I have been placing many of my proof coins in better holders and have been giving them an acetone bath to remove any dust or stuff leftover from the proof packaging. I have noticed that water condenses as the acetone evaporates, especially on the large dollars. It is extremely high grade acetone, so it is likely that that the cooling associated with evaporation is the cause rather than water in the acetone. I was wondering how others deal with this. Obviously the water droplets evaporate, but I'm not confident that some residue is not remaining. TIA for any insights.
Since it is most likely that the water is condensing out of the air it would have equal or better quality than commercially available distilled water. That would mean VERY few contaminants if any. I haven't had your problem but I don't work with acetone very often. Is it possible for you to work in a less humid area?
Usually going hand in hand with acetone, you want to rinse the coin in distilled water anyways. Distilled water will neutralize the effect of Acetone. You can let it dry, or lightly pat it down with cloth or a towel.
With the kind of heat the hair dryer in my household blows off, I'd be in trouble with the other forum members being accused of ATing my coins!
Try holding farther back, and just enough to warm the coin above the dew point. Kanga has a good point, use a dehumidifier in that room. And I suppose if there is that much vapor ventilation is an issue. One good spark could reduce all the vapors and warm the coin
I prefer to use an acetone rinse to dry the coin after a distilled water rinse. If you are getting water condensation on the coin from the evaporation of the acetone you must be operating at near saturation humidity levels and near dew point temperatures. The very small amount of acetone evaporating should not drop the temperature of the coin more than a few degrees. Lowering the ambient humidity, or raising the ambient temperature some should solve the problem.
I think the low room temps are the problem. The building I am in is way over-air-conditioned. The typical room temp is between 15 and 18C. You'd think that with that kind of AC, the humidity would be low, but I still get condensation. I may try warming the acetone to 20-22C (microscope slide warmer, I know acetone is volatile), so the coins will come out warmer.
As always Conder, I agree 100%. I use acetone to rinse off any debris and to dehydrate coins prior to storage. I never recommend using water and then air drying, doing so will actually saturate the surfaces with water and leave trace levels behind. Water is the #1 corrosive element to coins as pure water is actually slightly acidic. ACID + METAL = BAD
