On 9 Jan 98 at 23:25, H. Davis wrote: > I just finished making two batches of colloidal silver using Beck's > (Action Electronics) device. > > I am starting from scratch; I have no previous colloidal silver > solution to use as a starter solution. > > In making one batch, I did not add any salt to the 8 oz of distilled > (Arrowhead brand) water. I left Beck's device on for 5 minutes; > then turned it off. During that 5 minutes, I did not see any > "clouds" form or appear to be "steaming off" from the silver > electrodes. I did observe "bubbles" form all along one of the > silver electrodes.
Because you didn't use either salt or part of a previous batch as a "starter" you did not give it anywhere near enough time to actually get going. So, if you were to test this batch you'd probably find next to nothing after only 5 minutes. > In making the other batch, I did add one drop of the salt solution > previously recommended by Beck. The instant that I turned on the > Beck device, I could easily see "milky clouds" steaming off from the > silver electrodes and that continued throughout the five minutes. > At the end of five minutes, I turned off the Beck device. This, being the old standard recipe, will of course yield the sort of performance that we've always expected. You'd probably find it to be in the ballpark of 5 ppm after 5 minutes give or take a factor of 2. It's perfectly reasonable to use this as a starter for your next batch, as any salt would be diluted to rediculous levels. > Questions: > > 1. Does the absence of "milky clouds" indicate that colloidal > silver is not being generated? Yes, at least with the setup most of us are using. However you're choice of the word "milky" may change. I'll explain that in a minute... > 2. Why did Beck change his recommended procedure and decide not > to add a drop of salt to the 8 oz of distilled water? That is the right question! According to Lindemann, adding salt to speed up the process yields particles larger than .05 microns which may be less effective, and possibly less safe. If you want to make a starter batch not using salt, you would have to let it run for the better part of an hour. With no starter, the reaction takes anywhere up to 15 or 20 minutes to get going. At first it will be very slow, and gradually speed up until it reaches a higher, fairly constant rate. Once you see the first wisps of silver coming off one or the other of the electrodes, *then* you can start timing your production. Also, if you don't use salt, you'll probably find that the clouds coming off the electrode are gold or amber in color, not white. During the rest of the process, you'll find that you collect a fluffy dark grey deposit on the negative electrode. I've been told this is silver oxide. It is not, of course, what we are trying to make. So just carefully remove the electrodes from the water periodically, trying not to shake off any of the "fluff", and wipe it off. If any of the fluffy stuff gets into the solution, just let it settle before pouring off the rest into your storage bottle. > I am going to check Peter Lindemann's article and see what he says > about salt. That's the best thing to do. He also discusses heating the water to make the process start faster, and possibly make even smaller particles. I've been doing that and it works. (I don't know about particle size, but it does start faster.) Mike [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for myself... ]
