> Ken

  Hi Ken,

  You are right. The cloud has to be particles. But how do they form?

###Agglomeration [inertial collisions????] and crystalization out of saturated solution. The solution is MORE saturated right near the electrodes. It's not clear if the crystal or agglomerated particle has a full or partial charge.



  The ion  has  to  grab   an   electron  from  somewhere,  which will
  eventually come from the cathode. But the cathode and  anode current
  must be  equal, so some other process has to take place  to equalize
  the current in the series circuit.

### I imagine that an electron can be had from virtually nowhere. They're not all too uncommon. Probably plenty of them hanging around in the air, ey?? If left alone, a strong ionic CS will drop in conductivity and gain in TE [from particles] over night.

  When the ions arrive at the cathode, they can't all grab an electron
  and jump  onto  the cathode. Hydrogen is  produced  at  the cathode,
  which requires  electrons. So the ions have to wait their  turn, and
  they form an invisible cloud around the cathode.

  (This is similar to the space charge of electrons around the cathode
  in a  vacuum  tube,  so  all the old  hams  should  ea



    http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/m46719.html

  When the ions arrive, the high voltage gradient keeps them  close to
  the cathode,  which  means the ion cloud will be  quite  dense. This
  increases the probability that the ions which have found an electron
  will be  close to other atoms, and Brownian motion  will  bring them
  close enough so the Van der Walls force can start the agglomeration.
  The dense cloud also means the particles will grow larger.

  So the  idea that a high current rips large particles off  the anode
  may be incorrect. The high current means a higher voltage across the
  cell, which  means a denser ion cloud at the cathode.  The particles
  are not  produced at the anode, but come from the  ion  cloud around
  the cathode.

## Sounds about right. And so, stirring disrupts that concentrated ion zone making Brownian collisions less likely and less enegetic AND hydrates the ions so they are further isolated from each other and less likely to come together in big hunks later. [I have this mental picture of what hydration is that may not be quite exact] Ripping off chunks would be like electrosputtering..probably takes a lot of voltage and current to do that. Maybe that's part of what a HVAC unit with a suspended electrode does???

There is another strange LVDC phenomenon that can sometimes be seen if the area is well lit and a round optical glass container magnifies the process.
 That is
One electrode can have a whitish cloud streaming off toward the center and the other electrode can have a golden cloud streaming toward the center...but nothing in the center.

 Ode [ken#1]


  So we  have  been  barking up the wrong tree,  and  I  am  the worst
  offender. (See my 130VDC article at:)

    http://www3.sympatico.ca/add.automation/misc/130vdc.htm

  A high  voltage  is not needed to  get  appreciable  conduction with
  typical distilled water.

  The initial  conductance  of distilled water  is  not  constant with
  applied voltage. It increases as applied voltage increases, which is
  why everyone  uses  the   highest   voltage   they  can  get without
  destroying their current regulator.

  With the  ULV process, the initial voltage across the  electrodes is
  only 2V to 4V. This is an order of magnitude less  than conventional
  systems, but the initial current may still be 180uA. This is  in the
  same ballpark as I used to get with 27 Volts from 3 nines!

  With the  low  voltage, the ion velocity is  an  order  of magnitude
  less, so the ions take longer to reach the cathode. This  means more
  time for  ion production before we start running into  problems with
  the ion cloud forming at the cathode.

  When the cloud starts to form, the lower voltage gradient  means the
  cloud density  is  much less than before. This means  the  ions that
  have found  an  electron have less  probability  of  interacting, so
  fewer particles  are produced. This means less silver  is  wasted as
  the black residue when we wipe the rods.

  Because the  cloud  is less dense, the particles  that  do  form are
  smaller, so  they don't have as much tendency to fall to  the bottom
  and form  a  black  smudge. And the sides of  the  glass  stay clear
  instead of turning black.

  And the solution doesn't turn yellow and plate out. Stirring  is not
  needed to get high quality cs.

  Here is a run I started this morning:

  Mon May 12, 2003, 09:04:56 am 4.374V 180uA
  Mon May 12, 2003, 12:05:01 pm 3.024V 240uA
  Mon May 12, 2003, 12:44:32 pm 2.811V 250uA
  Mon May 12, 2003, 01:15:55 pm 2.517V 263uA

  I will  let  it  go another couple of hours,  but  you  can  see the
  voltage across  the cell is quite low. When I stop the run,  it will
  be among  the  strongest cs I have ever made, and it  will  not turn
  yellow and plate out.

  Any comments?

Best Regards,

Mike Monett


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