Silver Refining How To Make Electrolyte For The Silver Cell

[@HARLEYQUINN-tf6ee]

Thank you for continuing to share your knowledge so freely. I am still an avid reader of your posts on the gold refining forum. Based on your information I built and operated 4 silver cells, generating an income for my family. I personally can vouch that your videos are accurate in all aspects. Thanks once again.

[@LISTINGTOSTARBOARD]

Hi Harley. Im Joe Curr. My laugh can shut down an airport lol. Imagine if he made rock candy. I bet hed be a god at it. 😂

[@joegoedhart1259]

@@HARLEYQUINN-tf6ee I dont get it. How do you supply an income. At the moment everyone is selling scrap .925 at above spot so by the time it is refined you break even. It is actually cheaper in Australia to buy silver from the mint. How can this be supporting your family?

[@sreetips]

In the USA people are clueless about silver and gold. They believe, incorrectly, that paper currency is more valuable than gold and silver. I don’t know where we’d be without gold and silver. And thankfully, I don’t even have to sell it anymore.

[@sreetips]

You can buy silver at fraction of the grossly undervalued spot price. If you know when, where, and what to look for. Get some!

[@wlajem]

You are a legend, I refine silver since 2010 and your videos are so freaking useful, great thanks from Italy

[@sreetips]

Excellent, thank you

[@tomislavvaldec1]

Where did you find nitric acid and what procentige?

[@ut000bs]

The cobalt blue of that copper in solution is one of the prettiest hues of any color there is. Absolutely stunning. I want a car that color. Thank you, Sr. I've watched this one before but your videos generate multiple views. That's great. lol

[@sreetips]

My favorite color as well

[@MrNopehaha]

I like how you show the gear you use to help others find and use the same as well. Thanks for sharing Sreetips!

[@sreetips]

You're welcome, thank you!

[@ultimaterandomvids7875]

@@sreetips hey I have a question, what's that bar made out of in 27:17?

[@LryuzakiLN]

​​@@ultimaterandomvids7875 Pure silver bar

[@3dmikea]

Thanks for your videos. Are you available to do remote consulting for me. ​@@sreetips

[@shaneyork300]

Great Video!!! That lab coat makes it look official. The 1st comment I made, I eluded to the fact that I thought you were a chemistry professor. Then you told me that you had no formal chemistry education, besides being self taught!! Very good, Sreetips!!!!

[@peraz968]

Thanks for advising video! I really appreciate your hard work around these videos! I know, it is not just lika that and everything is done. There is a lot of work, cutting, editing etc., to get everything also look nice at the end! Good job! And thanks a lot.

[@sreetips]

Thank you

[@hectororellana9751]

Hey that was one fantastic show I have never seen this proceses , and I wanted to thank you for going through the trouble of teaching us , but what I am most surprised about is how safe you work, and your humbleness witch tells me that you and your family have been blessed by the Lord, when the Lord gives you a talent, you have to multiply it and when you teach that talent to others you are bering fruits, for every person you teach, you are multiplying the talent God gave you greetings to you from Hector.

[@sreetips]

Hector, I believe it to be true. Thank you

[@simplifygardening]

Have to say i am glad you decided a while ago to get infront of the camera and speak, the videos were brill before but much better now your in them chatting

[@Avanahumpalot]

Not sure how I ended up on your channel but I've watched a ton of your videos.

[@javierharth3647]

Brilliant! Pure science. Methodical, practical, and concise. You`ve got my attention and support. Thanx

[@williamwells7228]

I want to thank you so much. I got into metal detecting and I think I found some silver and no one could even tell me what I found. So heck let's go make some. I'm gonna try myself.

[@sreetips]

Get some schwerters solution. It’s potassium dichromate dissolved in a little dilute nitric acid. It turns blood red when it comes in contact with silver.

[@LAUGHINGMAN91]

I had no idea i was interested in this kinda thing until I saw your videos ! I had chemistry kits as a kid growing crystals but this is the kinda thing you'd never let a child do. Way cooler !

[@sreetips]

I had a Gilbert. And we had a variety store called Sanford’s when I was a kid in the 60s they sold hobby level chemistry glassware in their basement. The brand was “Perfect”. I’d go there just to look at the condensers and flasks. I had a small lab set up in our basement.

[@samclayton2227]

I'd like to thank you for all the education you pass on

[@Gday_Its_Will]

i love your silver videos thanks for taking the time to make them for us. I sent you a PM with a thought for a video idea, i just didnt want to post it in the chat and look stupid lol. keep up the good work

[@360Vacation2]

Thank you for sharing your recipe. And congratulations on the new shop coat. 😊

[@buggsy5]

You can mix your concentrated silver nitrate and additional distilled water by just pouring the solution back and forth between a couple of bowls/pitchers a few times. It does a more thorough job of mixing, but I don't know if the introduction of more air into the solution would cause problems.

