This is my take on making CS based on observation only. I am relatively new to the process and do not know the physics involved yet. I am sure I have some of it wrong, so let me know where.
I am making CS with a 24V AC transformer and a full bridge rectifier with a big cap across it to produce DC at about 34V. I have Sota .9999 silver wires. They run through a block of wood and are about 3/4" apart but can be easily bent to any distance since the ends dangle. I start with boiling hot distilled water. I bend the ends of the wires to about 1/2" apart to get the process going a bit faster. After 10 minutes, the cloud starts to form and the positive wire begins to blacken and the negative gets "furry". I remove the wires and clean them with a scotch brite pad and straighten them out until they are parallel 3/4" all the way down. Then, back in the drink for another 10 minutes - this time, I use the wires to stir the CS after 5 minutes. After 5 more minutes, I remove the wires and clean with a pad again. Then, back in the drink for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Out to clean them and in for another 5 minutes, again stirring every minute. This is a total of 30 minutes the device runs (with approx 3 minutes for cleaning for a total of 33 minutes per batch). I make it in a tall thin glass, which holds approx 14oz. This method yields from 20-25ppm based on my (saltwater calibrated) TDS-1 meter. When it is done, it is slightly yellow. Straining the CS through coffee filters causes it to lose 1 ppm. I then pour it into brown glass bottles. Isn't the blackness on the positive electrode as well as what causes the silver to go yellow silver oxide? It seems to me this is what it is. Even if I keep the electrodes perfectly clean or only go for 5 minutes after the cloud starts to form and make a clear solution, it will yellow a bit when I filter it while letting the CS drop a few inches into a cup. It will yellow less if it splashes (oxygenates) less while filtering. A batch will always turn yellow on me when I store a small amount in a 32oz brown glass container. If I store clear CS in an 8oz bottle, it will stay clear longer but after it is opened a number of times, it too will yellow. I assume it is reacting with oxygen to form silver oxide. It seems to me that the yellower it is, the less metallic tasting. I have made high PPM batches that I let go dark yellow (1 hour run time) and clear batches (15 minute total) and the low PPM clear tastes more metallic than the high PPM yellow. If this is the case, and silver oxide is undesirable, I suppose a way to control its formation would be to make clear CS and put it in single serving bottles filled to the top. This is workable since 1 or 2 oz bottles are widely available (except they don't cost much less than the 8oz glass bottles from Frontier, where I usually get them). I also considered putting some ascorbic acid in the product after it was made to inhibit oxidation, but I don't know if silver ascorbate (or whatever it would form) is effective or safe. I also think it may be better to use a high voltage system to circumvent this. It seems to me that the shorter the time it takes to make the CS, the less oxidation occurs. I don't know how this affects particle size, though. Is particle size really too large when high voltages are used? Has anyone looked into this personally (instead of heard it from a CS generator manufacturer)? I don't know why the particles would be much different size between using, say, 9V or 9000V. Just seems to me that they will "jump off the wire" faster. Anyone know for sure? I am considering getting a 400V bridge rectifier and connecting it to 120V, and not even put a cap across it and see what a full rectified wave will do. Of course, a major consideration in high voltage systems is safety. Anything much over 27V is getting into the hazardous range, especially considering most of us make the stuff using exposed bare wires. A few times I've yanked the wires out of the solution and cleaned them with a scotch brite only to realize on putting them back in that the power was still on. Using high voltages, I would have likely not forgotten much more than once. turf -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
