Difference Between Chrome and Nickel-Plating

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Difference Between Chrome and Nickel Plating

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Can anyone direct me to a source that explains, in a fairly SIMPLE way, the difference between chrome- and nickel-plating? i.e. when would I choose one over the other?

I am just curious about it; I do not intend to go out and buy equipment for doing it. I work for a fittings distributor and noticed that some ball valves are chrome-plated while others are nickel plated.

Thanks for all your help.

Tiziano Bianchi
- McKinney, Texas

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Chromium and nickel are two different elements, so they have somewhat different properties.

Conventional electrolytic nickel plating is decorative, functional, and corrosion resistant but it tarnishes and it is not as hard as chromium.

Electroless nickel plating (actually autocatalytic nickel plating) is a glassy nickel-phosphorous coating that is very corrosion resistant and quite hard, and often used on rough-service applications like down-hole applications.

Chrome plating may be either a thick layer of chrome (generally known as hard chrome) that offers exceptional hardness,wear-resistance, and oil-holding capability, but limited corrosion resistance; or it may be nickel-chrome (nickel plating followed by a flash of chrome for tarnish resistance and extra corrosion resistance, as is employed on truck bumpers and automotive brightwork).

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

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I have an antique Alladin kerosene lamp it's chrome plate is entirely polished leave only whole brass body. I've seen that re-chrome is easy to peel off within few years so I decide to try nickel plating, I like nickel's antique-like yellow shade (compared to chromium). I think local workshop can do only electroplating so I'd like to ask that is it good idea to plate brass lamp with nickel or any better suggestions.

Thanks,

Mr. Jirapan Pankongchuen
Thai Military Bank(pcl) - Nonthaburi, Thailand

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No, that is not correct, sir. It is very unlikely that the lamp was chromium plated; it was almost surely nickel-chromium plated; that is, it was nickel plated then chrome plated, with the chrome being only a few millionths of an inch thick. So if something peeled, it was the nickel plating.

But if the job is done right the nickel will not peel. You are correct that nickel plating which is not later chrome plated has a slight yellowish tinge which grows more pronounced with time as the nickel tarnishes.

Ted Mooney
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

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Thank you so much for your help, Ted.

Jirapan Pankongchuen
- Nonthaburi, Thailand

January 5, 2009

Dear editor, could you throw a few details on this. I have seen an shiny chrome / nickel chrome plated dog collar go rusty within a few a minutes of entering sea water. was it defective ?

Srinivas Somala
hobby - Hyderabad, AP, India

January , 2009

Hi, Srinivas. Anything can be done well or poorly, but chrome plating is a special case that can be done really really well or really really bad (see our Chrome Plating FAQs). When done poorly it contributes nothing to corrosion resistance and actually accelerates corrosion. Defective is not the correct word because it may well have met the plating specification they wrote for it. Crappy would probably be a good word :-)

Regards,

Ted Mooney
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey

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