Summary for nickel plating process Discussion
Nickel plating process questions in this thread focus on what bath conditions and standards to use for a conventional nickel finish. Sridhar Mahadevan asked for a standard nickel plating process, including bath temperature, soaking time for 10 micron thickness, and the meaning/source of FED-QQ-N-290, now AMSQQN290. Ted Mooney explained that several electrolytic nickel processes exist, including Wood’s nickel strike, dull nickel, semibright, and bright nickel, with different salts such as chloride, sulphate, and sulfamate. He said the most common bath is Watts nickel, made from nickel sulphate, nickel chloride, boric acid, and additives, typically run at 140 °F and about 40 A/ft²; plating time for 10 microns should be calculated with Faraday’s Law. He also noted that books and the referenced spec source can help. In a later question, a user asked whether ASTM B733 is a good reference for electroless nickel and what standard applies to electrolytic nickel; the excerpt does not show a final answer to that second question.
Q. I need information on standard Nickel Plating process with information like temperature of baths, soaking time for 10 micron thickness, etc. What is FED-QQN-290 (replaced by AMSQQN290)
process standard and where can I get information on it?
Sridhar Mahadevan
medical systems – India
1999
A. Hi, Sridhar. Although there are a number of different electrolytic nickel plating processes including Wood’s Nickel Strike ⇦ huh?, Dull Nickel plating, Semibright, and Bright, plus alternate plating salts like chloride, sulphate and sulfamate, the most common plating bath is probably Watts Nickel — which is nickel sulphate, nickel chloride, boric acid, and addition agents like wetters, carriers, and brighteners. The usual operating temperature is 140 °F. It operates at about 40 Amps per square foot, and you can determine the plating time for 10 microns by applying Faraday’s Law to determine the Amp-hours required, and dividing by that current density.
We have a list of “must-have” books that will get you started with the data you need for nickel plating. We’ve hot-linked your mention of the spec to one source, but there are many other places to get it. Good luck.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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1999
Q. I need information on Nickel Electroplating process. I would like to know the amount of nickel consumption to a particular area on Cold Roll sheet of 0.35 MM thickness for 10.0 Micr. of coating (formula for calculating the nickel consumption).
NARESH KUMAR R.M.
– Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
2003
A. Hi, Naresh. Electrolytic nickel plating is an equilibrium process in that nickel dissolves off of the anodes and into solution in exact balance to the amount of nickel plated out of solution (although I am not implying that that balance is automatic and requires no intervention or maintenance). Nickel is a metal of fixed density; it conserves its volume. So “do the math” of multiplying the area that you want to plate by the thickness of the plating, and that’s the volume of nickel anodes that you will consume. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
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finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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February, 2009
October 8, 2012
Q. Good morning everybody,
We used to request some Nickel or nickel-phosphorous plating on copper plate (or AlSiC plate) and we would like to be able to define some specifications on our drawing (to ensure our supplier delivers a standard defined quality).
For electroless coating, I managed to find standard ASTM B733 [“standard specification for autocatalytic (electroless) Nickel Phosphorous coatings on metal” ] but I didn’t manage to find any equivalent standard for electroplated nickel coating?
Could someone tell me if this ATSM B733 standard is a good reference to ensure quality ?
Could someone tell me what could be the standard for electrolytic plating?
Thanks a lot for your support.
Matthieu Salland
product designer – Bruges, France
January 2014
Hi Matthieu. We appended your inquiry to this thread, implying that FED-QQN-290 (replaced by AMSQQN290)
might have been a good spec to use for your electrolytic nickel. But that mil spec has been superseded by AMSQQN290. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.