copper question

[midgetwaiter]

Originally Posted by fkshiu

I'm not sure the theory that heavy metals leech into silicone is a proven one

I am sure it is not proven. Everybody has heard it's an issue but nobody has seen it be an issue. I've seen it NOT cause problems when I used a 20 that had been repeatedly dosed with copper as a sump for YEARS afterward. All I did was rinse it.

The best way to attack something like copper chemically is to precipitate it. Use kalk or sodium carbonate to get the pH to 12 and any free copper should precipitate as copper hydroxide. If you use kalk be aware you could be adding as much copper as you are potentially removing depending on it's purity. I am not sure about sodium carbonate in that regard.