Chill gel in sparex

This is the first batch of gold soldering in a long time, I’ve been
mostly working in sterling the last few years.

I used Rio chill gel for the first time on an antique 14K white gold
ring with a diamond that needed a shank replaced. Packed the chill
gel all in the back and some on the front. Worked great. I plunked it
in the pickle afterwards (Sparex, yes it was getting pretty blue, I
know it was getting near time for a new batch.) The next item I
soldered was a 14K yellow gold ring. No stone so I didn’t use any
chill gel. Soldering went fine. I plunk it in the pickle (cold
pickle, by the way) and leave it to start on something else. I look
up about 15 minutes later and the ring, one of those antique basket
types, is coated with what looks like ice crystals. I grabbed the
ring with the copper tongs, shake it up and the stuff comes off in
solids. The ring looks like it is plated lightly with silver or
something. It came off handily with tripoli, but I’m wondering what
happened. Should I quench in water after soldering and clean off the
gel before pickle in the future?

Oh and I did mix up a new batch of sparex before going any further,
I was overdue.

Anyone else seen this or can explain?

-Barb Baur

Hello Barb: I would say yes to the wash the chill gel stuff off first
before pickling, and yes to the Quench items in water first and then
pickle. It has been determined that it is better not to quench
directly in pickle. Of course nothing with stones should be quenched.
I was wondering why you packed a diamond in chill gel? Diamond can
take the heat of soldering or welding 14K. Just make sure it’s clean.
Just a note that an alternative to using products like chill gel is
to suspend the heat sensitive part of the item in water while
soldering. Here is a web site I made to explain how. Hope this helps.

Michael R. Mathews Sr. Victoria,Texas USA