All set up and nothing happening

[Fibergeek]

Correct, anodizing won't work at all if the connections are reversed.

It may not be necessary to etch if you throughly sanded the work, the best way to find out is to try both.

If you insist on using RIT dye, the concentration will need to be way higher that what is used on cloth.

[kickn]

Okay - another test - another failure

Please stay with me and help me figure this out.

Just to confirm - the negative is connected to the tank and the positive is connected to the part. When connected up the tank plate bubbles with what I would guess is hydrogen pretty rapidly.

How can you tell if the part has been anodised even if the dye isn't taking? I'm not sure if its just the dye that I'm not seeing take. It just seems to roll off the part.

On a side note - as I build my bigger tank - is there any constraint with the size of the plate (anode?). I'm thinking of 8 - 1 1/2 in wide strips on both sides of the tank - approx 8 in apart.

EDIT: Just another note: the voltage seemed a bit better this time - at 0.6A it went up to 15v - hovered and then started to drop as I turned it off.

Is there anything else I can tell you to help figure out whats wrong?

EDIT 2: Okay - just thinking and re-reading I thought I would get out the old multi-meter to see if it was conductive or not - and guess what - IT WASN'T!!!

So I guess its working now and its just down to the dye. I'll source some propper stuff tomorrow and see if that works.

[Fibergeek]

The voltage you're seeing for 4.5 ASF (15V) is a little too high, it should be 11.5V - 12V. 8ASF should show 14-15V. These both assume 1:3 (LCD) electrolyte. Re-think your electrical connections, you are dropping some voltage somewhere that you shouldn't be. Remember, the connection to the work must be so tight that the aluminum wire COLD FLOWS, i.e. you have to squish it under the bolt.

The bubbles are hydrogen, it won't hurt you or explode, it escapes real fast. You want to be knocking the bubbles off of the work, they impede anodizing, they don't have much effect on the cathode.

I think you'll do better with a proper anodizing dye, use it at about 140 deg. F..

[kickn]

A couple quick questions on materials/etc. as I set up my bigger tank. Firstly whats okay to seal pipes/etc. - silicon? or something else?

Also - is there any issues with too many/big/much surface area of anodes? I've got 4 strips on each side of the tank which will give good placement and about a mininum of 4 in between them and the parts.

I'm looking for some small quantities of anodising dyes but have a quick question about the dylon ones. I figure it should work at least a little - could the problem be the voltage? The part came out and it was non-conductive past the top layer (If I pushed on the probs of the multimeter it then broke through this layer and became conductive) so it is anodising (i think).

I was going to try a couple more tests but you mentioned a 1:3 electrolite. I'm assuming your talking about battery acit @ 30% - that would give an end concentration of what - 7.5%? I'm using 5% - could that account for the difference in voltage?

[Fibergeek]

PVC is impervious to sulfuric acid in concentrations below at least 15% (vol) as is teflon and epoxy. Stay away from nylon, it will dissolve.

If CC mode is used, there is no limit (other than what will fit in your tank) to the max size of the cathodes. CC adjusts for this automatically. You need to get anode (+) and cathode (-) straight.

We are talking about a 5% (vol) concentration of sulfuric acid. This is obtained by diluting ordinary battery acid with distilled water in a 1:3 ratio by volume. I am not aware of any difference between US and UK battery acid. The voltages I mentioned assume a 5% concentration. Stick with this until you get the entire process working properly. Stronger concentrations will result in lower voltages, and potential dissolution problems.

Any anodize layer can be cracked and broken away with enough force. From your description; if you can break through with multimeter probes, I would say that the layer you grew is much too thin, this would also explain your dyeing problem.

Again, the most common cause of a poor anodic layer is a bad or degraded connection. Making good connections and keeping them good when they are under attack by the anodizing isn't trivial or obvious. What you have now isn't good enough, re-think it.

[kickn]

I think I cracked it! - I'll post a picture soon but I think thats it! The problem witht he dye was heating it first - this seems to have worked!

Thanks for all your help - I still have lots of questions but at least its working!

I'll also post a pic or two of my tank and hopefully get some feedback from you - if you don't mind

Anyways - with regards to sealing things - could I use silicon? or is silicon nylon based? I have some epoxy but wouldn't mind using silicon if that possible.

Thanks again for all your help

[Fibergeek]

I don't know about silicone, you have some internet research to do.