[@SampathGuruge]

Hello Sreetips , when I'm entering to this refining field the first video I watched is yours , and day by day I learnd lots and lots of things that I entirely aware about this field , I write this comment after long time silently learning from you , for thanking you , Thank you very much for teaching and your guide to success in the refinery field ! Thank you very much and wish you all the best 🙏

[@sreetips]

Bravo

[@SampathGuruge]

@@sreetips 💕💕💕💕💕

[@stellaman1103]

Really nice to put a face and voice to the videos, so much more informative. Thank you.

[@marcusaurelius3378]

Hello Sir, I would love to hear some more thoughts on when to change the electrolyte. How do I know it is not usable anymore, because of too much copper in it? Thank you so much and best greetings

[@XR650L_GUY]

I really like your shows. Thank you. I've just starting learning about geology ,trying to gather some gold. Im 65 and thought this might be something to do when i retire @ 70.

[@jerukpecel-p4v]

Akhirnya saya menemukan Chanel untuk belajar. Terimakasih

[@sreetips]

Excellent, welcome!

[@pyrocircus129]

Love the new video as usual, love the way you explain the process in simple form.

[@markmayer2029]

Another great video, thanks. It would be cool if you did a small batch with chlorinated water, just to show why not to use it.

[@franciscoholguin855]

I'm interested in the same thing. And how to correct it

[@gregorytangalos811]

Oh my friend.... You are the most professional and diligent scientist I have seem... Thank you for sharing... Would like to buy some refined metal from you soon...I make jewelry with it.....:) :) :)

[@BrianBurns-x4r]

Thanks for all your tutorials! Now my turn to make rookie mistakes! 😊

[@aga5897]

Get yourself a hotplate/stirrer and add a stirbar. It speeds things up a Lot, especially near the end - it'll save you a Lot of time. Basically the acid and metal need to hit each other, so stirring makes that happen faster.

[@hedgehog7562]

I have a degree in metallurgy , but I'm not a chemist. I totally understand what you are achieving and amazed with your ability to use one solution to apply to another solution. Nitric Acid is the problem. Where do I find it? Muriatic is easy. If you could provide me with the sources, I will watch these videos over and over again until I have it right. SAFETY FIRST!!!!All of your videos are great but, the last two with your commentary put it into perspective. GREAT JOB!Please respond as I am eager to try this. Thanks

[@orpheusepiphanes2797]

If you have the lab equipment and patience you can try making it yourself out of nitrate fertilizers to get yourself started.

[@oooomn2057]

❤Very, very beautiful. Indeed, I am the one who wants to thank you for everything you offer. Good luck and success. I am following you from Egypt and I hope to see you and talk to you. Thank you and to everyone who is with you. Thank you. merry Christmas

[@sreetips]

Merry Christmas!

[@sohaibal-arefi6023]

Hi dear Thank you for this video. Please, Could you write down the final components amount of the electrolyte solution. -Total HNO3 added= - amount of H2O added while dissolving silver= -Final Total H2O added for the electrolyte solution.

[@sreetips]

I use 150g of silver per liter of electrolyte.

[@sohaibal-arefi6023]

@sreetips -how many nitric acid per liter electrolyte? -how many distilled water per liter electrolyte? -the percentages for both H2O and HNO3 per liter electrolyte

[@sreetips]

About 0.9 ml of nitric to dissolve one gram of pure silver. 50/50 distilled water/nitric acid.

[@sohaibal-arefi6023]

@@sreetips thank you

[@dagtegaal]

Thank you for this video . i've learned alot today . Very inspirational

[@MrTk6969]

Hey man ur awesome I learn alot from watching where did u learn how to do this ....

[@sreetips]

The goldrefiningforum.com

[@aurunator5907]

it workes great itsawesome see the cystalls grow. i curiouse why does h2so4 make bubbles after 1volt but agno3 can run at 3.6

[@sreetips]

I’ve never tried sulfuric

[@chrisr.2410]

2:30am and a new Sreetips video gets uploaded? Guess I'm not going to bed for a while!

[@sreetips]

Sorry, I was up until 3am the previous night, and got up around 7am to get back to work on the video. It was done by 6pm that evening, so I began the upload and passed out from being so tired. I woke up at 2:30 and hit the publish button, then went back to bed for an hour and a half.

