Cadmium Wire?

[USSR]

On another unnamed website, a guy bought what he thought was solder, but when he got it home he noticed the spool it was on said "Cadmium Wire". I have to admit, I never heard of Cadmium wire before, so I googled it. Seems like it mostly comes in 1mm and 2mm diameters. Just yesterday my trip to the scrap yard produced a little over 4 pounds of what looks like solder on a spool and was bought as solder, but now it has me wondering. The diameter of this wire is 0.07", which falls in the range of most Cadmium wire. Any way I can tell whether it's really solder or Cadmium wire?

Don

 

[Ian]

I dunno but when in doubt don't mess with it, cadmium is unbelievably toxic.

 

[USSR]

Yeah, I know Ian. Must be a way to test it to see what it is. Would be a shame to toss out good solder thru ignorance.

Don

 

[RicinYakima]

Characteristic Reactions of Cadmium Ions (Cd²⁺)

Cadmium is a silvery, crystalline metal, resembling zinc. Moderately active. Cd²⁺ is colorless in solution and forms complex ions readily.

chem.libretexts.org

I would do the first test with aqueous ammonia, as it has no reaction with lead.

 

[USSR]

Are we talking the bottles of ammonia as sold in supermarkets?

 

[RicinYakima]

Yes, but the highest strength, concentration, so it will react faster. Might have better luck talking to your local pharmacist, you only need a little. Put one small piece of the unknown in one baby food jar, and one small piece of known lead solder in another, and compare. Wait 24 hours. p.s. just don't use silver solder.

 

[USSR]

Thanks, I'll see what I can find.

Don