all 23 comments

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (22 children)

Yeah, it should be clear. What was your method, what kind of water did you use, how long did you run it for, and did you add salt (because if you did, that's the issue right there)?

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (21 children)

Distilled water, used 29V on a variable power supply, about 5mA, on a stovetop for a hot plate, 1000ml distilled water heated gradually up to about 85 degrees Celsius, using 10 gauge, 99.999% pure silver wire but the time... I'm not sure.

It was my first time brewing with this new setup of mine. I think I must have gone 4 hours or more, I kept adding 30 minute increments and eventually lost track. Sigh.

Then I did another batch for 3 hours and that seems a bit weak.

Do you know the REASON why they say it should be clear though? I mean it's OK, I'll use it for topical and cleaning purposes, I don't mind, but I am really curious.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (20 children)

Do you know the REASON why they say it should be clear though

Cloudiness means something is in there you don't want since if it were only ionic silver it'd be clear. Silver chloride is the obvious culprit but without salt, I don't know how it's being formed. Also, eventually an ionic silver solution will precipitate out silver nitrate normally, it turns black, but that takes a while.

I do a 9V bat with a 99.999% silver ingot split in half, no heat.

I wonder if the heat is a catalyst. I think you might want to check with someone with a stronger knowledge of chemistry than myself.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (19 children)

Wait a minute, I am making COLLOIDAL silver, not ions. Making ions out of a 30v PSU would mean a chemical reaction rather than an electro-physical one.

There are no contaminants in my water. So I took the cloudiness to mean a simple over-saturation of particles, where they are unable to maintain proper separation somehow. I'd have to investigate this because it clashes with the physics I know...

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (18 children)

Wait a minute, I am making COLLOIDAL silver, not ions. Making ions out of a 30v PSU would mean a chemical reaction rather than an electro-physical one.

I think they're essentially interchangeable, and I know that's a hot topic of debate but this guy really hits the hammer on the nail

Good luck, let me know if you figure it out.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (14 children)

Well from my understanding of physics, there is no way low-voltage, low-current electrodes in distilled water make ions. The concentration of charge in ions is such that I find it unimaginable that such a weak power supply would result in them.

Also, his article makes claims about "ions vs particles" but never demonstrates the highly dubious physics of ions out of a 9V battery for example. Yes, there is an electric charge that promotes the suspension of silver. But that doesn't have to mean ions: metals share their electrons.

I remain unconvinced, but I don't know where to turn to for the physics of it, since any search engine when going "colloidal silver" will show me pages where to buy it and equipment, but not real science.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

The stuff I make with a 9V battery has a strange refraction, I assume from the silver, but the real proof it's silver in there comes if you leave the batch sitting for weeks, it turns ink black, silver nitrate. I've also tested the anti bacterial properties of it in a super scientific experiment involving moldy bread and on my bathroom walls (no ventilation so mold is a problem)

I do have some bad news. Silver isn't the best at what it does. Ultimately bleach worked way better on the walls, and a simple otc antibacterial cream was far more effective for wound care. Even tested a commercial silver antibacterial cream. It would follow that prescription antibiotics are also far more effective than silver.

Also, a piece of silver in a bowl of water doesn't keep it fresh longer, tried that too, but silvering is used in the water holds of ships.

I don't know if trying to make a colloidal suspension will do better, the article I linked didn't think so. I suspect not, but please do test it.

don't know where to turn to for the physics of it, since any search engine when going "colloidal silver" will show me pages where to buy it and equipment, but not real science.

I have the same problem. There's a lot of junk info out there.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Just the fact that colloidal silver can be yellow speaks of a particle size that is much greater than the atomic scale of actual ions.

Often it is not yellow but clear, but made with the same process that also results in yellow CS, if only at lower current settings. This leads me to conclude that the particles are then smaller and thus don't interfere with visible light, but not as different a size as to be near atomic scale.

[–]bobbobbybob 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Why. I have been making and using colloidal silver for over 16 years... I just got a new setup and seek to better understand the physics.

But the 1906 paper uses a high current method, while I have no access to the sciencedirect one... :-(

[–]bobbobbybob 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (8 children)

an ion is merely a particle - an atomic particle - in solution.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

Yes, whereas colloids are multiple atom particles suspended - not in solution - through electrical charge repulsion in a medium.

[–]bobbobbybob 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

through electrical charge repulsion in a medium.

um. I thought i understood ionic chemistry extremely well, but now i'm just confused. Where did you get that definition from?

colloid: a homogeneous non-crystalline substance consisting of large molecules or ultramicroscopic particles of one substance dispersed through a second substance. Colloids include gels, sols, and emulsions; the particles do not settle, and cannot be separated out by ordinary filtering or centrifuging like those in a suspension.

nothing to do with electrical charge repulsion.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Well, the ones we make with the electrical process use electrical repulsion. You are taking textbook definitions and assuming they do not apply to a particular case where they do apply.

How do you think multi-atom AG particles stay suspended in distilled water? Magic?

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

You guys are fascinating.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

Well, thanks I guess. I'm hardly an expert but I figured we're the only two people who probably ever done this before on Saidit.

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There are a handful of users here who have shown me many new things, just from y'all sharing your lifestyle and improving your knowledge through conversation and questions. It is refreshing, man.

I love to learn new things, and y'all have shown me many things that would've taken a long time to discover on my own. It's just fascinating.