[@carlsmith2826]

Wow I just watched one of your more recent videos. The vent hood is so quiet compared to the one in this video.

[@sdunca4864]

Good video once again- I enjoy learning from you. One thought of caution please... do not wear nitrile gloves when working with HNO3- the reaction can be rather aggressive and it can be fairly rapid at the strengths you use. Maybe its selfish of me- but I would like to see you making videos for a long time. Excellent as always.

[@markcasper6940]

I do this for a living... And although latex gloves and nitrile gloves are NOT approved PPE, when you wear 2 pairs of either, they are in fact protective... I have NEVER been burned even when the outer glove gets slimy from slightly dissolving in the Nitric Acid....

[@redeye99999]

Thanks ever so much. Your very kind. Love your videos they're great. Have a lovely day.

[@OwlTech333]

Very informative! Thank you!

[@josephpecoul6532]

That Silver looks really nice.

[@kayrizob92]

Got the book now budgeting for everything else. LoL really liking the videos too.

[@franciscoholguin855]

What if I use tap water to begin with and salt in a stainless steel bowl with a car charger what will that do and what would be next to try and correct that? Love all your work 🥼🥽🌡️⚗️🧫📝☢️☣️🍻

[@sreetips]

Tap water and salt will form insoluble silver chloride.

[@shaunsprogress]

So is the purpose to keep dissolving the "pure" silver shot to make it purer? How much more silver shot will this take? Is this the silver that has been dissolved in nitric acid and deposited onto the copper wire, then melted?

[@dynomania]

Thanks so much for the video. When you melt out the silver from the reagent process does it always have that coffee color to it. Or is it sometimes just a silver color?

[@LeonardRussell-uv8lh]

Awesome video I've been watching for a while and thinking of trying it . I do have one question for the dacron bag could polyester be used in the same way double layer

[@sreetips]

Possibly, but I’ve never tried polyester.

[@thevalleyofdisappointment]

can the contents of that anode basket which i assume is mainly copper and palladium be just incinerated and use to inquart more gold?

[@sreetips]

No, if I did that the palladium would build up and accumulate in the silver. This would increase the chance of palladium getting into the silver cell electrolyte and plating out with the silver crystal. But contamination of the silver crystal is secondary; palladium is 100 times more valuable than silver!

[@AnthonyFlores-ly3fj]

I am just starting i have gotten everything ready with two ciels. Where do you get your nitric acid at. Very exciting thank you so much for sharing.

[@sreetips]

You can get nitric at any chemical supply. But you’ll need to jump through a few hoops. They don’t deliver to residential address. Get a business to receive it for you.

[@sreetips]

Be sure and do these reactions in a fume hood. I ignored this critical advice when I first started. Did reactions in my back yard. DON’T DO IT. The fumes will get in your lungs no matter how well you can hold your breath. On your skin, eyes, hair and clothing. I now suffer reduced lung function, spots on my eye lenses, and thin enamel on my teeth (nitric will dissolve tooth enamel) from repeated exposure to those red fumes. No way to safely do these reactions without a fume hood.

[@lukebaehr3851]

Can you put crushed up el Electronics in the daccron filter. Play will that work will it pull the silver out of those components?

[@sreetips]

No, the silver going in must be relatively high purity to begin with.

[@kimberlynoland3621]

I just stumbled upon this video and it's fabulous! I see you have quite a few video's . My Question is do you have a video on how or where you get the impure silver shots from? to fill the little anode basket? Also what kind of tourch do you use when your smelting? Love to see that setup as well. TY Have a wonderful Blessed Day!

[@sreetips]

I buy sterling silver at local sales. I use it to refine gold. Silver is a by-product of my gold refining operation. I recover the silver from tgat, melt it into shot and use that as feed stock for my silver cell. I use an oxy/acetylene torch with a cutting head to melt the precious metals.

[@metalicmario]

Did you ever XRF any of your silver that you melted from the silver chloride, sodium hydroxide, sugar conversion? I consistently got 4 nines with a one run processing using the chloride method on sterling. So I never had the need to use a cell. With the chloride you just have to make sure to rinse it very well before using the sodium hydroxide and sugar. I'd put the chloride in a 5 gallon bucket and blast it with the garden hose until it ran clear. I do the shooting slightly different btw.

[@sreetips]

Yes, I've made high purity silver with silver chloride, lye and sugar. There are refiners who prefer this method. "you get your palladium up front..." One refiner remarked. And no need to tie up a bunch of silver in electrolyte. I prefer the silver cell method because there's less waste that must be treated. And I'm familiar with the silver cell. Plus, I get to make videos about recovering the metals from my anode filters fron the silver cell.

