Trying to make my first batch of CS. On my first attempt, I used 8 oz of tap water that had been filtered by a good pressed block charcoal filter. From what I remember it removes lots of impurities, including the chlorine, pcb's, thm's, etc, but leaves the floride and most of the dissolved salts.
Well, predictably I guess, the negative electrode began to bubble hydrogen *immediately* and a white/gray cloud of silver began to come off the positive electrode, which itself began to darken in color. The filament of the 28v lamp was glowing very dimly. After about 15 minutes, a "tree" of some dark fluffy stuff began to form at the bottom of the negative electrode. This "growth" continued to expand rapidly, starting to cover the bottom of the glass, and plating out some silver on the glass surface. I ended that experiment, cleaned the glass and electrodes, and went out to buy some distilled water! Trial 2: With distilled water, nothing at all seemed to happen for a good twenty minutes. I moved the electrodes at that point, until they were about 1" apart at one side of the glass. 15 minutes later, I found that bubbling had begun, and the "growth" had begun all over the negative electrode, with the tendrils pointing along the field lines toward the positive electrode. The growth at the bottom of the negative wire was again building up on the bottom of the glass. I cleaned up the electrodes and glass, and came to the computer. <grin> Questions: I assume I'm precipitating out macroscopic flakes of silver. Would my second attempt have worked if I didn't move the electrodes? Is it working even if there are *no* visible bubbles at the negative electrode or darkening of the positive electrode? I'm going on the assumption that growing it slowly, without salt, will give me smaller particles. Did I just let it go on too long after moving the electrodes closer? Any other comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks, all. Mike [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for himself... ]
