My first ano, suggestions

[Paintbalaguy]

Well I tried for the first time today on a small 8 in2 part and it didnt work out, none of the dye would take. Now, I have the 3 amp cc rectifier that caswell sells and the max voltage for the entire session was 2.6 and that was when it came close to par I guess but in caswell manual it says that the volts should be between 4 and 8.

That was reason one on why this isnt working, reason 2 is I didnt strip all the current ano off, how do you check if you got it all off? If the part was blue is it when all the blue is gone? (I didnt try this, I left it in the stripper for a couple minutes after the blue was all gone.)

I checked all the conections on wires and I no that my part is connected becuase when ever the circuit is not complete, (when I take my part out of the bath) my rectifier makes a click noise and the same thing happens when I complete the curcuit agian, well I know becuase as soon as any part of the part touchs the surface of the water the rectifier makes a click noise meaning the circuit is complete.

I doubt my bath is contaminated becuase i just made it today but my acid concentration is 25% and I have 4 gallons of liquid in there, I also put in 4 oz of the mist supressent (one for each gallon like it says on the bottle.

I wasnt expecting to get it right the first time but please help

Eric Laakmann

[Paintbalaguy]

the same thing just happened a second time, I am not heating my dye baths, could that be it, im using black and florecent yellow. Also this is the order of the solution im useing

sp degreaser heated

ano stripper

de smut, 3 min heated to 100

ano tank

dye

and I havnt even gotton to use the sealant tank yet

[sswee]

It'll get easier.

You have to get any and all anodize off. Sounds like you didn't get the base layer off. If the part has a good anodize on it, it ill usually take 3 to 5 minutes to get it off. The aluminum will turn almost a white if it is a decent grade. If it is a lower grade it might have a gray tint to it. This is smut and the DeOx/DeSmut will take it off. You can check it with a cheap multimeter set to ohms. You touch the two leads on different areas of the part and you should show continuity.

How are you connecting to the part? Just because the PS clicks does not mean there is a good connection.

Its hard to say anything about the PS voltage if the part was not fully prepped. For a part of 8" sq. on the next try, you need to get everything ready and hooked up. Dial the amps all the way down and the volts all the way up. Turn the PS on and slowly dial the amps up to .3 . The volts should start climbing fairly rapidly for about 20 minutes then slow up but continue to climb to somewhere around 11 or 12 volts. Run for 80 minutes for .5 mil coating or 112 minutes for .7 mil coating. This is for a 4.5A CD. The volts may peak and start back down slowly at about 45 to 60 minutes. If there is any sudden or drastic changes in the voltage, it usually means a connection problem. Let us know how it goes or if you have other questions. SS

[Paintbalaguy]

well, I checked on both of my second batch ones and one grew a tiny layer, if I run electricity through it there is a tiny amount of resistance and after I pulled it out of the dye there are some black lines that go across it and some tiny black dots, I ran the batch at 4.5 amps f2 for 107 min, did I pass par?

[sswee]

What did the voltage do on the second run?

Did the parts pass a water break test before you ran them?

[Paintbalaguy]

a little higher, 2.8 volts was about the par at 1.51 amps for 43 in2.

and yes it did pass, I sprayed the parts with some water and it sheeted right off

I have been putting the volts all the way up at the start for cc operation then dailing in the amps

I connected the parts by threading aluminum wire into threading on the marker and drop forward. I am adding another reason to my list, had my connection wire in for each and every step which means that maybe the ano stripper, degreaser and desmut didnt get in there which means that there would be a small layer of ano inbetween the aluminum wire and parts, should I take the wire out for every step exept the ano bath?

I imerssed each part in anodize stripper for 10 minutes and then in the desmut for 3. One of the parts I did was a shiny chrome almost but that might be becuase it had a better polish and the other one is white, I will definatly try adding a little extra time to the degrease, anodize stripper and desmut to see if that makes a difference/

[Tim Wiltse]

Originally Posted by Paintbalaguy

I am adding another reason to my list, had my connection wire in for each and every step which means that maybe the ano stripper, degreaser and desmut didnt get in there which means that there would be a small layer of ano inbetween the aluminum wire and parts, should I take the wire out for every step exept the ano bath?

/

I bet that is alot of the problem!!!!

Later,
Tim

[sswee]

Your voltage is too low, indicating a connection problem. Your most likely correct in your assessment of the threaded connection. I hang parts from a wire bent to a "J" to strip old anodize. You're figuring out everything pretty good. Just a reminder. Use some latex gloves from degrease step on. It's a bummer to get a good looking part done only to find fingerprints on it. They show up very well.

[Paintbalaguy]

I am having the same problem and I did make a j bend to degrease, strip and desmut the ano so its not that, do I need to strip something off the aluminum ground wire?

[Paintbalaguy]

I just relized that it couldnt be the connection to the object becuase the wire isnt getting anoed either and I tried shaving the spots on the ground wire that I was attaching my cables to with no new cercumstances.

Also here is a interesting point, if I flip my wires around so the cathode is now a anode the volts act like they should but there are no hydrogen bubbles coming off the object so it cant be right and i am sure then wires are right the way I have them becuase it says in the instructions for the thing that postive is in this case on the left and negative is one the right for the plug holes in the rectifier.

When I ture the wires around this is what happens with the volts, it goes to liken 10 or 9 volts then starts slowing dropping for a minute till it gets to about 4 then starts climing agian