[@fbakerwitz]

Hey Mr Sreetip! You've been very kind to answer a couple of my "rookie" questions so thank you very much. I am on my journey, to make my first silver cell ever but I have a couple questions: I don't have any "cement silver", so what do you recommend I use to make my impure shot? I have a bunch of pure silver 1oz coins, but of course I'd prefer not to use them unless I have to. Also, the silver bars you make for your anode basket ....are they pure silver or can they be made of impure silver as well? Again, thank you so much for your time and wisdom.

[@sreetips]

I buy sterling silver at estate sales. After dissolving in hot dilute nitric, I cement the silver on copper, rinse it off, melt into shot, and run it through my silver cell.

[@a0cdhd]

Most interesting process. I have been meaning to try it but have not done so yet. Leaving large open containers of AgNO2 around in MY workshop for days on end is just asking for trouble. I use another method which utilises sodium formate. Have you heard if it?

[@sreetips]

I have not

[@craigwillis9491]

I decided to do a few brushes ups on your channel, before starting my first silver cell. The entire process is inline with your teachings, however the DC power source once set using constant voltage mode to 3.5 Volts once hooked up to the power supply cell leads automatically switches to constant current mode and the volts drop to 1.8. Any thoughts would be helpful as I'm not generating crystal only silver grain at bottom of cell.

[@sreetips]

Turn amps knob up all the way up to max amps and see if that solves it.

[@RavenRaven-se6lr]

Could you out line the equipment needed to produce process to make silver.

[@TheRealGKV]

Wondering why you don’t pour your silver-cell crystals through a fine stainless screen mesh so you won’t have to painstakingly pour the electrolyte off the crystals... also, would your stirring method be more effective if you used a glass paddle and not just a rod?

[@russellpindar7717]

Another very interesting and well put together video. Looking forward to seeing how you process the slimes which, I presume contains silver, PMGs and copper?

[@sreetips]

I've got about six filters from previous silver cell runs. I might do this as my next video. But I am concerned that folks are going to abandon me if I don't get the catalytic converter and stock pot videos out soon. Thanks for the input.

[@ronaldnewman6027]

Do you gotta have license to buy those chemicals and if so what kind and what's a ball park number on how much it would cost to get them I love watching your videos science is so cool love the reactions of the silver chloride it was awesome that it turned to cottage cheese white

[@sreetips]

I’ve got a drivers license, that’s about it. I get most chemicals on eBay or at Ace Hardware.

[@ronaldnewman6027]

@@sreetips that's exactly what I was wondering thanks maybe I will try it

[@ourodolixo-e]

Very good Lisa and Randy, Super Like

[@sreetips]

Beez?!?!

[@jdwagman]

What is the anode made out of? Thank you so much, love your work.

[@sreetips]

Melted cement silver

[@jdconn5973]

Did not get to see the finish with lye and sugar I will check other videos to see if you finished one with lye and sugar. So which one is better lye and sugar or copper method? Thanks again

[@sreetips]

I prefer cementing on copper

[@jdconn5973]

@@sreetips ok thank you

[@masternater6721]

fantastic video as always. thank you for sharing. as i'm currently putting together my first silver cell, i have a quick question, if i may. in the making of the electrolyte, you mentioned that cement silver should not be used to make electrolyte, as it may contain palladium. my presumption is because hot nitric dissolves palladium, and it could be inadvertently in the cement silver as copper will cement out both silver and palladium. so my question is, would cemented silver that contained a small amount of palladium, turned into shot, and then ran through the cell, hold the palladium in the slime basket, and not allow it into the electrolyte? or will it end up in the electrolye anyhow? if so, will it stay in solution, and thus the reason for the silver chloride production instead of just cementing out the old electrolyte on copper?

[@sreetips]

Excellent question. I keep excess free nitric out of my electrolyte. If there’s palladium in the anode silver then it can leach into the electrolyte, if there’s a bunch of free nitric in the electrolyte. That’s why it’s important, to me, to ensure all the free nitric gets consumed when I make the electrolyte. I can tell when all the nitric has been consumed when the electrolyte is boiling, there’s no fumes production (no red fumes), and there’s a little excess undissolved silver in the bottom of the beaker. I can tell if palladium has leached into the cell because the electrolyte will turn green. A little palladium is not a problem. But higher concentrations could cause the Pd to begin co-depositing with the silver. It’s been said that the silver can have as much as 10% palladium in it before you’d start to notice a difference in the silver. But contaminated silver is not the main concern. Palladium is about thirty times more valuable than silver.

