Hey thanks for so many answers in one post!
Well so far it seems that sulfuric acid is probably the best option. Will have a go with this. Does 15% strength with at least the estimated weight of contaminants in acid sound sensible? Anyhow will keep try with gradually increasing voltage and...
Thanks, probably with a basic understanding one expects a simple solution to a problem but no doubt the expert will know that no simple physical process exists!
So if the basic principle is sound, excluding the multifarious potential practical caveats, are there any other good candidate...
Thanks. I am not sure I missed something but I thought post two related to just pickling the piece in hcl which I know is an option. This may well be the best way to do it but the reason I was proposing to use an electrochemical cell, aside from a genuine interest in learning, is to achieve a...
BTW piece of lead/tin solder and modern non toxic solder are currently sitting in 32% HCl solution... Quite a bit of activity on the lead one and a little bubbling on the non toxic but extremely slow progress. Actually the lead piece reaction seems to be accelerating after a while in the...
"It's your watch; you're free to take our suggestions or not. Why can't you take a small piece of silver wire or something, put a blob of solder on it, and test out your theory? Silver wire is a few dollars a foot max."
Thanks and i appreciate the suggestions relating to how acid attacks metal...
"As far as I know - yes, copper will be quickly eaten by the aqua regia."
Thanks, pure HCl is likely to be a preferable acid for this purpose then as i don't think it is particularly reactive with copper but should react with the lead and tin.
These clarifications are much appreciated but the...
Hi thanks for info. It seems ar doesn't dissolve silver and is definitely used in refining gold and platinum but would it attack the copper in the sterling?
I think hcl has same effect as aqua regia here... does the nitric add anything for this case? Also any idea why tin and lead get eaten by...
Greetings electro chemistry wizards! A quick speculation here... should be easy to sort out whether feasible.
I have nice old pocket watch made of sterling silver that some numpty tried to fix with soft solder - lead & tin i presume but god knows when repair was attempted so it could be newer...