No passwords, No popups, No cost
we earn from your eBay & Amazon purchases

Home /
T.O.C.
Fun
FAQs
Good
Books
Ref.
Libr.
Adver-
tise
Help
Wanted
Current
Q&A's
Site 🔍
Search
curated with aloha by
ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
- Pine Beach, NJ
finishing.com -- The Home Page of the Finishing Industry


  pub
  The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989

-----

Hydrogen embrittlement in zinc plating of auto parts from the 1960's




Q. Q. In order to restore a 1967 GM muscle car, I sent out nearly every original nut/bolt and larger parts including control arms, etc. to my local commercial plater to have zinc plated. Mostly clear but some black zinc. Never even heard of hydrogen embrittlement at that time. The plater did not heat treat anything before or after.

Did I ruin all of these parts?

Thank you for your expertise.

Bob

Bob Benson
- Simi Valley, California
February 23, 2022


A. Hi Bob. Although plain, soft, mild steel does not suffer from hydrogen embrittlement, hardened steel unfortunately does -- and yes your parts may be ruined :-(

This issue is a perennial problem. The customer is likely to say, as you did, that they've 'never even heard of hydrogen embrittlement -- the shop should have told me that plating and/or plating without baking would be a problem'. And the shop is likely to say 'How are we supposed to know that a customer's parts are hardened steel and they shouldn't be plated, or should at least be baked, if he didn't tell us?'.

Although strangers like myself don't like to get in the middle of a contract dispute, especially after hearing only one side of the story, I think a plating shop ought to recognize forged hard components like steering linkage, and caution the customer that they shouldn't be electroplated or will require embrittlement relief; they shouldn't take a contract to plate them without baking unless the customer specifically disclaimed it.

2nd opinions from other readers are always welcome.

Luck & Regards,

ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2022


none
adv.
this text gets replaced with bannerText
spacer gets replaced with bannerImages


(No "dead threads" here! If this page isn't currently on the Hotline your Q, A, or Comment will restore it)

Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread

Disclaimer: It's not possible to fully diagnose a finishing problem or the hazards of an operation via these pages. All information presented is for general reference and does not represent a professional opinion nor the policy of an author's employer. The internet is largely anonymous & unvetted; some names may be fictitious and some recommendations might be harmful.

If you are seeking a product or service related to metal finishing, please check these Directories:

Finishing
Jobshops
Capital
Equipment
Chemicals &
Consumables
Consult'g,
& Software


About/Contact  -  Privacy Policy  -  ©1995-2024 finishing.com, Pine Beach, New Jersey, USA  -  about "affil links"