[@sreetips]

It’s ok to have a little palladium in the cement silver. Just remember to keep the excess nitric out of the electrolyte and it should stay in the anode filter and not leach into the electrolyte.

[@sreetips]

Instead of trying to use cement silver to make the electrolyte, just use pure silver bars or coins. Then remember to reserve part of the harvest of pure silver crystal for the next time you make electrolyte.

[@jasonspring2881]

I'm finally about to build my own silver cell i hope it goes as good as u make it out to be lol

[@johannesdesloper8434]

I used some coppernitrate (used silver cell) electrolyte for electrochemically etching a circuit board today..worked for 90%... the edges wore out fast so you still need etch chemicals but you will reduce that consumtion dramatically...The copper on the board went so thin that I could see through the copper layer.

[@sreetips]

You should make a video to show how it's done.

[@johannesdesloper8434]

Haha...I think I need a video how to make a video cause etching a PCB is too easy with spend silver cell electrolyte and goes real fast,but as I said it ain't perfect cause in the last stage you loose your electro(de)plating circuit ofcourse. The edges of the "voids" wear out first so a little material stays in the middle of it. I had no Ironchloride or such and made wide voids so sanded away the see-through copper to finish the PCB. I thought it was a nice tip for silver refiners that also like to make their own circuit boards. Atm. I'm still thinking on what to do with the waste solution... It's at least ideal for electroplating I think and if you want you can be really creative with it :D...I'm btw also really interested in what you do with the waste solutions....copper can't be waste material as it is 5$ a kilo :D...cementing out with lead isn't a nice solution for me. Cementing out half of it with nikkel could give you 2 solutions to use for plating but I've seen the sulfides are used more often... I'm just fantasizing and haven't overseen the consequences of my electrochemical endeavor ;) I liked you demonstrated that you saturated your acid with metal to make the electrolyte. It's not ideal to electroplate in solutions that have free acid in them :D.

[@johannesdesloper8434]

Haha....I uploaded my first video on youtube... I think it's funny.

[@johannesdesloper8434]

I did make a video sreetips...from my DIM Tesla coil kzbin.info/www/bejne/ooHag2yKnd9rma8

[@dustinscroggins3382]

So if i desolved just sterling silver in nitric, cemented it back out on copper, i use that cement silver to make electrolyte?? That cement silver would not possibly contain poladium??

[@sreetips]

It’s not recommended. You can use pure silver bars or coins to make electrolyte.

[@socialexperimentgaming4808]

So are or can the volts be used to regulate growth speed? Like turn down volts to low while at work, back up a few hrs when home, then back down again? To keep from having to knock down the crystals so often / worry about a short? And with this being electrolysis, normal ventilation is ok? Say an attached garage without worry of fumes infiltrating the home? (just the electrolysis part)

[@sreetips]

I’ve run voltage as low as 3.3vdc and high 3.7vdc anytime we work with acidic solutions in our garage expect surface corrosion on any metal surfaces including your car, motorcycle or tools. To avoid this it can be done in a fume hood.

[@ObsoletePencil]

I see in your videos that you do your best to minimize waste and by-products. I may have missed the video on it, but what do you do with unavoidable waste and by-products? How do you safely and legally dispose of them?

[@sreetips]

Waste treatment.

[@ObsoletePencil]

@@sreetips I don't know what that means. You treat it yourself? You take it somewhere?

[@sreetips]

Please see my video on waste treatment. I get all the toxic metals out and render the solids and solutions harmless, using chemistry, myself. It’s not hard to do.

[@devanirmarques332]

Hi my friend. Thank you so much for your videos. I have a question. How many grams of silver can you dissolve in one liter of electrolyte?

[@sreetips]

I've never tried to go beyond 150 to 200 grams per liter. But it wouldn't surprise me if a kilo would dissolve into a liter of liquid.

[@slimpickins09er87]

@@sreetips I have several questions. Why did it not make silver nitrate when you dissolved the crystal in the Nitric acid? Do you recover the 600 grams of silver you used to make the electrolyte? How many litters of electrolyte did the 600 grams make if you can only recover 150 - 200 grams from a litter?

[@roberthainline4552]

Do you have a video showing how to make the Silver cell solution with a CS grade silver nitrate that I purchased or can you just tell me what I mix it with please

[@sreetips]

100g of pure silver dissolved in one liter is sufficient concentration for a single run of the silver cell. If I chose to use silver nitrate to achieve the same concentration then I’d use 155g of silver nitrate dissolved in one liter of distilled water to achieve the same concentration as 100g of pure silver. My silver cell is 3.5 liters.

