C2:67 Twenty minutes later

[Gerard F.]

My original 67 heater hose nipples plated with a little post prep:


20 minutes earlier:


This is a slight variation of "copy" cad, but I won't tell.

Here's my setup:


Out of the tank but with a minute of wire wheeling:


Just having fun on a Saturday morning,

Jerry Fuccillo
#42179

[Greg L.]

Re: C2:67 Twenty minutes later

Very nice Jerry!

Just curious,...about how many square inches of your anodes are contacting the solution? This might sound funny but most of my power supply problems that I was having was because my plates had WAY to much contact surface with the solution.

Are you running an agitator?

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2:67 Twenty minutes later

Greg,

The anode here is a 2" sphere, but it ain't zinc. (You can guess) However, with zinc I think your are better off with more anode area. Just plate it slow, around 1 volt, adjust your amps up until it effervesces, then down a little for just a slight bubbling. 10 to 15 minutes your done.

I don't use an agitator on small parts, just stir the solution once in a while during plating. If it were a complicated part I would use a fish tank aerator in the corner of the tank away from the part.

Jerry Fuccillo

[John D.]

Re: C2:67 Twenty minutes later

Gerald,Nice job on the fittings. There is a heater hose fitting available today that is identical to yours except for one problem. It's heavily stamped with China on one flat. So I have to buzz that off and then get the fitting plated which is a pain.
I have not found a 100% identical water pump fitting though. I've bought ones from the repro catalogs, the auto stores, etc. They are close but no cigar. Typicallly much longer. Hex length is off, etc. Your plating looks really nice. John

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: C2:67 Twenty minutes later

Jerry:
What kind of plating rectifier are you using? I have the 3 amp digital from Caswell for small plating and I purchased a 250 amp (yes, you read it right) for stripping chrome plate and for plating large pieces.
Jeff

[Gerard F.]

Re: C2:67 Twenty minutes later

Jeff,

The two in the picture are identical Kikusui 5-8's, 0-5 amp 0-8 volts. They can be connected together as master-slave to double the amps or volts. I only use one for small parts. (I use the older Caswell solutions which I think take less power).

I also have one above the two (outside of the picture) which is a Kikusui 10-16
(10 amps - 16 volts) for future heavy duty plating. Haven't used it yet.

Got them all on ebay one at a time for less than $50 each.

Jerry Fuccillo