I don't think the copper wire is the problem either. I have been doing nickel plating for 3 years now, excellent results...the only hanger wire I've ever used is copper! Further, for any kind of restoration work, you're going to copper plate the part multiple times before you nickel plate it anyhow. Copper parts are going to contact that solution no matter what.
At one time I reversed my polarity in the nickel tank, during a setup change. Like you, I discovered it after about 30 seconds. But it was worse than a copper hanger wire--the part was plated with copper. Believe it or not, the next part I plated had some dark blotches in it, but then after that the tank performed as usual. I wonder if something else didn't go wrong with your setup, or if there is some other metal contamination problem going on.
Ken
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