Bath size for hard chrome plating

A. It is generally believed that once a bath size is big enough, the plating process is not effected by being carried out in a still larger bath. But the minimum size is a complicated issue. The saving grace is that, usually, a tank of a practical size for parts is big enough.

I know this wasn't too much help, but I don't think I've ever seen a chrome plating tank that was too small. Tanks that were too small for other plating processes, yes.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

A. A larger tank than an absolute minimum is nice because your chemistry does not change as fast AND you may be able to avoid having a cooling system. Chrome plating generates a lot of heat as it is a very inneficient plating process. Proper chrome plating should have the temperature held within a couple of degrees. Lastly, I do not care how big a tank you put in, someone will want a job done that is a couple of inches too big to fit.

A. Dear Mr. Gupta,

As a broad thumb rule, the hard chrome plating tanks are designed on the basis of 1 Liter per 1 Amp basis. Obviously, the size of the component is of prime importance. If you have larger volumes, you may actually have to run heating and invent ways to maintain homogeneous temperature all over the bath. If the volumes are smaller, the investment in terms of cooling (Heat Exchanger/Chiller capacity) goes up. Hope this helps.