Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#61

Post by kjs3 » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 3:11 AM UTC

cowmoo728 wrote: post #23

saagarjha wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How exactly does cutting the catalytic converter out of your truck keep you out of poverty?

I don't agree with his sentiment, but some people find it unfair that California basically requires every car sold in the US to come with a $1000 part to control pollution. The argument is that California regulations shouldn't set the price of cars in Mississippi.

Indeed, because toxic gases generated in one place can by no mechanism pollute another. And if while standing under this tree in the rain I get wet, I will simply move to another tree and be blissfully dry.

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#62

Post by cmendel » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 3:39 AM UTC

megablast wrote: post #55

w0mbat wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Oakland, where I live, thieves have been targeting old generation 2 Priuses most often. I finally got my 2005 updated for the modern world with a CarPlay stereo and backup camera, and now I have to worry about it getting hacked apart by one of these scumbags in the middle of the night, as happened to my neighbor. They just saw the cat off with a sawzall. The cost of fixing the car afterwards is maybe 10 times the…

> The cost of fixing the car afterwards is maybe 10 times the amount of cash the thieves get for the metal, and often more than the car is worth. Why should the thieves care about that? > It’s killing safe low pollution cars They are not much better than any other cars. All cars are polluters and killers.

It's pretty disingenuous to talk about prius as if they are equally bad to all other vehicles.

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#63

Post by journalctl » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 4:36 AM UTC

journalctl wrote: post #58

Fjolsvith wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I cut mine out of my trucks and put a straight pipe in. Sold them myself. Only able to do that in a state that doesn't regulate citizens to poverty.

As though requiring the ownership of a five-figure polluting death trap simply to live and work isn’t its own form of wealth-based oppression.

Downvote me all you want but let’s not miss the forest for the trees: you wouldn’t need to have an expensive car part if you didn’t need a car that has to have expensive parts.

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#64

Post by xiphias2 » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 4:46 AM UTC

As palladium has a stock to flow ratio of about 1 year, its price is too volatile compared to gold/silver to be a useful long term store of value.

https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-w...

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#65

Post by mikorym » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 5:31 AM UTC

frostburg wrote: post #3

This impacts me in a somewhat strange way: usually palladium is cheaper than platinum, so when making platinum/palladium prints you can use more palladium both for controlling tone and to spend less on chemicals.

What kind of prints are those?

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#66

Post by philips » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 5:49 AM UTC

Lendal wrote: post #51

woranl wrote: post #45

Automobile’s catalytic converter is not the only use case. Palladium is also used in the many chemical processing applications (as catalyst). Imagine those big reactors filled with this precious metal and you’ll appreciate how expensive it can get.

My wedding ring is made of palladium. It's about 10 years old. I don't know if they're still making jewelry out of it today.

Same here and it seems the raw material has lost value in 10 years.

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=XPD&view=10Y

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#67

Post by steve19 » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 5:55 AM UTC

mikorym wrote: post #65

frostburg wrote: post #3

This impacts me in a somewhat strange way: usually palladium is cheaper than platinum, so when making platinum/palladium prints you can use more palladium both for controlling tone and to spend less on chemicals.

What kind of prints are those?

Photographic platinum prints. Palladium has different properties that may be desirable.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_print#Palladium

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#68

Post by Scoundreller » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 6:21 AM UTC

matthewowen wrote: post #59

garmaine wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

California standards are harder to meet than federal.

OK, but can you meet federal standards without a catalytic converter?

No

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#69

Post by Scoundreller » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 6:25 AM UTC

philips wrote: post #66

Lendal wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wedding ring is made of palladium. It's about 10 years old. I don't know if they're still making jewelry out of it today.

Same here and it seems the raw material has lost value in 10 years. https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=XPD&view=10Y

You’ve got the 2 backwards.

You get about a quarter as much palladium as you did per dollar than you did 10 years ago.

Re: Why Palladium Is Suddenly a More Precious Metal

#70

Post by garmaine » Tue, Oct 29, 2019, 6:49 AM UTC

matthewowen wrote: post #59

garmaine wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

California standards are harder to meet than federal.

OK, but can you meet federal standards without a catalytic converter?

You need a catalytic converter that meets a special requirement in CA. There are in fact cars with catalytic converters sold in other states that will not pass smog test in CA without upgrading the catalytic converter. They’re not all the same.