New to anodizing

[sswee]

Parts that will be handled or around food due to so many people having an allergic reaction to nickle.
SS

[Gunjji]

Hey kmbrly,
Did you dye the part(s)?

And sswee,

Unless you have the charger, dimmer, and a couple of DMM's

What is DMM's? LOL

Although Im new to it and will learn as I go, I want to do it right and easy as possible as far as the PS goes.
If I have a part to anodize that is say 1 Sq ft, I will need 4.5 amps coming from the rectifier for optimum performance correct?
Then the 3 amp recitfier wont be enough, am I correct in this or am I just an idiot?

[sswee]

DMM = digital multimeter
Usually one to watch you voltage and one for amperage.

I'm going to go technical on you for a second. If you have a flat plate part 1' squared, you will have a surface area (SA) of 288" square by counting both sides. Now to your question. If you have a part with a SA of 144" or 1' squared, to run a CD of 4.5A your PS setting would be 4.5A. That said, if you have a part that will push the limits of your PS, you can drop down to a 3A CD or anywhere in between but it is recommended to not go below a 3A CD. The down side to that is the lower the CD, the longer the run to grow the same thickness coating. And the larger the pores, possibly causing problems if you are trying to match color to a part anodized at a different CD.

At a 4.5A CD, a 3A PS will do a SA of approx. 96" square.
At a 4.5A CD, a 20A PS will do a SA of approx. 640" square.
I am running a 20 gal. tank with an acid pump for agitation and a window unit AC for ambient cooling. When I run enough parts to be pushing 12 to 15 amps through the circuit, the ambient cooling and volume of electrolyte can not dissipate the heat fast enough to maintain the tank temp at an operating level. Just something to consider when looking at the size of the setup you want.
SS

[kmbrly]

Yes, I dyed the part. I used Caswell's Violet DS, mixed and heated per the instructions. The part came out a dark purple - like Welch's grape juice. I must say that when I anodized the bar, I did not know how long to leave it in the solution. My computer was messed up and I did not have access to the 720 calculator. So, instead of an hour, my part was in there for about 2.5 hours. It must have been o.k., since it took the dye readily.

[sswee]

kmbrly,
To find the run time without your PC take 720 times the desired coating thickness (from .1 to 1. mil) and divide by the CD used (4.5A normally) to get your time in minutes to run.
SS

[kmbrly]

Thanks, SS.

I have another quick question. What would determine what thickness a part would require? Wear and tear?

[sswee]

Use of the part and exposure. Dye will not penetrate deeper than .7 mil. For optimum dye qualities .5 to .7 mil is best. On parts that are handled much or have alot of UV exposure I prefer a 1 mil coating.