JanRwl@... wrote:
> In a message dated 11/13/2003 1:48:21 PM Central Standard Time,
> alan@... writes:
> Still, recharge the stuff instead of throwing it away. It should be
> cheaper to use nails and plate the copper back out than to buy new etchant.
> Alan! Describe for us (again?) how an ignernt non-chemist can DO that???
> Thanks!
>
I have one running right now. Take a small power supply, (mine is a
+ and - 5V test supply I made for ICs, using around an amp at the 10
volts for this for my 10 oz or so of etchant) and two of the aligator
test clip leads and two nails. Hook one nail up to + with one lead, and
the other nail to -. Stick them both in the used etchant and the + nail
will be eaten away and give up iron and the - nail collects the copper.
Note the copper will be like an old penny brown, not the bright shiny
copper of a real electroplating process, and it also will have some of
the iron mixed in. It's extremely easy and much cheaper than new
etchant. Since you're replacing the iron by the new nail being eaten
away, the original iron that was in the FeCl stays in the jar. You
should have already noticed it though as the brown sludge that developed
as the iron was being replaced by the etched copper. Can't easily get
that same iron back in though since it's spread all over and hard to
electrify.
Note to get bright common nails or similar, you want just the iron or
steel not zinc plating etc. Also leave the nails partially out, so your
test clips aren't in there.
Alan