Zinc plating
04 January 2015, 09:44 PM
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Has anyone here had any experience with DIY zinc electroplating?
I got a kit a while back to plate various parts of my classic. I'm having a little trouble with the yellow passivate adhering to the parts that I've plated. The zinc plating itself is 100% and I've done everything I can find on the Internet to try to sort this out. Anyone got some tips?
I got a kit a while back to plate various parts of my classic. I'm having a little trouble with the yellow passivate adhering to the parts that I've plated. The zinc plating itself is 100% and I've done everything I can find on the Internet to try to sort this out. Anyone got some tips?
Last edited by piehole1983; 05 January 2015 at 10:55 PM.
05 January 2015, 06:05 PM
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I got it from www.classic-plating.co.uk
You'll need to get a few fish tank heaters, I'd recommend 50W to keep the various solutions up to working temperature. Also a fish tank air pump to agitate the plating solution. If you don't have one already, you'll need a decent DC power supply that can regulate both voltage and current although you could use a car battery charger along with the very crude current controller that's supplied too. The car battery charger will need to be able to supply up to 8 amps so you can plate larger items. Small stuff doesn't take so much current. 100mA/in2 of surface area is recommended in the kit.
You'll need to get a few fish tank heaters, I'd recommend 50W to keep the various solutions up to working temperature. Also a fish tank air pump to agitate the plating solution. If you don't have one already, you'll need a decent DC power supply that can regulate both voltage and current although you could use a car battery charger along with the very crude current controller that's supplied too. The car battery charger will need to be able to supply up to 8 amps so you can plate larger items. Small stuff doesn't take so much current. 100mA/in2 of surface area is recommended in the kit.
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15 January 2015, 04:19 PM
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A wee bit mate. I made up a new batch of the yellow chromate and washed the parts thoroughly with washing powder before dipping in nitric acid and then washed with washing powder again before chromate dipping. Washing with ordinary detergent (fairy) seemed to leave them with some kind of layer that was stopping chromate conversion. It worked better but still has a couple of patches that didn't adhere properly. If I'm even more careful with the cleaning, they'd probably improve further. I'm being very fussy though and the parts are totally acceptable they way they are anyway. I'll be doing some more stuff soon so I'll put some photos on.
15 January 2015, 05:21 PM
#9
Have you thought about using Bilthamber Deox C first? If you soak these bolts in this over night and then wire brush it takes them back to raw steel. Doesn't just take the rust off but takes off all the crap and old plating too! I am sure the parts would be cleaner that way then with detergent? Maybe a final wash with brake cleaner or a solvent.
Would be interested to know how long the plating holds up as the majority of Subaru's bolts seem to be zinc plated in the suspension areas yet they still rust.
I looked into Nickle plating but it was about £10 per bolt for the large rear hub ones!
Would be interested to know how long the plating holds up as the majority of Subaru's bolts seem to be zinc plated in the suspension areas yet they still rust.
I looked into Nickle plating but it was about £10 per bolt for the large rear hub ones!
15 January 2015, 06:27 PM
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Have you thought about using Bilthamber Deox C first? If you soak these bolts in this over night and then wire brush it takes them back to raw steel. Doesn't just take the rust off but takes off all the crap and old plating too! I am sure the parts would be cleaner that way then with detergent? Maybe a final wash with brake cleaner or a solvent. Would be interested to know how long the plating holds up as the majority of Subaru's bolts seem to be zinc plated in the suspension areas yet they still rust. I looked into Nickle plating but it was about £10 per bolt for the large rear hub ones!
From what I've read, yellow zinc chromate protects the steel for up to 260 hours of spraying with salt water so it stands to reason our UK bolts are all rusted!
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