Where To Find Silver ? - Page 2

Yeah, I'm really glad to see this is starting to get somewhere. Along with the first question of "where to find it", wish I had added "how to distinguish it"

I recently tore down a 1985 VHS recorder and it had a TV tuner(i posted pictures in the thread). Under the tuner bars it looked like maybe silver

[QUOTE=oldtoothlessbassmaster;115022]bic lighter - 1,977 degrees Celsius or 3590.6 degrees Fahrenheit

I pulled the plastic strip of wires out of a flat bed scanner today & bared out a single strand of silver looking metal. It also looked like Ali.
I melted it with a BIC lighter & it went red hot, then drooped as it melted.
Afterwards the metal seemed a little 'blacker', sorta like silver does when it gets tarnished.

So I tested doing that on some Ali from a AC condensor (tinsel type). It heated the tinsel, without changing its colour, then it melted.

In all? Great quick test. Results are not 100% until I actually test the metal for silver in the first place. But it looks promising....

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

I pulled the plastic strip of wires out of a flat bed scanner today & bared out a single strand of silver looking metal. It also looked like Ali.
I melted it with a BIC lighter & it went red hot, then drooped as it melted.
Afterwards the metal seemed a little 'blacker', sorta like silver does when it gets tarnished.

I did that same thing recently in a similar way, with a ribbon cable from 1982, thinking if any would be silver it was older ones, but those wires basically evaporated. I don't recall how long the lighter was under it, I wasn't timing, and the wires were extremely tiny, as in angel hair, but according to the temp specs stated in earlier posts, the lighter would pretty much melt any of it in time

Originally Posted by Bear

Are there ways to visually determine which silver colored components are most likely silver, or of more suitable silver content?

Some relatively harmless spray from a mister, or a special type light (or maybe both used together) could certainly be helpful in this, if either exists

my test kit just got delivered friday but i hardly got a chance to run some tests with the silver test acid

ebay item # 110885266053

i dug out a few silver point contacts from breakers and disconnect boxes, and i gotta remember where i put that silver plated stash of fuses that i found out might actually have a 99.9% pure silver element inside
Full Line catalog - COOPER Bussmann - (Version JPG) - Page n° 10 - PDF Catalogue | Technical Documentation | Brochure

Originally Posted by Bear

Are there ways to visually determine which silver colored components are most likely silver, or of more suitable silver content?

Some relatively harmless spray from a mister, or a special type light (or maybe both used together) could certainly be helpful in this, if either exists

Poormans test is simple. Take sheet of paper and rub suspected silver on it. If you will see gray streak then it is tin.

Originally Posted by patnor1011

Poormans test is simple. Take sheet of paper and rub suspected silver on it. If you will see gray streak then it is tin.

How will you use that on a circuit board ?

How do you mean circuit board? If you are not sure about part then clip it off and test. Circuit board will not have silver directly plated on itself. Even keyboards mylar silver is not silvery white metallic silver but rather grey silver paste printed on it.
If you want to find out if your solder is tin/lead or tin/silver solder then silver solder is bit brittle than lead. Generally new electronics do not have tin/lead solder anymore.

I refer to circuit board as those having all the little pins sticking out the back, how will you rub paper on that. I don't recall referencing anything newer than an 82 and an 85 as examples, and they were both in earlier posts, and other threads. Particularly a 1982 TI PED board, and a 1985 VHS TV tuner board, both thoroughly pictured in the other referenced threads. Some particular boards in question include these
It ain't giving me the add photo link so I'll just add the link
http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...897a7_2100.jpg

http://upsimple.com/uploads/anonymou...3128b_4403.jpg

From what I’ve read so far it doesn’t look like there is an easy, non chemical way, to test if contacts and such are silver. A suggestion for buyers is to figure out which components have a high percentage of being silver that are both shippable and refinable. The buyer could then discount his price he pays per pound based on the amount of nonsilver mixed with silver.

For example, if you told us that transistors have a high percentage of being silver, I would much rather send them to you at a discounted price than test each one chemically.

Originally Posted by oldtoothlessbassmaster

my test kit just got delivered friday but i hardly got a chance to run some tests with the silver test acid

ebay item # 110885266053

i dug out a few silver point contacts from breakers and disconnect boxes, and i gotta remember where i put that silver plated stash of fuses that i found out might actually have a 99.9% pure silver element inside
Full Line catalog - COOPER Bussmann - (Version JPG) - Page n° 10 - PDF Catalogue | Technical Documentation | Brochure

I pasted that number into google search and added ebay, took me right to it. That guy claims to be selling 2000 of those a DAY! And wow, have you ever seen such a string of keywords? Check out that list near the bottom, hurt my eyes just glancing through it, haha!

Also checked out those fuses, them things weigh from 4 to 36 pounds apiece, wow!