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Plating Stainless Steel Hardware
Occasionally, we must plate CRS with zinc/chromate that has stainless steel hardware already inserted. Even if the plater is notified to "activate" the hardware, we often experience flaking on the hardware.
I have been told that even with activation, plating stainless is hit and miss. is there a rule of thumb on how often we can expect problems ?
fabrication shop manager - San Jose, California
January 3, 2011
The problem is that SS requires a much more aggressive cleaning and etch than MS. Next, it requires a strike before any plate that I am aware of. The normal strike is a Woods Strike which is very acid with HCl/NiCl.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
First of three simultaneous responses -- January 4, 2011
If your plater follows the well established rules to activate SS theoretically you should not expect problems ever,
G. Marrufo-Mexico
Monterrey, NL, Mexico
Second of three simultaneous responses -- January 4, 2011
Plating adhesion on stainless should not be considered hit or miss. You should expect 100% adhesion on all of your stainless parts. Plating on stainless does have its own pretreatment requirements that are different from plating on mild steel or other metals. If parts were treated just like mild steel, then the result would certainly be poor adhesion. With a search, you can find lots of info on this site about plating on stainless. Good luck.
Jon Barrows, MSF, EHSSC
GOAD Company
Independence, Missouri
Third of three simultaneous responses -- January 4, 2011
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