Eddy, don't float your object in space. You have light coming in all directions and it reflects back to your camera killing the black you are looking for. Here is a quick trick that will help you. Get a shiny black hand-sized object to stand in for your gadget. Get at least three small LED flash lights at about $2.50 each. Set up a small table top mini studio and move lights and reflectors around until you get the effect you want. Then go back into SU and set up your scene with lights and reflectors in the same relationships and your render will come out just they way you wanted. The advantage is that feedback is instantaneous and you can hone in on a desired result much quicker than doing multiple test renders. After you have done this multiple times you will be able to previsualize your results and will not have to refer to you ministudio quite so often. Its just a learning process.
