Silver Magnet Silver Recovery Device

[markrewald]

Can you shut the device off and then restart it? I don't have a huge volume of spent fixer so i am wondering what the affects would be to start and stop the device when I obtain more spent fixer.

 

[removed account4]

Can you shut the device off and then restart it? I don't have a huge volume of spent fixer so i am wondering what the affects would be to start and stop the device when I obtain more spent fixer.

hi

its just a plug in the wall, no on/off switch
i don't think it would harm much if you turn it off
before it is "done". those lucite shoe box storage things
work great as de-silvering containers, and storage containers
after you are done ..

 

[removed account4]

over the last few years i have had a poll running asking what people do with their spent fixer.
it was what prompted me to becoming a distributer / dealer for the silver magnet.
many years ago i sold similar items ( electrolytic, ion transfer, and evaporation devices ) but they were very expensive, and geared towards
large labs, medical offices and clinics. unlike what i used to sell, the silver magnet is small, affordable ... and pays for itself quickly.

over the last few years i have sold many of them, and with your help have
helped remove some of the silver from the waste stream, and hopefully put a few dollars ( or pounds or euros or ... ) in your pocket.

a week or so ago i started another poll now that it a few years has passed, and it looks like silver recovery has made inroads, that is always great news ....

here are a few entries from the poll-thread that i am re-posting to give people an idea of what the silver magnet is all about ....

I peeled the label off one of my old bottles of Kodafix concentrate, scanned it and keep the file on my hard drive.
When I take a bottle to the hazmat place, I print out that label and stick it on the jug with packing tape. I also print out the MSDS and stick it through the handle of the jug when I drop it off. Haven't had any questions yet. In fact, they seem to think I'm the one being a fussbudget.

Remove the silver from your fixer using a Silver Magnet. It's just a little plastic box with holes in it to let the liquid in. Inside the box are a sheet of metal foil and a long rod shaped electrode. You get a little "wall wart" electrical transformer that connects to a cord coming out of the plastic box. You plug it in, drop it in your fixer bucket and leave it alone for a few days. There are two LEDs on the transformer. A red and a green. At first, the green one lights. After the silver is removed from the liquid, the red light starts to glow. That's how you know you're done. Dump/recycle the desilvered fixer. Wash off the Silver Magnet cell with clear water, dry it and put it away for the next time you want to use it.

The first time I used the Silver Magnet, it took a little over a week to pull all the silver out of 2-1/2 gallons of used fixer. I weighed it before putting it to use. It weighed a hair over 75 grams. When I pulled it out, it weighed almost 100 grams. That's 25 grams or 0.9 ounces of silver I got back. Right now, the price of silver is hovering at around $30 to $32 per ounce. At the rate I'm going, one more use will have paid for the Silver Magnet but the cell won't nearly be full. I think I should be able to get ten uses out of it before it gets full.

When it finally gets full, my Silver Magnet will have paid for itself five times over.

hi randy

some of the lights are a little wonky on the magnets ... i usually tell people when the stuff they plate
starts getting "dark" ( instead of greyish, it is dark-greyish / blackish ) it is time to turn it off
because they are plating other "stuff" not just the silver ... as long as they stick it in a non-metalic container
when they run it they are good to go, a metal container will end up electro-plated silver ...

oh, your magnet will hold around 32troy oz of silver on it, it would have paid for itself 12-13 times over if you let it get real-full

have fun !
(and thanks ! )
john

So, let's round off and say 30 oz. of silver at $30 per.

$900 return on a $50 investment ain't too shabby. Is it?

Yes, I noticed the lights aren't perfect but you can still tell.
When you first connect a clean cell to the wall wart, the red light glows brightly. When you submerge it in the fixer, it is barely aglow.
As the silver gets pulled out of the fixer, the red light gets a bit brighter.

I also watch the color of the silver building up on the plate. It looks like sand. About the color of sand, too.
I pulled mine out when the sand started getting darker.

My darkroom is in the basement. I can look in every so often as I go down to do laundry and stuff. The intensity of the light will give me enough information to know when to go look at the condition of the "sand" inside the cell.

feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the magnet or any other silver recovery questions ( i sell other things too ),
i am usually around and if i don't know the answer/s i will be happy to find out !

john

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

I am looking at getting one of these for the university darkroom I teach at. How can I tell when it is full and needs to be replaced? We go through a lot of fixer and silver since we collect all fixer used in film, printing and color processes.

You are sitting on a gold mine! (silver mine) haha. I actually have a few large containers of fixer in my teaching darkroom as well.

 

[Raphael]

A few question about Silver Magnet

Hi John and all,

I could have sent PM to you, but I think it's better to post here for collective knowledge benefit.

And in fact, the questions are for all of APUGers that are silver chemistry savvy.

