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Need zinc brightener and nickel brightener
Quickstart:
When electroplating, a couple of undesirable results tend to happen:
• A large crystal structure tends to develop in sort of 'rock candy' fashion, which makes for porosity and softness in the plating.
• Electricity follows the path of least resistance, resulting in some areas getting heavy plating, and some areas getting little or none.
Brighteners, levelers, carriers, etc. are organic (usually) 'addition agents' which are attracted to high current density areas, somewhat shielding them, thereby somewhat discouraging additional plating in that area, to encourage more even plating thickness, and a smaller crystal size.
Q. I am zinc plating with a solution of vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil link] . I've been told that I should add something as a leveler so that my part gets evenly coated but I was never told WHAT to add. I'm hoping somebody can help me out. I'm using about 2.5 gallons for my solution.
Doc Frattasio- Massachusetts
August 12, 2025
A. Hi Doc.
1 g/l of licorice ⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
has been advocated in the literature ⇨
as a generic brightener. Polyethylene glycol/Miralax ⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link] or molasses ⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
have been used by hobbyists as a brightener for copper plating, and are also worth a shot.
It is important to realize, though, that brighteners & levelers have a very limited ability to even out the plating thickness and are more effective in leveling the thickness in the micro areas than in the macro, large scale, areas. Careful anode
⇦ huh? placement or the use of auxiliary anodes
⇦ huh? may be required.
We should also note that the origin of the idea of plating from vinegar was so that school children could experiment with plating using safe kitchen ingredients. Hobbyists are certainly welcome to use it, but are advised that it is very far from an ideal plating solution.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
(Ted can offer longterm or instant help)
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
⇩ Related postings, oldest first ⇩
RFQ: Sir:
I need information on (1) companies that sell zinc and nickel brightener; (2) How much is it per litre or gallon?; (3) Can I get these chemicals in powdery or liquid form and what is the process of converting the chemicals from powdery form to liquid form; (4) Do you know of any company selling Duozinc concentrate.
Please supply me with the requested information as soon as possible.Thanks.
1998John
Tip: This forum was created to help build camaraderie through sharing tips, opinions, pics & personalities.
The operator & those readers who want that might not engage with anonymous posters.
A. Dear John: Most vendors receive inquiries such as yours quite frequently. There are many well meaning individuals who would like to plate various objects, usually as a hobby. I must urge you and others to use extreme caution. Always make very sure that you are qualified and trained to use some of the chemicals that we use in various chemical baths. Some are irritants, some are toxic, and all must be handled with the utmost care.
Finally, John, as with all responsible platers, you must legally discard any wastes that you generate. In most cases, that means either waste treatment and the legal discarding of any sludges. We as members of the Electroplating community work very hard every day to be good neighbors. Gone are the days of industry several decades ago, where waste treatment was a thing of the future. Stay with plating, learn all that you can. And, yes, you can join the American Electroplaters Society to learn more about plating.
Ed Budman [deceased]
- Pennsylvania
With deep sadness we advise that our good friend Ed passed away Nov. 24, 2018
Q. Sir, I need information on following chemicals 1. Pyridinium Propyl Sulfonate, 2. Propargyl Alcohol, 3. 1,4 Butyne Diol.
As we are manufacturers of Electroplating chemicals and equipment, including brighteners, we need information on the above mentioned chemicals, please do the needful. Thanking you,
⇐ answer?
Gautam Kumar
- New Delhi, India
1999
Q. Dear Sirs, I am a research student (chemistry). I am curious to know what chemicals are used as brighteners in zinc & nickel electroplating?
Vijaykumar S Ijeri- Mumbai, India
1999
9th Edition, Vol. 5
"Surface Cleaning, Finishing & Coating"
on eBay or Amazon
or AbeBooks
(affil link)
A. Hi, Vijaykumar. The relevant chapter of ASM's Metals Handbook, Volume 5: Surface Engineering, will give you very good insight into this subject, including the wetting agents, the carriers, and the primary and secondary brighteners. But that is pretty much old news, and basically for research. Today nearly all plating shops use proprietary brighteners which are trade secret. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
(Ted can offer longterm or instant help)
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. Sir I need the formulation of alkaline brighteners
sanjay singhplaters - Faridabad
September 14, 2012
A. Hi Sanjay. Proprietary brightener formulations are big business for the suppliers. Sorry, I'm not aware of any public domain knowledge on this subject. Are you talking about alkaline non-cyanide zinc plating or what?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
(Ted can offer longterm or instant help)
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
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