my go at electrolysis

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Used an old mobile phone charger, few teaspoons of salt in warm water, positive lead to the stainless teaspoon, negative to coin, make sure they dont touch!







After another 2mins, no improvement. Pretty good result for a toasted coin! I rubbed it with a bit of bi carb to get the copper to shine.
 
nice work - i have found/read that copper doesnt always clean too well this way but gold and silver does alright - i also found that if its hot water it works better
 
Gave it 4 mins initially, then another 2 to see if it would improve, it didnt seem to. Now I know that, it
doesnt seem to harm the coin, I will try a silver :)

Its amazing how filthy the solution gets

 
Nice one Rocketaroo, just remember not to use stainless cutlery for your other electrode, as the resultant muck you get in your electrolyte will contain chromates (chromium from the stainless steel) which are carcenogenic and quite toxic, and also illegal to dump down your drain.

I just use a plain jane mild steel bolt (not galvenised), seems to do the trick. I don't bother doing coppers anymore, mainly use it for removing that stubborn black residue on the silver coins, only takes 5-10 minutes to loosen it up, followed by a clean up with Silvo and a micro fibre cloth. Dependant on how hard you rub the coin with the bi-carb, it can still leave fine scratches if not careful, hence why I just go with electrolysis. :)
 
Goldpick said:
Nice one Rocketaroo, just remember not to use stainless cutlery for your other electrode, as the resultant muck you get in your electrolyte will contain chromates (chromium from the stainless steel) which are carcenogenic and quite toxic, and also illegal to dump down your drain. I just use a plain jane mild steel bolt (not galvenised), seems to do the trick.

Thought I was doing it right using a stainless steel spoon, will change it for sure. Thanks :)
 
rocketaroo said:
Goldpick said:
Nice one Rocketaroo, just remember not to use stainless cutlery for your other electrode, as the resultant muck you get in your electrolyte will contain chromates (chromium from the stainless steel) which are carcenogenic and quite toxic, and also illegal to dump down your drain. I just use a plain jane mild steel bolt (not galvenised), seems to do the trick.

Thought I was doing it right using a stainless steel spoon, will change it for sure. Thanks :)

Don't worry, I was doing it too at one stage before being informed about it.
 
Silvers found on the beach tend to be buggers to clean and I put them in the bath for an hour or two so it doesn't hurt them to be in too long... Having said that we found three pence and six pence do not like to be in too long as they are brittle where the shillings and Florins can be left in for an extended period if necessary. Silver and gold jewellery clean up nicely in this sort of bath ... Use plenty of salt - the more you use the more conductive the bath is.
 
So I had to have a go to see what it's all about. Definate improvement. At the top,just to the right is where the alligator clip was. Ate into the coin a bit.

1426817745_p1_copy.jpg

1426817745_p2_copy.jpg
 
Looks like it has been mis-hit when being made Ramjet, might be worth more than scrap copper :p
 
I have cleaned quite a few of the silvers that are worth only bullion price. Once you have it set up, it works a charm. I zap them a couple of minutes, and then rub them gently with bicarb. They come up a treat.

Just a reminder, which I'm sure is not necessary, to never clean a valuable coin. These methods work by removing a little bit of metal as well as the gunk, and it reduces their value.

I never enjoyed the fake pinkish look that coppers get when cleaned with electrolysis though.
 
Hey Ramjet,
I know there are tumblers or "vibratory something's" of that nature that the sporting shooters use to polish or clean their ammunition empty cases and was wondering if it would work in this situation? Just a thought!!!! Cheers

BJ
 
Hi BJ. I used to shoot pistols and reload my ammo and I think a tumbler would work as well. Some do use them for cleaning coins. There are posts around of people making tumblers from old printers.
 
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