I bought a Silver magnet a little more than a year ago, and I have a few question, now with the past experience :

- As I don't produce a high spent fixer throughput, I store the used fixer in a container, waiting to have enough to worth desilvering. This container, usually in plastic, with the time, get plated with grey sludge, that I presume to be silver sulfur. Does this deposit reduce significantly the amount of silver that can be extracted from the fixer ? Is another type of container (glass ?) should be used ?

- after the first use of silver magnet, I got a thin yellow-grey layer of Ag onto cathode. Then, I unplug the silver magnet, rince it with clear water, and let it dry until next use. The following time, I constated that the layer changed color, becoming grey-black. I presume it's oxydation of silver, the same thing occuring when letting silverware forks to the air. Does this oxydation affects the Silver Magnet function ?

Many thanks for your help

Best regards,

Raphael

 

[removed account4]

hi raphael

i can answer the 2nd question ...
i do not think there is a problem at all.
the magnet just allows electricity to flow through
the spent fixer to plate the silver onto the cathode.
as long as there is enough silver in the fixer there won't be a problem
otherwise it will smoke and smell like sulphur and burn out the magnet.
when you send it to be refined, they take into account
that there is a little oxidation i would imagine that is why
they suggest the silver on the cathode isn't 100% pure silver ..

i don't really have an answer to your first question but a guess and a suggestion ..
maybe you can experiment and see if it makes a difference
if/when you use a glass container.
i save my spent fixer in black 1L jobo containers
and a 3 quart tupperware plastic container before i
run it through the magnet i have never seen the sludge you have mentioned.
maybe i don't save mine as long so it doesn't have the same time to precipitate ?

i look forward to reading what others have to say !
john

 

[Raphael]

Thanks John

Hi John,

Many thanks for your quick answer !

I am glad that this oxydation doesn't affect the Silver Magnet good function. However, I noticed the used fixer I stored have already a strong sulphur smell, when opening the storing container, and that odor persists during all the time I let the Magnet on, I hope I didn't burn the cathod !

About the deposit in the storing bottle, maybe you are right about the time, because the fixer stayed here several months.

BTW, I hope all is OK for you, I read in another thread you are in NYC.

Best regards,

Raphael

 

[removed account4]

hi raphael i am happy i could help
things are OK here, i am about 3 hours from NYC
in RI we got lots of wind and some rain, but nothing like NYC ...

if i can help anymore let me know
i will ask the maker too ...

john

 

[removed account4]

20% DONATE THANKS APUG !

THROUGH MARCH

20% OF ALL MAGNET AND SILVER RECOVERY "STUFF"
DONATED DIRECT TO APUG+SEAN

 

[allanadams]

why cant i take the recovered silver and refine it too silver nitrate?

 

[removed account4]

i am sure you could, but i wouldn't recommend that unless you have a lab and a hood
and you are experienced with making silver nitrate ... it can be very dangerous.

 

[removed account4]

price increase come april first

just wanted to let you know,
i was told there is an across the board
price increase ( magnets, tanks, test strips and everything else )
which will go into effect april first.

the magnets are going up $6
so they will cost $61.95 + shipping

thanks
john

 

[fong]

The link to the APUG page on ECS doesn't work anymore. Are they still accepting Canadian shipments?

 

[ecscares]

Silver Refining Clarification

This post was brought to my attention so I wanted to clarify a few things. The original salesperson that posted for ECS made 1 error. There is no refining charges at the factor that he used, also, the pricing used is based upon receipt. We do not look after shipping.
The factor used is 10x, this is a common factor when dealing in low volumes (under 1000 troy ounces).

• Typical silver refiners will require the lots to be 2000-4000 minimums. The flake is refined, with charges being applied for assay, price per oz going in, price per oz going out, etc. At this volume, refiners will melt your lot separately and pay you after the work is done.
• When dealing is small volumes, it is not reasonable to expect that your melt will be done separately. For these customers, we receive the flake, weigh and inspect the flake and send payment. All within 2-days of receiving the product. When payment has been sent, we carry the risks and keep thing simple. We pay 10 times the current silver price, or in other terms, we pay for 68.58% of the net weight. The net weight is not pure and needs refined. It also needs bulked with other material to reach the required lot weights. (All of these costs, including the potential decline in silver price, is the reason for a set 10 time factor).

The percentage we take and payment we provide can not be more transparent. You can weigh your material first to confirm weights, we weigh the material before opening it and our entire process is under photos and surveillance.

