Letter 37071

De Carbonator for Silver Plating Baths  

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We are Bombay based Electroplaters doing 5 and 10 Micron Silver Plating on Copper Rollers for L & T.

We need Decarbonators for reducing the carbon in the Silver plating baths, due to which the efficiency of the bath is reducing.

Kindly suggest the possible method to solve the problem.

Thanks & regards,

HEMAL NAGDA
KIRAN ELECTROPLATERS - MUMBAI , MAHARASHTRA , INDIA

A bit of an English problem on part of your request. Your problem is carbonate, not carbon. A silver bath that uses sodium cyanide and sodium hydroxide can freeze out carbonates on a very cold coil or possibly a cold finger (if you are a chemist). The solubility of sodium carbonate is that in a cold tank with a near freezing coil or similar apparatus, sodium carbonate crystals will form and temporarily stick to the cold device because you have reached a point beyond the saturation point. This does remove a small amount of trapped bath chemicals, but not bad. The coil is needed as if you just precipitate it out, the flow rate of filtration and the rising temperature will redissolve it. Metal finishing vendors sell these things.
This does not apply for a potassium based bath because the much higher solubility of potassium carbonate at any temperature. For this you are going to have to bail out part of the tank--Not cheap.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida

Hi!

You can find appropriate equipment on internet, if you "Google" it with key-word "carbonate removal"!

Dimitrij Us
- Kranj, Slovenija (EU)

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