Colloidal Silver

not the transformer then. Mine has an output of 13.5 or 30 V at 1 Amp

 

It has to be the sea salt and the anti-caking agent. I will try vitamin C next time, or go to the health store and get pure sea salt with no additives. Oh by the way I found a supplier for 24k gold rods at 14ga. size. He will be getting back to me with a quote on Monday.

 

The second rod broke off just like the first. It looks like this is the strongest that this batch will become. I know that I am doing something incorrectly since my rods are corroding and breaking.

Final TDS is 9ppm. I am hoping that at least it works out fine. We will see as soon as I allow the colloid to sit for 12 hours or so.

 

nice chart!

 

I was especially astute at science when in high school.

Anyway. Is colloidal silver supposed to be a REALLY dark grey? I let it sit for a while in the sun, like an hour, then took it inside and its just been sitting here, dark as a faded black t-shirt.

I didn't do something right when brewing it? Transformer, silver, salt??

I believe it should be a golden color...not black. We will see what happens as time develops.

 

I started a new batch.

=I went to the health store and bought PURE sea salt.
=I bought a 13.5/30v transformer just like what you have, Melb0. I put it on the 30v setting.
=I used distilled water.
=I put the two separate silver rods into the salted water (at 4ppm), about 1/4" apart, straight down into the water.

The one rod is STILL corroding before my very eyes. It's forming the white crust on it and it is just falling apart.


This leaves me with only one idea: The silver is bad. You are using SILVER ELECTRODES, and I am using silver wire. They are both .9999, but yours is somehow different and capable of sustaining an electrical charge, while mine breaks down immediately.


Any ideas? Would the fact that I am at sea level have anything to do with it? I am using the 6" rods placed just as you requested, Melb0.

 

I'm digging pretty deep into memory here.

It will NOT work with distilled or demineralized water at any rational rate. (But it WILL happen. Water has free ions that can carry current, just not very many. 10 to the minus 14 if I remember right, if you really care, pH neutral, say one part in a quintillion?) There are too few ions in the water to carry current. You need the salt for that, or some other electrolyte. Sea salt has impurities that might affect the purity of the solution when all is said and done. I would use the purest form of salt that you can find, and not iodized.

Silver wire will work as well as rods, but as you have seen, they will disappear faster. Rods will also decay, the silver transferred to solution just naturally weakens the metal regardless of the form you use. If you can find a siver bar of rational dimensions, go for it.

There is no need to use silver for both electrodes. The one that gives off hydrogen will not be consumed, nor become an adulterant to the solustion. Use a carbon rod. If that makes you nervous, use a platinum rod instead. Or gold.

If you record the reading on the TDS meter with the salt in the jar, you can subract that reading from the final reading to get the concentration of the silver alone. (As I remember it, the readings should be linear, but I am not sure about that. I do not remember if silver ions are univalent or trivalent.)

The black is probabably silver chloride which reacts with sunlight. It is a prime constituent in photographic chemicals. I don't remember if it can be filtered out. Dunno what the amber color is, but I'd bet it is a photosensitive reaction, and probably ionic.

The white crust is a silver compound. I have no idea what compound, (might be silver chloride) but it may be an impurity in either the water or the silver or the salt, or something in that other stuff Brokor tried. No matter what, it is added resistance to the current, thus the reaction will slow down.

If you keep the electrodes parallel, the reaction will take place uniformly (more or less) along the length of the wire or rod. If they are not parallel, the reaction will take place at the nearest point between them, simply because the resistance to electricity is least over the shorter distance. Meaning you can get the rods to decay at the bottom if the distance between them is closer at the bottom than the top. Meaning gin up a holder that is wider than you are using, and bend the tips closer at the bottom of the jar. As the distance between the eltrodes grows, the reaction will slow.

Current is what transfers the metal to the solution. More is faster. Voltage drives the current. (But you knew that.) The transfer will be more efficient at lower voltages, but if you are in a hurrry, you know what to do. However, if you get toooooo eager, you can boil the water, so don't. In fact, don't let the water temperature rise more than a couple degrees for efficiency. If you get in too much of a hurry, the hydrogen is likely to get hazardous. Makes boom boom in high enough concentrations in the air. (But you knew that, too, and you do this in a ventilated area, I'm sure, not your kitchen with a gas range.)

Save the crusts and busted ends. I suspect that there is a lot of silver metal that can be recovered if you can figure out what it takes to reduce the impurities.

Litmus paper tells you all you need to know about pH. Go to a chemical supply shop and get a lifetime supply for short money. Or the local pool supply shop. Don't pay for the fancy boxes. If the end product is not really close to pH neutral, think hard about ingesting it. I am not too sure about this but a natural product of the reaction could be sodium hydroxide, which is not nice to drink.

Luck.

 

I keep mine out of the sun Brokor or it turns dark amber. I usually call this Tarnishing.

