Summary for cooling anodising bath Discussion
Cooling of home/D-I-Y anodising baths is the central issue here: S. Tambe says his 25-liter lead-lined tank heats up quickly during anodising labels and asks whether a larger tank or a cheaper, easier cooling method would be better. Aimee Longacre suggests first checking whether the process is already within anodizing temperature tolerances and whether agitation or circulation could help stabilize the bath; if not, she proposes a simple water-jacket approach by placing the tank in a larger bucket of cool water, though she notes it would need trial and possibly circulation or temperature control. SK Cheah reports a home-shop method of freezing water-filled mineral bottles and placing them in the bath, but Tambe replies that swapping bottles during operation is awkward and potentially hazardous, so he wants a more workable, economical, and safer solution. The thread leans toward keeping the 25 L tank if it meets production needs and improving cooling/circulation rather than immediately upsizing.
Disambiguation: Please see also —
• Topic 51573, “Hard anodizing chiller sizing”
Q. Sir,
I am a home type anodiser making anodised labels. I want to know how to cool the electrolyte which is cost effective as well as easy to operate. I have got 25 liters capacity tank and having lead lining. After I start anodising immediately bath temp. rises and needs immediate cooling. Is it economically viable to use 25 l. tank or should I increase the tank size?
Thanks.
S. Tambe
– Raipur, Chhattisgarh, INDIA
December 23, 2011
Hey there,
I have a couple trouble shooting questions and a simple yet crude way to maybe cool the tank. If you are able to anodize what you need in a 25 L container, I would stick with that size.
What kind of anodizing are you doing? Often times there are temperature tolerances in anodizing, are you within that tolerance?
Do you have any agitation or circulation within the tank? Circulation in the tank may help keep a constant temperature.
Now for the crude suggestion: get a larger bucket and fill it with cool water. I kind of think of a bomb calorimeter with a water jacket. It may take some trial runs to get the temperature right and the water jacket may need some circulation or temperature control. But I think that maybe the easiest solution.
Aimee Longacre
– Savanna, Georgia, USA
December 28, 2011
Hi.
I’ve seen some home anodizers cool their tank by placing several ‘ice packed mineral water bottle ‘ directly into the anodizing tanks. The mineral water bottles were placed in the chiller in the home refrigerator over night….ready for use the next morning.Good Luck.
SK Cheah
– Penang, Malaysia
First of two simultaneous responses — December 29, 2011
Sir,
at present if I start the anodising I take plastic bottle filled with water and freeze it and dip in the solution. During anodising I agitate the solution manually. So it serves the purpose to certain extent. Main problem is every time you have to insert fresh bottle and take out old bottle. Which is hazardous, isn’t it. So I want a workable, economic and hazard-less idea.
S.Tambe
– Raipur, Chhattisgarh, INDIA
Second of two simultaneous responses — December 30, 2011