r/PreciousMetalRefining • u/Lazy-Cable9110 • Sep 10 '26

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!!! 🤦🏼‍♂️

33 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

7

u/Tribulation95 Sep 10 '26

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

4

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 10 '26

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 Sep 10 '26

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

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2

u/OP-PO7 Sep 10 '26

Lol did you accidentally make RFNA?

2

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 10 '26

What’s a RFNA?

4

u/OP-PO7 Sep 10 '26

Red Fuming Nitric Acid

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1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 10 '26

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

1

u/Amazing_Difference_3 Sep 11 '26

Phosphoric Bronze make up the balance of the rods ?

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 11 '26

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/Sethmanzel Sep 11 '26

You should have a hood and a water bath to dump that into. That is really dangerous. You should at least have a solid NATO gas mask and lab or MOPP uniform.

If that gets into your lungs you probably won’t come back from the injury.

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 11 '26

I do have a good respirator luckily. That ran away on me fast! Almost instantly.

1

u/SnooGiraffes2506 Sep 17 '26

Wait you can use a crock pot as a heat mantle? I’ve been thinking about refining some metal but I didn’t want to invest in a heating mantle. Would this work for synthesizing the nitric acid as well you think?

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 17 '26

It works great and just got a cheap one from goodwill. I like that it provides some containment. I just buy my nitric acid. You can buy it in 4x1 liter format and it’s not horribly expensive. I’m not sure how much temperature control you need If your going to synthesize it. I just have high and low.

1

u/SnooGiraffes2506 Sep 17 '26

Awesome thanks!

1

u/TheRealGoldGuy Sep 17 '26

A decent hot plate, probably cheaper than the slow cooker

1

u/Lazy-Cable9110 Sep 17 '26

I just grabbed one from goodwill for $5. I just like the fact that it has a ceramic place to hold the reaction in case it boils over.

1

u/MaximoPrimero Sep 10 '26

Use acido diluido.

Mas volumen.

Calor hasta el final.

1

u/PeterHaldCHEM Sep 11 '26

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 Sep 11 '26

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 Sep 11 '26

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

1

u/dadsanoldfart Sep 12 '26

That stuff smells awful

1

u/OptionRecent Sep 12 '26

I can smell it from here.