The importance of good connections

[M_D]

Originally Posted by Fibergeek

NeoMoses,
We highjacked your thread, my apology.

I guess the hijacking was my fault, sorry NeoMoses. Fibergeek, thanks for the information.

[elton10]

Neo

Saw this tread a little late but wanted to post to it. We've been using welding rod exclusively for racking and attaching it to an aluminum busbar. A lot of the parts we do suspend very nicely on the J bend or a U bend.
I also use it to connect to my cathodes( 6"x12"plates of 6061..3/8" thick). It tends to get brittle in the anodizing bath but since its disposed of any way its no problem

[Fibergeek]

I'm going to say this one more time:

If you don't yet have the necessary experience with the anodizing process (LCD or otherwise) so that you can tell when you have a bad connection and not some other problem, stick to tightly bolting or threading the work with soft aluminum wire. We have been through months of problems caused by beginners with lousy electrical connections, let's not go through that again.

NeoMoses as moderator, and M_D as an accomplished anodizer, it would be appropriate you to help me amplify this.

[NeoMoses]

Fibergeek is 100% correct. To drive home exactly how tight the connections are between my workpiece and the wire, realize that I need pliers to squeeze the wire together. Depending on the part and the geometry, I'm getting 20-30 pounds of clamping force. There is absolutely no 'wiggle' or 'play' in the connection. Don't just think that you can loop a wire and let a part hang from it in the electrolyte bath, it's much more detailed than that.

[elton10]

well let me clarify since some seem to have the wrong idea. When I said the parts hang fine from a J bend or U bend the bend is in the form of a 'spring' the is wedged into an opening in the part.. the part is NOT just hanging off the welding rod.. Failure rates so far are less than 1 percent.
There indeed is no substitute for a good electrical connection.

[Fibergeek]

Thanks, NeoMoses and Elton10.

Elton10,
I got the right idea from your post, I wanted to make sure that everyone else did too.

[elton10]

Bryan

Ahhhh OK..I just wasnt sure, and when I read my original post over I could see how easy it was to think I meant to merely hang the work in the bend

[M_D]

I have to agree with Fibergeek that beginners would be doing themselves a favor to stick with his connection recommended methods until basic success is achieved, then move on to alternatives if desired. If as many variables as possible are controlled, it leaves less room for failure.

Essentially there are only a few basic steps to good anodizing:

parts that are properly cleaned
applying the proper current for the right amount of time
proper electrolyte solution
dying (if so desired)

Like most everything else, it's the details rather than the basic steps that spell success or failure. Of all the steps, I have found the electrical part to be the most important one. I used harder aluminum wire (6061) also for a while to make bent spring clip type connections on parts that had no appropriate holes. It works if done carefully like Elton can attest, but is has more potential for failure. Except for alloys such as tempered 7075 aluminum, there isn’t a high degree “springiness” (compared to spring grade Titanium) so it is easy for a connection that starts out adequate to be degraded by handling.

[elton10]

MD is correct in that last item.. The wire tends to get brittle as the process progresses. I like to use the "spring"in as deep a hole as possible to assure maximum contact area. Fortunately the parts I'm anodizing have nice deep holes with the exception of one..Not surprisingly thats the one I have the most (but still very few) problems with.