Your cathodes are so small that you have very low current at startup (high initial resistance). Since your voltage is also very small you can't get a high voltage at startup to compensate for the high resistance. The current limiting diode will limit the current at the end of the process.
Your problem is low current at the start of the process, so you need more surface area for your cathodes. Dan > -----Original Message----- > From: M. G. Devour [mailto:mdev...@eskimo.com] > Sent: Sunday, June 29, 2008 8:30 AM > To: silver-list@eskimo.com > Subject: RE: CS>Big WOOPS! > > Dear Jim, > > I wrote: > > I'm going to see how the diode is actually performing, first. Right > > now with a batch seeded with about 20% from the previous > batch, it's > > up to 130 microamps after only 4 hours... If it is anywhere > near 270 > > uA by this evening I'll let it go 'til morning if necessary > to confirm > > the current limit works or not. > > Last night it was closing in on the regulator setting of 270 > microamps, reading 263 uA, so I let it go overnight. This > morning it's dead-on at 270 uA. This is after about 28 hours. > > So I'd say the current limiting "diode" works as advertised! > > The cell voltage has been descending steadily from around 3 > volts to its present 1.14v. > > There are fuzzy deposits on the cathodes, so I certainly have > a saturated solution. > > Now, what I'd like to do is modify this thing so that it will > reach the setpoint current in fewer than 12 hours. In fact, > if it can max out in about 8 hours, I should end up with > about 10ppm after 12 hours, as predicted by the Faraday equation. > > The two ways I can think of to do this is to a) increase the > voltage to > 4.5 or 6.0 volts by adding additional AA batteries to the > stack, and/or > b) bringing the cathodes closer to the anode. > > Remember my geometry: I have a single 1 oz. coin between two > wire cathodes with only the last 1/4" or so of the tips > exposed. Crude ASCII art version follows... > > If you tip your head to the left, you'll see what I've got right now: > > ===========-- > > ======@@@@@@@ <== Coin > > ===========-- > > The coin is in the center, hanging from an insulated wire. I > drilled a hole in the edge of the coin and crimped over the > end of the wire. I coated the joint with nail polish to keep > the thinner wire from ever eroding. After several years of > operation the area around the joint is still shiny under the > protective layer of nail polish, so that's working out okay so far. > > The two cathodes are each one inch from the coin, with the > last 1/4" of the wires exposed. > > What I'm thinking of doing now would look more like this: > > ___________ > \ > --------------====== > ___________/ > > Again, just the tips of the cathodes would be bare, and > they'd now be only 1/2" from the coin. > > Combine this with a 4.5 volt supply and maybe I can reduce > the seeding amount from 1/4 to 1/8th and still get it done > inside of 12 hours. > > That's the next experiment, anyway. > > Thoughts, sir? > > I slapped this thing together several years ago and never > bothered testing it to this degree. I assumed I'd be getting > something between 5 and 10 ppm, which I probably was, but I > didin't really care so long as my CS worked, which it did -- > at least until the battery holder broke. > <sigh> > > Now I'll have a better idea of what I'm getting, so I guess > some good came of my error after all. <grin> > > Be well! > > Mike D. > > [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] > [mdev...@eskimo.com ] > [Speaking only for myself... ] > > > -- > The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. > > Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org > > To post, address your message to: silver-list@eskimo.com > > Address Off-Topic messages to: silver-off-topic-l...@eskimo.com > > The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... > > List maintainer: Mike Devour <mdev...@eskimo.com> > > >