I hope this helps in clarifying things.
Thanks
Michael

 

[ecscares]

Our websites is currently being re-vamped and will be launched by February. It will not have a specific link but it will have the refining details and information about our services and shipping address. I just posted a clarification on silver refining pricing.
This post and thread were brought to my attention from John today, unfortunately I did not know that it was originally posted or I would have corrected the issues at the time.
Sincerely,
Michael

 

[ecscares]

It was brought to my attention today about this posting. Trevor had good intentions but did not clarify things very well on this post. My understanding from John is that the silver magnets (which are great low-volume systems) are used by hobbyists, etc and are looking for a refining service. I corrected a thread this morning on pricing and sent an email to John about it as well. Attached are the pricing details; from a hobbyists perspective, it may seem that paying only 10 toz per lbs on impure flake is low since there is 14.584 toz in a lbs. However, from a refining perspective, the furnaces need 2000 toz just to do a minimum lot. This quick payment, allows for us to receive your flake with no minimums and pay you quickly, while we collect your flake with other flake so that we have enough to run the furnace.

This post was brought to my attention so I wanted to clarify a few things. The original salesperson that posted for ECS made 1 error. There is no refining charges at the factor that he used, also, the pricing used is based upon receipt. We do not look after shipping.
The factor used is 10x, this is a common factor when dealing in low volumes (under 1000 troy ounces).

• Typical silver refiners will require the lots to be 2000-4000 minimums. The flake is refined, with charges being applied for assay, price per oz going in, price per oz going out, etc. At this volume, refiners will melt your lot separately and pay you after the work is done.
• When dealing is small volumes, it is not reasonable to expect that your melt will be done separately. For these customers, we receive the flake, weigh and inspect the flake and send payment. All within 2-days of receiving the product. When payment has been sent, we carry the risks and keep thing simple. We pay 10 times the current silver price, or in other terms, we pay for 68.58% of the net weight. The net weight is not pure and needs refined. It also needs bulked with other material to reach the required lot weights. (All of these costs, including the potential decline in silver price, is the reason for a set 10 time factor).

The percentage we take and payment we provide can not be more transparent. You can weigh your material first to confirm weights, we weigh the material before opening it and our entire process is under photos and surveillance.

I hope this helps in clarifying things.

 

[removed account4]

thank you michael!

i want to apologize to folks in canada who purchased a magnet
and were going by the numbers i had been saying, i was going by what i was told,
which i now know wasn't 100% accurate.

john

 

[axs810]

jnanian - I'm interested in this and might want to buy a set up. Do you have any instructional videos on youtube or anything? Or would you be willing to make a video?

 

[removed account4]

hi deardork

i don't have any instructional videos or anything like that .. :confused:
i'll be happy to explain in an email or here how to use it ..
the only hard part is making sure the fixre is spent, otherwise it is just
looking at the lights to see when the 2nd light turns on. if the clip test
is a hassle or problematic, i also sell test strips to dip into your fixer which will tell you
if it is spent enough to de-silver ...

thanks for your interest
john

 

[axs810]

I guess it's hard for me to understand without actually seeing the silver recovery device. Can you post a picture of the set up?

 

[RalphLambrecht]

Silver Magnet

an affordable silver recovery solution to
remove most of the silver from your spent fixer.

the silver magnet is a small electrolytic device that can
electroplate most the silver from a gallon of spent fixer in 24 hours.
the cathode can hold 28-32 troy oz of silver before it is removed from the unit and traded in for $$$.

no minimums or exorbitant fees.

please contact me if interested: silvermagnet@nanianphoto.com

thanks

john

I bought two and tried them, but it didn't work for me. i just ended up with a gray mushy sludge,which was of no use for anything.all ended up in haz mat recycling as the used fixer would have anyway.Mabe I did something wrong

 

[RalphLambrecht]

hi perry

the number i have heard is that there is about 1/4 troy oz of silver in a gallon of spent fixer ...
so depending on how often you use a gallon of fixer to exhaustion ...

you don't need to wait for the cathode to be full to send it in ...
if you want to send it in with less, its up to you.
or ... if you want to just hang on to the cathode when it is full
get a new one and stock up on silver until the price goes even higher,
or sell it to a jeweler, or a chemist or put it in a safe deposit box, that is fine too

the main thing is that you are getting it out of the waste stream.

recovering the silver aside,will it rejuvinate the fixer to extend its life?:confused:

 

[removed account4]

I bought two and tried them, but it didn't work for me. i just ended up with a gray mushy sludge,which was of no use for anything.all ended up in haz mat recycling as the used fixer would have anyway.Mabe I did something wrong

i'm not sure what happened,
grey sludge doesn't sound right.
the silver it extracts looks like light brown sand ... it isn't grey and does not look like "silver"

 

[removed account4]

recovering the silver aside,will it rejuvinate the fixer to extend its life?:confused:

the short answer is no ...
i have heard of people re-using their de-silvered fixer but
i would not do that, and the manufacturers do not recommend that either

 

[removed account4]

I guess it's hard for me to understand without actually seeing the silver recovery device. Can you post a picture of the set up?

it looks like this ( attached photograph )
you take your spent fixer, stick it in something like
a lucite shoe box you get at the dollar store
you drop the magnet in it, plug it in, and wait for the
2nd light to come on .. then you dispose of the fixer ..
( it still has silver in it ) ...