Where the
world gathers for metal finishing
Q&As since 1989


-----

Experience with chrome additive

adv.    

January 23, 2009

Greetings.

We do industrial hard chrome using a standard sulphate bath.

Chromic Acid: 33 oz/gal
sulfuric Acid: 3.3^0.33 oz/gal
Temp: 135 °F

Recently [a product] has been brought to our attention which claims 35% plating efficiency and 50% faster plating speeds.

Has anyone here used this additive or have any opinions on it?

Regards,

Brett Zastre
Plating Shop Employee - Winnipeg, MB, Canada

---

Hi, Brett. The patents have run out on the first generation of etch-free high efficiency hard chrome additives, so there are now a number of brands available. I'm not sure of the patent situation on the second generation, but there is apparently more than one supplier.

We would encourage anyone to relate their experience and satisfaction with high speed additives generically rather than by product name (why?). Thanks.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 23, 2009

---

January 26, 2009

The standard chrome bath is a 100 : 1 ratio, not a 10 : 1 ratio.
I used a bath that worked quite well, as well as a standard one. In the dark ages one company advertised a 40% efficiency bath, but when you read the fine print, it was not practical for a job shop, but their 25% efficiency worked quite well.
Plate speed can be drastically increased by using conforming anodes with a close anode to cathode distance in a 140F tank and a higher voltage and still control where the chrome goes by tweaking the anode.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida

Sorry I meant 0.33 oz/gal of sulfuric in the first post.

Brett Zastre
- Winnipeg, MB, Canada
January 29, 2009

adv.