I've only seen a CS that looked that dark after I Let it cook all night long. You may have an inferior Silver... Mine say 'electrodes' but they are just wire... ghrit is correct in that the distilled H2O needs an electrolyte to speed the reaction. It will still work over time without it though.

THat amber color develops after I bottle it and let it sit awhile. Usually on the kitchen counter. The bottles in the Cupboard stay pretty clear until I use them.

I purchased my silver from here:
http://naturesalternatives.com/silver/

I have never heard of the wire corroding like that so quickly... Maybe you should drink the whole batch to test it?

 

'nother good read on CS:
http://naturesalternatives.com/silver/colloidal.html

 

Maybe I have been reading my TDS meter incorrectly. There are only 3 digits on it, and it goes up to 999ppm.

Ya, I think I have been reading wrong.

"040" is not 4ppm....it's 40. That is my saline content. NO WONDER the rod disintegrated.

DAMN! This isn't brain science....

I just tried yet ANOTHER batch, and this time the saline content I started with was at only 5ppm. Within a few hours, it has turned black and the rod has totally disintegrated yet again!

If I leave it settle for 24 hours, it will clear up and the heavy stuff witll filter to the bottom. I will have to just check this batch to see if it is ok...

I am going to order some of those electrodes you use, Melbo after the move. Also some silver and gold bars.

 

ok, I have figured out the tricks to making colloidal silver.

(Picture Missing)
Above is the 44ppm colloidal, and below is the 400+ ppm colloidal.

(Picture Missing)
I have been "cooking" them too long down here at zero sea level. Something to bear in mind.

 

Make's you want to drink it bad huuu?
You two sound like some chemist's on a documentary on Bolivian drug recipe home shopping network.....lol

 

Yeah 40ppm of Salt sounds like a test on Paslode Galvanized nails...

 

Huh, I thought this was for enemas?

 

You know, this was a really fun time. I am glad I visited this old thread and got to look into the past. My how times change...

I am brewing up a new batch tomorrow, and wanted to refresh my memory on my starting point for dissolved solids. Memory isn't what it used to be, might be the antibacterial soaps I have used through the years...

Refresher for those who may just be looking for the basics:

• Distilled water
• Sea salt
• TDS meter
• 12-30v power supply
• Pure silver (14 ga. wire) .999+
• Glass container
• Coffee filter

Final safe ppm batch around 10-20, or higher depending on use.

See Melbo's post for more details: Colloidal Silver | Page 2 | Survival Monkey Forums

 

HOW TO MAKE COLLOIDAL SILVER

Well, my latest batch, thanks goes to Melbo all those years ago for helping me. We have come a long way, I must admit it was quite nice to brew another batch.

I first began with .999 pure silver wire (14 ga.), I obtained years ago and keep on hand. I cut the wire down to length, which is about 6 inches. With the modified power supply (modified to fit my wire in both holes), the wire fits snugly. The original I used was the same as Melbo used, I purchased years ago from Radio Shack but it is in storage...somewhere. Anyway, this power supply worked great, even though it only has a 12v max setting. My sea salt and TDS meter are also needed, as well as a glass container, and this jar works great for the task since I only need to brew about one quart...



I add a small dash of sea salt to the distilled water to bring my total dissolved solids up to 6ppm. Distilled water should read zero ppm, and I always check that before adding salt. Next, I place the silver wire inside and plug in the power. A close up of the colloidal cooking just a few seconds into the process...



Be sure to secure the wire to the jar, I used a paper clip.



After about 2 or 3 hours, checking it every 30 minutes along the way, it turns a grey, cloudy color...



I decide to stop at 24ppm since I plan on filtering the colloidal to bring the final TDS to around 15-20ppm. Remembering all the mistakes I have made in the past, I frequently check my brew...



I take a look at the silver wire leads, and clean them off for future use. One of them will be significantly darker in color from the process.



After the first filtering, in which I use a permanent coffee filter, the TDS drops only slightly. A second filtering after the colloidal silver has sit for about 24 hours reduces the TDS to 20ppm...



After another 8 hours or so, I filter it a final time and the colloidal batch is ready to be placed into the mason jars. I used a full quart jar and a smaller pint jar just to show the difference for this post. The final TDS reads 18ppm, which turns out to be right about where I want it to be. I took a few additional pictures to show you how it looks with lighting, to check for clarity. Kinda artistic, I think. Anyway, I covered the smaller pint jar with a sun glass cover to illustrate how you can protect it from light. I do not know if sunlight will change its effectiveness, but I do recall it altering the color. To anybody attempting to make their own, I can speak from experience when I say, take your time and pay attention to the TDS meter and your altitude. This batch came out great using the 12v setting, and it only took 3 hours at about 450 ft. elevation.



*EDIT* Final reading at 16ppm after another 24 hours, looks like a great run.

GOOD LUCK!