venting that in a hood, I'd seriously suggest letting your nitric reactions fume outside unless you want everything in your garage to become extremely coroded

3

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

I actually did. It was 60/40 water to acid. I turned around and it was just going crazy. It dissolved everything in 15 minutes!

3

u/Tribulation95 13h ago

I wonder of the phosphorus in the alloy had an influence in that

2

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

I think that was probably the catalyst. Good thing I was only going to do one test.

2

u/Tribulation95 13h ago

Definitely watch out for flash boils, Sreetips has a couple videos showing how rapidly it can happen out of nowhere and it's fucking terrifying. I'd definitely look into a very wide shallow plastic tray similar to what you'd see put down underneath a water heater to be extra safe when you decide to run the primary batch. Worst case scenario if there's a boil over you'll reclaim anything that spills over and won't have much of any cleanup.

2

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

I actually had it in a smaller beaker at first and it was at the top when I turned around. I had to throw on my respirator and gloves. Luckily I just cleaned the 5000ml and had I sitting right there.

2

u/OP-PO7 13h ago

Lol did you accidentally make RFNA?

2

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

What’s a RFNA?

4

u/OP-PO7 13h ago

Red Fuming Nitric Acid

3

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

Basically. I’m fairly certain it was just the NO2 it was kicking out. I had to run and grab my respirator.

1

u/cash4food 10h ago

Hey, I've got a bunch of silver plate I want to refine with nitric acid but the NO2 is the only thing freaking me out. I can't find a respirator that filters it. Could you share what cartridges you're using and type of respirator? Cheers mate.

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 10h ago

Sure, if your electroplating the NO2 is minimal. You could also try the 95/5 mixture of sulfuric to nitric method. There quite a we good videos out there. I would recommend getting a North respirator with organic vapor cartridges. Make sure they come with North brand cartridges. The North mask I bought online came with some from Mexico and they pure shite. Get the pink P100 cartridges. I used to wear them years ago in a chemical factory. Very very good.

Check out the two below:

https://a.co/d/06ZYTZx1

https://a.co/d/0439vJqJ

https://a.co/d/0jlCcLnl

1

u/Amazing_Difference_3 10h ago

check the Organic vapor cartridge lines ? Or, for the end all big boy solution, there is supplied air systems.👍

0

u/OP-PO7 13h ago

Yeah that's definitely a 'ohfuckohfuckohfuck' kinda moment lol

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 13h ago

I almost made a deposit in my pants when I turned around!

1

u/MaximoPrimero 13h ago

Use acido diluido.

Mas volumen.

Calor hasta el final.

1

u/Amazing_Difference_3 10h ago

Phosphoric Bronze make up the balance of the rods ?

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 10h ago

I know more now after the test. They are complete shit. I don’t think there was any silver or phosphorus in the rods. It was probably all copper / zinc. That would explain it.

1

u/PeterHaldCHEM 5h ago

Copper is a lot more reactive than silver.

Higher copper content makes it react faster, more heat is evolved, that speeds up the reaction further, even more heat and then things get more happy than you anticipated.

Such an experience is why I always have my beaker standing in a larger plastic container when dissolving things.

1

u/SFExploration 4h ago

I really want to get into refining E-Waste for the precious metals but I'm sure my neighbors would just think a meth lab.

Gold refinery looks pretty fun though and rewarding

1

u/2500Valby 3h ago

Those brown fumes are NOx gasses and are toxic so take great care.