HOME FAQs BOOKS JOBS: Help Wanted Suggestions you are here: Hotline/Forum => Letter 12090

Zinc nickel on a grey iron substrate ?

Anybody knows if it would be possible to apply a zinc nickel coating in a grey iron component, for instance a brake caliper.

Alfonso Bustos Garcia
- Valladolid

The question, I believe, is about the hydrogen overvoltage of the carbon particles in the cast iron. In zinc cyanide and probably alkaline non-cyanide zinc, the overvoltage is low, so hydrogen is reduced on the metal instead of zinc metal.

Practical acid zinc plating solutions solved this problem. So I suppose that an acid zinc-nickel solution would be all right. I don't have a reference for this, so please check in with an answer if you have one.

Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania

ANSWER, or ASK a related Q. POST an unrelated Q.See HOT Topics

Disclaimer: It is not possible to diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information
presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The
internet is largely anonymous; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations may be deliberately harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories: