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Electroplating bath plates Nickel or Copper depending on voltage



Q. I was doing some at home plating and was using what I thought was Nickel Acetate. When I plated at 1.5 volts I got Nickel. I then reduced the voltage down to 1.0 V and got a Copper plate. Turns out that I had a mixed copper and nickel solution. The parts I had were a few small screws and the arm of a gasoline float indicator. Just want to know if the material being plated is voltage dependent. It is an interesting effect and the plating source was nickel.

Ivan Horban
Hobbyist - Grants Pass Oregon
December 24, 2024


A. Hi Ivan. Your eyes are not deceiving you. When a nickel plating bath is contaminated with copper it is possible to remove the copper by plating at a low voltage and selectively plating out a lot more copper than nickel. In fact, in the old days it was common for nickel plating tanks to have a built-in "electropurification compartment" where copper was continuously removed by plating onto scrap at low voltage.

Unfortunately, the plating that will result from a nickel plating solution which is heavily contaminated with copper is unlikely to be very satisfactory. You might continue trying to plate at 1.0 V until you no longer see much copper depositing.

Luck & Regards,

ted_yosem
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.




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