Gold Refining: Gold Corner BGA 

Thank you :) Lesson #1: I can’t tell you how much I hate wet ashing … I am sticking to incineration. Still working on it though… I lost 3 shirts to this video. Stupid acid! Good luck to you as well. :)

Oooo, I am intrigued. I appreciate the watch, and the sub! Thank you so much. I will keep going on these. New technology will be interesting to see. Thank you my friend.

Ya, you need space for sure. If you can, start doing the non-refinement part of the hobby. Start saving up fingers and ic chips. Best of luck :) Thanks for checking out my vids.

That was a learning video for me ... I learned so much since then. I do remember using the watch glass because the heat was escaping ... that little hot plate was just not getting hot enough with the outside temps what they were. I don't wet ash anymore. Such a frustrating mess of sulfuric and foam. I lost a few shirts to this video :) ... be ye warned all ... sulfuric will eat your clothing.

I get blasted a little in the comments for posting my first attempts on RU-vid. I don’t regret doing it personally. I learn from the helpful commenters. But yes, t takes a bit get comfortable with the process. Rule one: safety first. This is a process that kills and permanently injures people. So know the risks and have a plan as you look into trying this. Also, start with small quantities… you will lose stuff either to errors in filtration, ratios, mixing, spilling… keep your waste liquids for a little while if you can. The gold may still be in there to some degree. :) and good luck

I have a baking soda I use to neutralize acids with ... I will not leave that acid in the pot much longer... I plan to hit that solution today to get back what I lost :)

Thanks :) this video makes me cringe. I have a new video planned in the next 6 weeks as an update.

Thanks for the help! That is a stainless pot. I did not think to use it ... I may finish up with that then :) good luck with your BGAs.

@@badideametals sulphuric doesn't react with stainless. I love that about all these acids and recovering metals. so much to learn and what work with what etc..I'm looking for a pot about your size. I have about 1kg of them..look forward to see your next video..

“Kleen-out sulfuric acid drain cleaner”

@@badideametals We have the same in Australia, it has sulfuric acid with an inhibitor and it's called moflo drain cleaner

@luckygen1001 ya, it is inhibited… I tried making nitric with it … no success. But it does break down ic chips just fine.

@@badideametals Good to know that it does that because I have 2 kg of bga that need the black tops removed.

Good luck. Post back here with your yield if you don’t mind sharing those numbers :)

Ya, streetips is fun to learn from. And I thought about ashing vs wet... and it looked like it is the more expensive route as it requires more nitric... these bottles of sulfuric were about $8 ... so who knows :) more learning to be done on my part. Good luck with yours :)

All of your comments are accurate. I am still finding what works best for me. One of my greatest mistakes is not spending the money on the best resources… I do a lot of DIY in my life, and this was something I spent over a year researching before my first attempts were made. Budget was low, and I learned as I went. I have learned quite a bit since this video… I still know so little compared to some who have done this exact thing for decades. My rules for myself… stay safe first. Be willing to lose a batch or two or even a beaker as long as I learn how not to make the same mistake twice, and have fun with a hobby that can potentially pay me a nice treasure :) … as long as I don’t get hurt, I can always try again the next time. It is helpful hints and tips from viewers the help me correct errors in my process. I am waiting for warmer weather so I can process a number of ICs with incineration instead of wet ash… it seems that may turn out better… I really did not like the care needed to keep hot sulfuric in check… Thanks again for your helpful advice.

Smoke? I think you are referring to incineration. And yes, there are advantages to the incineration method (Also known as ASHING). Using acids is known as WET ASHING ... which in my opinion is not better. My experience with both methods have bad consequences, explained here: 1. Wet Ash uses acids that burn cloths, and lungs, eyes ... basically, organic material must give way to the caustic and corrosive nature of the acids used. It uses heat and endothermic reactions which can break glass wear, run out of control easily and without warning. The waste water after rinsing off the acids must be managed correctly and not just dumped out somewhere. This way makes the biggest mess, and has the most risk. 2. Ashing requires the chips to be burned to a powder which gives off smoke that is carcinogenic and harmful ecologically. Maybe less so then the effects of acidic waste even after the acids are neutralized. Ashing requires high heat such as a fire or furnace which burns fuels and can be costly. The rinse process uses a lot of water which must be filtered, and takes a long time. Wet ashing was a hope to speed up the process, but in my opinion, it takes just as long. Once the gold is separated from the chip casing, it is really easy to refine, and has not been contaminated by other acids or chemical compounds. In short, I like Ashing better. This video was one of my first experiences wet ashing. I have already promised myself and all my ruined shirts that hot acid, especially those used in wet ashing, is something I will never deal with again :)

@@badideametals Thank you. 😊 good information. I am burning in small batches with oxy ac set up. The off fume is minimal at those temps the chips are seeing. The ash is easy. It’s carbon. I don’t see very well others really showing much on disposal and makes me fear that they are dumping acids down the toilet which is wrong to be doing. Anyways, sitting in old ap the amount is half of what was left of the burnt chips. I goin make hydrochloric acid and bleach solution, bust out the gold and silver, then do actual ar with nitric. Bust it out, HC bath, save that for my AP. There is this RU-vid vid. Let me get it.

@@HellHoundOne you have a good process there. That is what I do now too. I have found recently that I can reuse my copper chloride from other reactions to strip chips as the tin swaps places in the CuCl. I like your reuse of AP. Once the chips are rinsed off, I cook them. Have fun and be safe :)

Did you remove the comment I posted of the old mans video?

I had my mask on for much of the recording ... but I took it off to talk so the audio made sense :) but yes, that did mean I was opening myself up to the fumes. And I got tired of the pan jumping around with that beaker inside. There were a few times I thought the beaker would tip and spill inside the pot... I need to get something better as my catch pan... I looked at Pyrex ... most people don't know this, but Pyrex in the last 10 to 20 years changed their glass formula ... they are no longer using glass with the same heat resistant properties. ... Borosilicate is safe still, but Pyrex on their own site warns against stove top use now ... Looked that up last year, and that surprised me. What I want is a casserole ceramic dish with nice thick walls... I will get there :) Thanks for the comment and your help

@@badideametals yes I knowmpyrex has changed there formula, Good will man. You can find anything there you need. Im unsure if the name but the casserole dishes or people usually cook them in those, sreetios uses those as well. I have a bunch outside that I used Ill have to look at the name but I believe it might be corning

@@badideametals yea thats it xorning dishes, buy skme of those on ebay or good will. Those work great, I used pyrex for reverse Electroplating and removing thw green solder mask, its not solder but the color of the board so the gold plating and traces are visible to recover or sell

I plan a visit to goodwill soon :) they have the best old stuff ... I am also looking for a reliable hot plate or crockpot (how ever it is spelled)

Reverse plating the mask was something I was going to avoid at first ... being new to this, I want to get a few things down right before I take on the world :) But if you have a good trick to doing the mask removal, I am open to watch or read what you recommend