Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
- Pine Beach, NJ
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for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Longevity of Nickel Plating in Ice Machines?
Hi there,
Can anyone refer me to data on the longevity of Food Grade nickel plating over copper in Ice Making Plants - i.e. where copper tubes are nickel plated and then used as evaporators with a refrigerant. Ice forms on the nickel plated surface, which is then partially defrosted by the quick heating of the evaporator tube. I am keen to find data on the longevity of the nickel plating under these conditions. Many thanks,
- New Zealand
1999
I don't know where you could find such specific data, and further, I don't know exactly what "Food Grade nickel plating" would mean. But I don't see this application to be abusing a good nickel plate, so I don't offhand see any reason to suggest that it is not a reasonable manufacturing technology with a reasonable life expectancy (which might mean the same life expectancy as the ice maker itself).
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
1999
I do maintenance work on all our ice machines and seen the copper showing through the nickel plate. This sometimes hinders the dropping of the ice from the evaporator. I think hard water with a lot of minerals would "wear" off the nickel finish much faster than treated water. The nickel finish seems to last the life of the compressor in most cases.
Dave Tysdalmotel - North Dakota
2000
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