[@silver_salvage_savage]

Would it be better to use silver derived from chloride rather than cement silver to make electrolyte if pure silver isn't available? Thx

[@sreetips]

Probably, but I’ve never tried it.

[@Frank-bh3cm]

At 11:15 - if this is a Nitric + Silver solution and you add HCL, doesn't that make Aqua Regia?

[@sreetips]

Yes, however, if you add just enough HCl to react with the silver nitrate to form silver chloride, then the amount of free HCl will be minimal. But there will be a slight hint of aqua regia.

[@NOFX0890]

You're a valuable resource sir. As valuable as GFR. Did you buy laser steves dvds? If so which ones? I am new to GRF, just familiarising myself with the safety section,some hazards, reading Hoke and trying to navigate and accumulate equiptment. Its going to be a fun filled learning curve. Stonemason+HNO3=(very)Amateur chemist. Thankyou for the videos.

[@sreetips]

I bought three dvds from Steve. The AtoZ silver, platinum fundamentals. And gold filled dvd. They were helpful but they left out critical details.

[@keithmccutchen3495]

I would love to learn this as i collect gold and silver . Would love to know where you buy all your glassware?

[@sreetips]

eBay

[@prospectorpete]

can u reuse the filters once youve washed the slimes out of them ?

[@sreetips]

They are custom fit and trimmed with a razor. I don’t think that they would fit properly

[@parcydwr]

Hi Sreetips. When you dissolved the silver in the nitric and distilled water solution I was thinking the solution must be saturated for the silver cell to work correctly.... but then you add a load more distilled water. Does the electrolyte need to be saturated or not? This is confusing me somewhat and I am struggling to find an answer to that question.

[@sreetips]

I add enough distilled water to achieve 150g of pure silver dissolve in one liter of solution. This cell holds 3.5 liters. So I’ll have 3.5l x 150g = about 525g of silver dissolved in 3.5 liters of liquid.

[@edwardhughes352]

Hi Streetips. I liked the video. You mentioned you run thr silver through the cell twice. Do you know the purity after the first pass and how much better does it get after the second pass.

[@sreetips]

The silver will be at least three nines fine after the first pass, depending on electrolyte contaminated with palladium, dissolved copper concentration, electrical parameters, if all are kept in the proper range. The second pass, again depending on many factors, should be close to five nines fine.

[@stevenvantuyl8963]

First off thank you as it was very informative. also i have this question: is this process intended to make dirty silver as what would be found in scrap jewelry pure ? or can it also clean up raw silver poured into an ingot like that of silver ore ? my first watch was out of curiosity and i admit a little awe as well. I have done some gold plating, silver, copper, rhodium, nickle, and cobalt. UN fortunately these were all prepared solutions that i purchased. figureing out how to make my own would be great can you advise for a future build so as not to become a chemical menace to everyone around me.

[@sreetips]

The silver going into this cell is about 99% pure. 925/Sterling can be used but the electrolyte quickly becomes saturated with copper and the cell electrolyte must be changed. Running ore through the cell probably wouldn't work but I've never tried it.

[@Dpjones75]

Great video! I have a beginner question for you, What is the material of you anode?

[@sreetips]

The anode basket electrode bar is made of some of the impure silver shot. If you watch my silver refining videos for the amateur refiner, part 2 shows how I make the electrode bar for the anode basket. The electrode bar provides a place to attach the alligator clip from the positive side of the power supply.

[@Dpjones75]

Great thank you, I just watched the other videos. You have some of the best detailed videos on youtube! keep it up!

[@ryanguy7399]

Stree how do you get the power supply not shorting out when you put the positive negative in the same conductive fluid? So far I haven't been able to get that to not happen

[@sreetips]

It just does t short out.

[@atlsmostblunted1]

Thanks Great video! I noticed that you didn’t go Into detail about how to make, the diameter and spacing of the holes in the bottom of the Rubbermaid container (anode basket). Is it just not that important? You actually showed the bottom and the holes so I paused it there to try and figure it out myself but to have it explained by you would help a lot!

[@sreetips]

I don’t think hole spacing it critical.

[@atlsmostblunted1]

@@sreetips thanks!

[@consaka1]

Where do the impurities end up? When you poured that acid in I noticed that at first it made white formations. Later it was green for a bit. What made the green color.

[@sreetips]

I made a video that described what your talking about. The solution turns color because of the way the nitric acid reflects the light when it first starts reacting. If it didn’t become clear and colorless then blue is the color of copper in solution.

