Letter 30018

Need information on electrodepositing nickel in bore [Turkey] 

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Nickel Electroplating in bore of 1.4 mm diameter,10 mm height gear .

DILEK DURAK
'plating shop' - KIRIKKALE, MERKEZ, TURKEY

Anything is possible, including this, Mr. Durak. But lots of things aren't practical at a reasonable cost, and this may be one of them. I made a little sketch to scale to give the readers a visual feel for the size of this item.

It is theoretically possible to string this gear on a fine diameter anode wire and plate the bore, but you might find the cost prohibitive.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

Mr Mooney,

We actually make nickel plating that little gears as I mentioned about and you have drawn in true scale. But nearly 500 parts is plated in the 2 lt barrel . But when we do in this way the bore doesn't take the nickel deposit.So steel material gets rusted. Can you describe me the procedure for true operation .

Thank you and best regards ,

DILEK DURAK
- KIRIKKALE, MERKEZ, TURKEY

You will not get coverage through the bore because the nickel goes where the current goes, and no current will go very deep into the bore.

Electroless nickel or phosphatizing after nickel plating will work much better, and I think they will work "good enough". But even then you may not really get coverage all the way through this small diameter bore from simple barrel processing.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

MR.MOONEY

Once we tried to plate these gear parts in an electroless nickel bath whom concentration prepared from the literature. But we could not succeed. Parts were not deposited and bright.They were dull. Can it be as surface pretreatment operation is not true?

Thanks for your help, Regards,

DÝLEK DURAK
- KIRIKKALE, MERKEZ, TURKEY

Electroless nickel is a better technology for plating into bores than electrolytic plating. Do not give up on a superior technology simply because your first trial revealed the difficulties of getting it working properly.

In the USA virtually no one ever attempts to plate from "home brew" electroless nickel processes mixed from the literature. Instead, proprietary solutions are purchased. I suggest that you speak to Galkim Finishing Technologies in your country, or a local representative from one of the international suppliers listed in our Directory of Chemicals & Consumables.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com Inc. - Brick, NJ

Some guesses on why your EN did not come out well.

1. Too many parts in the barrel.
2. You did not pre warm the parts and they chilled the solution too much and they did not start plating immediately.
3. You need extremely aggressive air agitation under the barrel, or one of the rigs that pumps solution thru the barrel.
4. The openings in the barrel have started to "peen" shut from use.
5. You plated out enough nickel to throw the tank out of balance.
6. Your chemistry or temperature or pH was out of tolerance.

EN works well when it is done correctly. Barrel EN is an art more than a science.

James Watts
- FL

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