power supply

[elton10]

I d like to be able to anodize some small parts.. would a power supply variable 0-18v and 0-3 A be sufficient? My other choice is a 2-20v continuously variable supply but with a fixed 2.5 A .. Im assuming youd have to be able to vary both volts and amps?

[NeoMoses]

The 0-18V/0-3A would be sufficient for up to about 0.66 ft^2 (~96 in^2) surface area if anodizing at the 4.5 A/ft^2 recommended in the LCD instructions. That should be large enough to get you started. 18 volts is plenty for LCD, you should be peaking out much lower than that, somewhere in the 9-12 Volt range, depending on the exact current density.

Just for an idea, I first tried out LCD with a 0-120VDC/ 0-0.5 Amp power supply. I was severely limited in part size with the small current available, so I quickly bought a 0-5A/0-30V PS on eBay for about $100. You can also get a 0-30V/0-20A PS on ebay for about $270 if you're looking to do much more surface area. It all depends on how much you want to anodize at a time.

[elton10]

Neo

Thanks for the info. it was very helpful. We wont be anodizing large numbers of parts and I would estimate the susurfacerea 8-10 sq.in each.. They are the "arms" of a bicycle brake. We're currently sending these out to a commercial anodizer and getting a black finish.. We'd like to offer a few "custom" colors on a special order basis and want to do that in-house. Take a look at our page:
http://www.zerogravitybike.com
Again..thanks for the info.
Elton