[@consaka1]

@@sreetips I must have missed that video. I thought the copper was green in Solution and the silver was blue. I guess I need to watch these videos when I'm not half asleep ☺️

[@amirawaziri370]

Can we use any regular cotton/synthetic fabric for the filter if we cant get the vacuum bags?

[@sreetips]

I’ve heard that people use layers of muslin cloth for these filters. But I’ve always used the Dacron vacuum cleaner bags since day one.

[@amiraadamuwaziri4323]

Thanks sreetips, you da best!

[@1978coors]

Another great video. Unfortunately nitric acid isn't available where I am. Is there another solution to use? And if so would you be willing to make a video? I really liked your video using salt and vinegar to remove gold from trimmed fingers. I tried it and it worked well. Plus putting a piece of steel in there after it was finished cemented out copper.

[@sreetips]

silver nitrate dissolved in distilled water will work for silver cell electrolyte.

[@1978coors]

Thank you I will give it a shot

[@1978coors]

I suppose that's essentially what you make for your silver cell

[@1978coors]

sreetips I had an idea the other day about making a gold cell for your scrap gold. I wonder if it would work with the same set up but use saturated aqua regia. From what I understand gold will attract to titanium and I've seen it on a video where a mint does that to purify the gold but doesn't say what acid they use. It doesn't turn black so you wouldn't have to refine it again, you would just have to melt it. I would like to hear your opinion on this

[@robmorris87]

I believe 12v lead acid car battery's contain nitric acid, but I could be wrong

[@samMcintyre-p3j]

Again another great video , I have question regarding the electrolyte , I dissolved 10 oz of silver in 300 mil of nitric acid , and my total solution with distilled water is 2.5 litres , I didn’t have silver left over in my solution before pouring it in to the the bowl , I am at day 14 and no where near the amount of silver you have grown , I have gone thru a lot of shot in the basket , could my solution be to strong to get the crystal growth you have ? Could my solution be to acidic and if so what do I do before I use it again , my amps never got higher then 90 and volts where 3.5 Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. You have inspired me , as I share the same feelings about fiat currency Kind regards Sam

[@sreetips]

I use 150g per liter of solution concentration for my electrolyte and get good results.

[@josephpecoul6532]

You know what would be cool is if there were something you could put in the bowl for the copper to plate out on like how the silver plates out on the stainless bowl ???

[@Slamscape]

It’s doing to be hard for me to get an anode bar made of silver... Can I use a piece of graphite instead? :/

[@aarongebrehiwot6391]

assuming the impure silver is low grade, will it still get refined? and how well will it refine? plus will it refine better the more I repeat the process?

[@sreetips]

The impure silver going into the cell must be relatively high purity to begin with or else the cell will quickly become fouled. I’ve run some of the pure silver crystal back through the cell a second time. Had it analyzed ICP and it came back greater than five nines fine. That’s 99999 parts per one hundred thousand pure silver.

[@aarongebrehiwot6391]

@@sreetips I was wondering if I could increase the purity of a low grade silver by melting and mixing it with a batch of pure silver? if I can in a sense increase the purity to 97-97% but the method I implied, will the electrolytic process work well? thanks in advance.

[@sreetips]

I wouldn’t do that if it were mine.

[@DrKarrarLab]

So clear instructions thanks so much!

[@shdwbnndbyyt]

You can minimize the prouction of the brown NO2 gas / dimer colorless N2O4 gas (when hot brown gas, when cold converts to colorless dimer), but NOT the NO gas, by using dilute nitric acid solutions -- it does take much longer though. All nitrogen oxides (with the possible exception of N2O, laughing gas -- dosage determines whether something is safe or deadly -- even air or water or food) are toxic.

[@keithgilliam2598]

i noticed you mentioned a couple ratios for dissolving silver for electrolyte… 60 grams per liter then you measured out 590 grams for your 3.5 liter bowl… please let me know which is better….i’m getting ready to start my silver cell thank you

[@sreetips]

I like to use 150 grams of pure silver per liter if electrolyte. 60 grams per liter refers to copper concentration in the electrolyte. Once copper gets that high in the electrolyte then the copper could begin to plate out with the silver thus contaminating the pure silver crystal.

[@keithgilliam2598]

makes sense now thank you for the prompt reply anxious to get started

[@AlienRestoMod]

What white dish are you using? Do you think I could use a deep pan?

[@sreetips]

Corning ware.

[@AlienRestoMod]

The reason I asked is because I used the wrong type of casserole dish, it exploded within 2 mins. The beaker was ok, had 10 oz of silver and 500ml of distilled water. Just got back from goodwill and picked up vision corningware. Tested both on hot plate and no explosion. 😃👽

[@romanfares9864]

Okay what was the rod that you put the positive lead on made of and how many holes did you punch in the bottom of your basket ?

