Some interesting options there, Malcolm. 'Safe' electrolyzing using sheep
intestine condoms is something I will look into - is Naturalamb readily
available? As for unglazed plant pots; excuse the pun but it sounds a little,
well, 'potty.' I mean, how small and skinny do they come? The smallest pot I
have seen takes up an awful lot of space inside most folks typical CS brewing
container. Close wrapping the cathode serves to restrict contact of Ag+ ions
with the cathode, but also frees the remaining space for Ag+/colloid
generation. Please indicate how you would arrange the pot.
regards, Kevin Nolan
----- Original Message -----
From: Malcolm Stebbins
To: silver-list@eskimo.com
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 6:49 PM
Subject: Re: CS>'bagged' cathode
Hi Kevin, something you might want to try; sounds indecent, but somebody's
got to do it<g>.
"Naturalamb" condoms are made from (ugh!) sheep intestine, and are permeable
to a degree. They have been used successfully in electroplating experiments.
Another option is unglazed plant pots, but you'll have to seal off the hole in
the bottom - maybe silicone rubber?
Have fun, Malcolm
Kevin Nolan wrote:
Hello all. Another report on trying to eliminate plate-out, inspired by a
recent mailing to and from 'Ole Bob'. Some months ago I posted a speculation
that wrapping a cathode in eg artificial chamois may dramatically reduce
plate-out - because that would greatly reduce the amount of fresh fluid
contacting the cathode surface. Since then Bob posted a comment about success
using cotton bias tape wrapping - what is called 'bagging the electrode'. I
have tried it using fairly thick cotton twill, wrapped twice around a stainless
steel plate (40mm X 200mm section) and secured with small rubber bands. For
everything else the same, current is reduced about 20% - from ~ 8.5mA to ~
6.5mA owing to cotton wrap. The big improvement is a dramatic reduction in
cathode plate-out, which is now just a thin, fairly adherent film that barely
stains the cotton (only at the plate edges). No gunk fall out, no filtering,
perfectly clear and sparkly free CS, with moderate levels of both tyndale and
metallic taste. NOTE: This is using demineralised water to which citric acid
was added, which dramatically boosts conductivity. It means the majority of
charge carriers reaching the cathode and reducing there will be H+ ions, not
Ag+. Not sure how effective wrapping would be using the traditional LVDC method
- ie relying on residual impurities in DW to start things yields nearly all the
positive ions in solution as Ag+. regards, Kevin Nolan
