Putting the hammer mill to work - soon.
This is a short list of where I find my scrap silver.
During my scrapping season I saved all the silver soldered elbows and other connections from AC and refrigeration salvage, I melted and cast these into anodes. The two cells are bringing down about 2 plus ounces of silver daily.
Picture 3 copper depositing onto cathode, silver remains behind as sludge on the cell bottom. I could have used a cloth bag to collect the slimes but this is my first cell and i wanted to see what was happening as it happened.
On the anvil a rheostat from a hot water tank, usually you find a pair residing on the tank, just below the complete rheostat I have shown one that I have opened up, look close enough you can see the silver contacts.
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Then I have the contacts removed from a washing machine timer, or was that a dryer or dish washer, it doesn't matter they all have similar contacts.
It's more than silver, the silver used in contacts has been alloyed with other precious metals to harden the silver making it more durable. Contacts used in extreme conditions will have in addition to silver metals from the platinum group - gold alloyed.
Most of the scrap cars I get these days are of the era having electronic injection, power seats / windows and what not, inside the fuse box I grab all the relays - more silver possibly alloyed with a bit of gold.
Old tractor magnetos had platinum points, most have been replaced with tungsten, an easy way to tell is by a visual look see, platinum contacts do not corrode and never transfer metal from one contact to the other - like tungsten. Equipment having a mag with platinum contacts can sit for years and the engine will start as long as have fresh fuel.
As most of you know I'm also a member of the gold refining forum, another great forum.
I'm removing some iron and aluminum before I feed these through the hammer mill, after everything has been shred it's time to separate the silver from the other crap. Gravity, vibration and water become your friends.
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