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How to remove solder from gold jewelry and coins





Q. How can solder, both lead and gold be removed from the surface of old gold jewelry without damaging the surface of the object cleaned?

Richard Schulte
- Detroit, Michigan
2002



Q. I have a pair of earrings made of old gold coins. Someone soldered a gold wire to the backs. I would like to remove these ear wires and the solder without damaging the coins. The solder is silver colored. Can you advise if this solder can be removed and how. I took them to a local jewelry but she lacks expertise. Please give me some help if you can. Such as: can it be removed without damaging the coins ... who would be a good choice for doing the work ... is this something a more expert jeweler can do. I am not a jeweler but if you can advise me how to do it I'd like to try. I just want this solder taken off.

Thanks,

Emily Straub
- Cotati, California, USA
2002



A. Hi Emily. Solder has a low melting point, which is the reason it is used. So the wires and the bulk of the solder can be removed by melting with a small soldering iron and sucking it up with desoldering braid or a solder sucker. You can get what you need from an electronics store for about $25.

However, this will leave an unsightly thin coating of solder on the coins which must be chemically dissolved with a stripping solution probably incorporating hazardous ingredients like ammonium bifluoride. I would probably want to entrust that to someone who has both chemical stripping experience and jewelry expertise like Metal Arts Specialties or Red Sky Plating [a finishing.com supporting advertiser]. Hopefully the solder can be removed without substantial dissolution of gold.

I would not at all be confident that those gold coins are real, though, unless you have strong reason to think so. The overwhelming majority, virtually all, are just plated with a layer of gold so thin that it has essentially no value. Good luck!

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




Solder removal from gold coins

Q. Can solder be removed from 150 year old gold US coins to return them to original condition?

Donald Cleveland
Hobbyist - Reno, Nevada, USA
2006



Q. I have 2 gold coins that my grandfather soldered cuff links onto. Any idea how to get the links and solder off the gold coins?

Beau Ellingson
student - Prescott Valley, Arizona
2006
q


Q. I removed my gold coins from a clasp by holding a soldering gun to the clasp until the solder melted. Although some solder remained on the coins, the gold was not discolored or damaged. Still waiting for answers on removing the solder.

Donald Cleveland [returning]
- Reno, Nevada, USA
2006


A. I would soak them in hydrochloric acid [muriatic acid [affil links]], heated to work faster. The acid will not touch the gold but will dissolve the lead and tin. You may have to soak it, rub it with a soft cloth after rinsing off with lots of water, and put it in acid again. Repeat until all the solder is gone.

Frank Zahn
- Centennial, Colorado, USA
2006



thumbs up sign  Thanks, Frank. Readers should note that hydrochloric acid is a hazardous material. I don't think it dissolves lead, but assuming the lead content of the solder is low enough, it might work.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey



2006

A. You can use next solution:
acetic acid [on eBay or Amazon] (conc.)...........24%
hydrogen peroxide (30%).....4%
water.................72%
0,2-0,3 mm/per hour
Good luck!

Goran Budija
- Cerovski vrh Croatia


A. You can remove lead from silver or gold by using a mixture of nitric acid^ [ed. note: we believe this to be an error; be sure to read entire thread!] and hydrogen peroxide.

Neil Jennings
- goldsmith - Abernethy, United Kingdom
2007



April 9, 2008

Q. Where do I get nitric acid for removal of solder ?

jill garrett

Jill L Garrett
- Central City, Nebraska


A. Hi, Jill. It's readily available from jewelry supply companies, but they can be reluctant to sell it to people who don't have some kind of environmental certification and an actual industrial/commercial jewelry store (outside of the home) because of the liability of product stewardship. It's dangerous toxic stuff, and moreover a very powerful oxidizing agent that can start fires.

A friend tried to sop up a nitric acid spill with newspaper and nearly set his whole shop on fire -- fortunately it was a very high ceiling steel ceiling building with a concrete floor. Had it been a house or wood building, he absolutely would have :-(

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 11, 2008



Q. Hello, can anyone give a specific recipe for this mixture? And have you actually used it to remove lead from a non-Ferrous alloy? I want to remove solder form silver/copper alloys.
Please let me know your experiences. Thanks,

Peter Dehahn
- sherman, connecticut
December 16, 2008



thumbs up signHi Peter. Goran gave the exact recipe for his idea. I don't know the ratio for Neil's idea, but thanks for including "non-ferrous" in your question, because it reminded me of still another warning about nitric acid. Don't even think about using it on steel or iron: it generates NOx-ious choking fumes if used on iron or steel.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, finishing.com
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




Q. Neil Jennings,

What is the mixture of nitric acid and Hydrogen Peroxide one would use to remove Lead Solder From Silver?

Ken Kindschi
- Middlefield, Connecticut, USA
March 27, 2010


A. Hi,
I used a mixture of (50-50) hydrogen peroxide, or blonde hair dye and photochem econostop, the stuff photographers use, basically it's acetic acid , and it removes lead from gold.
regards Neil

Neil Jennings
- goldsmith - Abernethy, United Kingdom
December 13, 2010



thumbs down sign Thanks readers, but we need some precision here! Nitric acid is a radically different chemical than acetic acid ! I have the strong feeling that Neil's original mention of nitric acid was in error! I'm not a photographer but my understanding of photographic stop baths is that they are acetic acid , so Neil's original posting was the one in error.

Regards,

pic of Ted Mooney
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




Safe disposal of nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix

Q. When removing solder from gold? How do you safely dispose of the nitric acid/hydrogen peroxide solution?

Ronald Hilton
- Rimbey, Alberta, Canada
January 27, 2016


A. Hi Ronald. I think the original posting about nitric acid was in error and nitric acid is not used in this operation. But unless you are a chemist with haz-mat training I would suggest that you not mix nitric acid with hydrogen peroxide anyway :-(
Internet forums are giant one-room schoolhouses which both grammar school children and post-doctoral researchers google themselves into, and reading that something can be done does not mean it can be reasonably or safely done by people not trained in it.

Regards,

pic of Ted Mooney
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey




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