Silver cell and a couple of Copper sulphate Cells

[BGDOCK]

Started another cell to use up some old electrolyte while waiting for a new hot plate .
Two copper sulphate cells going in the back ground .one is to remove silver plate from contacts and pins. The other is a copper brain coral I’m growing (maybe six months now )
How do you know when to add sulphuric acid to the copper cells ? I just do maintenance additions about every 6 -8 weeks.

 

[GoIdman]

Started another cell to use up some old electrolyte while waiting for a new hot plate .
Two copper sulphate cells going in the back ground .one is to remove silver plate from contacts and pins. The other is a copper brain coral I’m growing (maybe six months now )
How do you know when to add sulphuric acid to the copper cells ? I just do maintenance additions about every 6 -8 weeks.

If you use copper sulfate as electrolite, why add precious sulfuric acid when you can add copper sulfate cristals (way cheaper btw) which will dissolve and reignite your electrolite. I don`t see the use of sulfuric acid in this case a good option.

Or I have misinterpreted your question?

Pete

 

[BGDOCK]

I read in a periodical some where that sulfuric acid leaped with the plating I thought does it donate H+ ions ?

 

[Yggdrasil]

If you use copper sulfate as electrolite, why add precious sulfuric acid when you can add copper sulfate cristals (way cheaper btw) which will dissolve and reignite your electrolite. I don`t see the use of sulfuric acid in this case a good option.

Or I have misinterpreted your question?

Pete

I guess Sulfuric is one of the cheapest acids you can get, so it might not be considered precious like Nitric.

 

[Yggdrasil]

I read in a periodical some where that sulfuric acid leaped with the plating I thought does it donate H+ ions ?

I'm not well versed in electrolytic cells, but thought that in theory at least,
the acids was regenerated by stripping the metal ion (m⁺) from the compound as the metals plated and replacing it with a H⁺ ion.
But as always, noting in the real world are as perfect as the theory,
so you need a bit of extra acid from time to time to replace the ions consumed by the contaminants.

I might be completely off here but this is how I see it in a general term at least.

 

[GoIdman]

I guess Sulfuric is one of the cheapest acids you can get, so it might not be considered precious like Nitric.

In my country is illegal to hold concentrated sulfuric acid, or nitric acid, since it is banned for general public. You need a permit to hold these materials and you are checked periodically for the amounts accounted in your company. So for me sulfuric is very precious..

Pete

 

[Martijn]

I'm not well versed in electrolytic cells, but thought that in theory at least,
the acids was regenerated by stripping the metal ion (m⁺) from the compound as the metals plated and replacing it with a H⁺ ion.
But as always, noting in the real world are as perfect as the theory,
so you need a bit of extra acid from time to time to replace the ions consumed by the contaminants.

I might be completely off here but this is how I see it in a general term at least.

i think you are right here. Besides the sulfuric that gets converted to other base metal sulfates, there should not be a significant loss of sulfuric imo.
evolution of Hydrogen happens at lower H2SO4 concentrations, only at high concentrations SO2 is evolved, as i read.

 

[ModernAlchemy]

Started another cell to use up some old electrolyte while waiting for a new hot plate .
Two copper sulphate cells going in the back ground .one is to remove silver plate from contacts and pins. The other is a copper brain coral I’m growing (maybe six months now )
How do you know when to add sulphuric acid to the copper cells ? I just do maintenance additions about every 6 -8 weeks.

Copper Brain Coral? Sounds interesting please elaborate!

 

[BGDOCK]

It’s a graphite cathode I had used from a couple of silver cells. In a copper cell I had run copper pipe, wire, and other copper items.It looks like it’s a copper brain coral. This was taken a few months ago . I have turned it up side down to see how it grows the growth is solid copper.

 

[BGDOCK]

Photo on the left is the anode from the silver

 

[BGDOCK]

accidentally hit post .
Left pic is the cathode from the first CUSO4 striping cell , right pic is a side view taken a while back .

 

[ModernAlchemy]

accidentally hit post .
Left pic is the cathode from the first CUSO4 striping cell , right pic is a side view taken a while back .

Thats really neat! Thanks for sharing

 

[diego Henrique vilela]

Iniciei outra célula para consumir um pouco do eletrólito antigo enquanto esperava por uma nova placa quente.
Duas células de sulfato de cobre indo para o fundo. Uma é para remover a placa de prata dos contatos e pinos. O outro é um coral-cérebro cobre que estou cultivando (talvez há seis meses)
Como saber quando adicionar ácido sulfúrico às células de cobre? Eu apenas faço acréscimos de manutenção a cada 6 a 8 semanas.

in reality, sulfuric acid in a copper electrolyte will only help conduction... faster... excess is not interesting. If you follow the literature you will add 30 to 50 grams of sulfur per liter of electrolyte...but this is only necessary when it is a bath for finishing purposes such as jewelry and sanitary metals.

Started another cell to use up some old electrolyte while waiting for a new hot plate .
Two copper sulphate cells going in the back ground .one is to remove silver plate from contacts and pins. The other is a copper brain coral I’m growing (maybe six months now )
How do you know when to add sulphuric acid to the copper cells ? I just do maintenance additions about every 6 -8 weeks.

 

[diego Henrique vilela]

na realidade, o ácido sulfúrico em um eletrólito de cobre só ajudará na condução... mais rápido... o excesso não é interessante. Se você seguir a literatura você vai adicionar de 30 a 50 gramas de enxofre por litro de eletrólito...mas isso só é necessário quando se trata de um banho para fins de acabamento como joias e metais sanitários.

 

[diego Henrique vilela]

you can use this example as a work track. adding little by little so as not to cause too much reaction and release of hydrogen. the addition of h2so4 to cells of this type can be done using water from a vehicle battery, it is much cheaper. The amount will depend a lot on how you work.

 

[BGDOCK]

Thank you