Spent Fixer Storage to minimize "silvering out" on container

Kino · Oct 10, 2023

Suggestions for a spent fixer storage container to minimize "silvering out"?

Thought I was being bright by using a repurposed plastic bottle that once held windshield washing fluid, but now I see an increasingly dark band of silver forming on the interior of the container. Seems to defeat the purpose of storing fix for silver reclamation...

I was hoping to gather at least two gallons of fix before running my tiny silver recovery unit, but this seems to suggest I need to reclaim fairly quickly.

Would glass fare any better or will the silver just precipitate out and cling to the surface of the glass bottle as well?

George Collier · Oct 10, 2023

I've been using some nalgene bottles for storing TF5 fixer and I'm seeing the same thing. I used to use previous Kodak rapid fix bottles (for TF5) and didn't see this problem. I went to nalgene because of it's reputation for not reacting with it's contents.
This is for my current fixer, which I use with a Fixer 1 and Fixer 2 scheme.

Kino · Oct 10, 2023

I am also using TF5 but am unsure of the plastic type of the bottle.

Well, maybe an acid wash will lift the silver when I go to reclaim it.

We shall see...

_T_ · Oct 10, 2023

Unfortunately it appears that you may have chosen a poor container for your purpose. The common plastics that are used to store products such as your windshield washing fluid are generally able to be attacked by the oxidizing acids that are necessary to dissolve silver.

You can check the markings on the bottle to see what it's made of and refer to this chart https://www.plasticsintl.com/chemical-resistance-chart to be certain. Maybe you will be lucky and the manufacturer sprung for a more expensive plastic.

Have you tried physically removing the silver particles from the bottle? They can sometimes embed themselves quite firmly onto the container, but maybe scraping with a sharp object like a knife could be worth a try.

Of course if it comes down to it you could destroy the container, cut out the parts that are coated in silver, dissolve the plastic and silver together, and deal with the contamination down the line, but it could be costly in acid, maybe to the point that the amount of silver you recover would not be worth it.

MattKing · Oct 10, 2023

Mason jars?

Kino · Oct 10, 2023

I will pour what I have into a glass container to see if it fares any better. No real concern about how much I lose (it's minuscule now), but it would be good to know for the future.

Anon Ymous · Oct 10, 2023

Kino said:
Would glass fare any better or will the silver just precipitate out and cling to the surface of the glass bottle as well?

Good question. I have used the same fizzy drink bottles to store fixer working solution, same formula for some years now. There were cases where it remained clean, others where it started deposition on the walls, but this was possibly because it was left for too long and perhaps subjected to high temperatures. So, a different bottle may not fare any better. By the way, if you want to clean the bottle (not reclaim what stuck on the walls), permanganate bleach will likely work very well.

Doremus Scudder · Oct 10, 2023

Just use the same bottle every time. After a while, it will be as "silvered-out" as it will get.

The point of reclaiming silver isn't to make a lot of cash; it's to keep it out of the watershed/sewer system. Sequestering on the sides of a bottle works too.

Doremus

DWThomas · Oct 10, 2023

I've had silvering out from print fixer on PETE containers. Since said containers are from juice, water, or soda bottles, replacement is the simplest cleaning.

Kino · Oct 10, 2023

Thanks for all the responses. I'm not really concerned with the loss of silver, just curious if there is a "best" container to use.

Won't be getting rich for sure; more of a point of interest than concern...

koraks · Oct 11, 2023

Doremus Scudder said:
Just use the same bottle every time. After a while, it will be as "silvered-out" as it will get.

The point of reclaiming silver isn't to make a lot of cash; it's to keep it out of the watershed/sewer system. Sequestering on the sides of a bottle works too.

Doremus

Yes, agree.

As to using glass - done that. You'll get a very nice cylindrical mirror! It's pretty neat. And for the reasons outlined above, I wouldn't worry about it.

Ivo Stunga · Oct 11, 2023

You can always remove that thin buildup of silver with some acid if that bugs you.

glbeas · Oct 11, 2023

You could remove the silver immediately by pouring it over steel wool, then at some point you will have enough silver plated out on the iron you can melt it out. Or you could get or build an electrolysis unit and recover the silver at regular intervals before it plates out.

pentaxuser · Oct 11, 2023

MattKing said:
Mason jars?

If they are Free Mason jars you have to be square, don't you or is that just a British joke that fails to fly the Atlantic?

pentaxuser

MattKing · Oct 11, 2023

pentaxuser said:
If they are Free Mason jars you have to be square, don't you or is that just a British joke that fails to fly the Atlantic?

pentaxuser

There could be a connection.
A Mason Jar:

Spent Fixer Storage to minimize "silvering out" on container

Kino

George Collier

Kino

_T_

MattKing

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Kino

Anon Ymous

Doremus Scudder

DWThomas

Kino

koraks

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Ivo Stunga

glbeas

pentaxuser

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Spent Fixer Storage to minimize "silvering out" on container

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