[@sreetips]

Rod = pure silver, ten holes

[@romanfares9864]

@@sreetips okay thanks for your help

[@jackm1429]

I'm very new to this but is there a reason you didn't melt the shot into a bar and use it as an anode?

[@sreetips]

Shot presents more surface area than a bar

[@markmanning2921]

how economical is this method of purification? Is the cost of the materials and electricity worth it? I looked up that nitric acid you are using and that bottle seems to cost $126.00 which seems extremely high priced to me. Why is nitric acid so damned expensive?

[@saint27573]

what size fuse are you using on power supply ?

[@firstnlast]

That’s Dr. Sreetips to you.

[@wethepeople7961]

I enjoy your videos, well composed and straight to the point. Now from watching your videos, i deduce that the cost for refining silver is significantly higher than gold. Do you foresee a spike in silver spot price soon?

[@sreetips]

Refining silver takes much longer than gold. And it is probably more expensive because of the additional steps. I think silver is going to skyrocket when there is a loss faith in our currency. It's a mathematical certainty, just don't know when it will happen. $200 silver and $5000 gold.

[@aga5897]

I read a mathematical prediction that 'money' will cease to function in 2023. Complicated maths modelled by a Physicist about 30 years back.

[@panda19601]

We The People d

[@eternalnature1413]

Hi Sreetips I have a question. The blue silver nitrate solution from the silver cell, you added hydrochloric acid to make silver chloride. You then have to add lye and sugar to form cement silver. Is your choice of that process faster or better than just cementing the silver out on pure copper? If so can you please make a video of how to add the lye and sugar to cement out the silver please? I really love your work, ive been studying your processes for weeks and I just like to fully understand the why as well as the how. Thanks so much from NZ!

[@sreetips]

My silver nitrate solutions usually contain platinum group metals. So I cement the silver on copper to get those PGMs as well. Silver chloride conversion can yield three nines silver if done correctly.

[@eternalnature1413]

@@sreetips thank you for your reply, will you please show us how silver chloride convertion is done correctly with lye and sugar?

[@sreetips]

Yes

[@eternalnature1413]

@@sreetips Awesome, thank you very much! 🙏❤

[@SilverMac47]

Well that was eventful. I just bought a brand new corningware 2.5 qt container and it exploded on the stovetop. Any clue as to why. Are yours some kinda special ones.

[@sreetips]

They will take the heat but they're not indestructable. I had one shatter once. I was drying some cement silver. Turned the electric burner on high, walked away, and forgot about it. I was in another room and I heard it break. I knew what it was as soon as I heard it. I've had them on high heat as long as no liquid is in it.

[@sreetips]

I only use the smaller ones to heat my experiments 2.5 quarts is big and may not do well with high heat

[@SilverMac47]

I think the older ones were able to handle the heat. Cause they were made out of different material. From what I’ve gathered These new ones say not to put them on a burner. Should’ve read that before I blew it up. 😂🤣

[@sreetips]

I don't think any of them are suitable for a direct flame. I use electric heaters and have never put a direct flame on it.

[@The-AgeofAI]

I've got to ask what you actually yield at the end? With all the pure silver used in the basket combined with all the silver you liquify. What are you actually recovering in the end? Out of your anode basket.. how much of what is in the finished cell is actually new silver?

[@sreetips]

2.2 kilos of high purity silver

[@garrysshelton]

Thank you for this Series of Vids

[@ryanrogers3037]

Can I cement the silver from the used electrolyte solution with copper instead of acid lye and sugar?

[@sreetips]

That’s what I do

[@bencapobianco2045]

Hi Streetips love the videos they are some of my favorite on KZbin. I have a question I don’t have any pure silver yet so I wanted to know if I could start out making electrolyte with cemented silver and work up refining each time until I have pure silver crystal to make a proper electrolyte with? and thank you for your service in the Navy I appreciate all veterans you guys are truly my heroes!!

[@sreetips]

I've done that myself to get started.

[@buggsy5]

@@sreetips Would it be possible to start this multi-step silver purificationwith sterling silver, or would the high copper concentration cause problems?

[@sreetips]

I think I started that way. You can buy 999 silver rounds or bars and dissolve those in nitric for electrolyte

[@sreetips]

@@buggsy5 The electrolyte would quickly become saturated with copper. Best to use 99% pure silver for maximum results

[@buggsy5]

@@sreetips That is what I suspected. Thanks for the verification.