[blackcote]

My dye is from caswell also so yes it is intended for anodizing.
Temperature of dye was about 110... Caswell literature states on page 120 under section "dying the anodize" that... "Dyes are designed to operate at 140deg F, however, we have found most of our dy will work at room temperature, providing you are using our new parameters for power and attaining PAR. After refiguring my current and time I believe you are correct about pore size being the problem, but after redoing my math pore size should have been too small and not taken the dye very well... see my math below

Excessive pore size is caused by one or a multiple of these:

1. Too strong an electrolyte concentration.
2. Too low a current density.
3. Too high anodizing bath temperature.
4. Indirectly; too long an anodizing time, where dissolution is widening the pores.
5. Indirectly; poor or degraded electrical connections, if constant voltage (CV) anodizing is used instead of constant current (CC). This can make the effective current density much lower than what you set it at.

I did rule out 1,3, & 5 and i think 2 (see below), 4 I'm not sure on.

Here's what I have.
6061
.32 sq ft
CC power supply set at 5 amps (I don't remember where I got that number)
threaded connection
to get my time i used 900amps per min / 5 amps = 180 min per sq ft
then 180 min per sq ft * .32 sq ft = 57.6 min
actually it anodized for 70 min. (could this have been too long and the anodic film was being worn away.)

So do I figure right that I was anodizing at 5 amps/.32 sq ft for a current density of 15.625 A/sq ft wow, if that is right i had not intended to be nowhere near that. Although they say that the standard way is 12-18 A/sq ft.

So to get my current density to 4.5 amps / sq ft... I need to turn my current down to 1.44 amps and anodize for 200 min wow.... i'll be waiting a while. Maybe i'm way off on current densities though. I can't seem to find anywhere that explains how to figure them.
Can anyone confirm or correct my numbers?

How do the numbers work with more than one piece? Can you just add the areas together and plug them into the equations?

It is possible to continue anodizing the work after it is dyed, but not sealed. This isn't likely to "fix" the pore size problem, and you will get dye in your anodizing tank. Not good if you wish to use different colors.

Really was only a curiosity question... I was thinking of bleaching it then re-anodizing again for longer period. But I think I will be better off stripping it and starting with a fresh layer of aluminum.

Thank you so much for the thorough answers.