Having problems, pics inside

[woodjames]

I just filtered out my nickel solution, and when I replenished the brightener, the quart, 32oz, was good for 6 gallons. The same brightener is used for nickel and copy chrome. It works out to 5 1/3 fl. oz of brightener per gallon of solution.
The samples shown really wouldn't be from over-amping the copy chrome. I've done it, it burns it, builds a little higher on the edges of the top and bottom-It'll cause some adhesion problems, but we're talking a percentage. For some reason you are getting zero adhesion. Thats either from a precleaning or activation problem. But even if it were those problems, the plate would still look ''ok''. The haziness can come from not rinsing well afterward, and too much hydrogen peroxide will make it look like that. But if you added to much hydrogen peroxide(you would have had to have added it, it won't just build up), that'll get plated out, or a higher temperature will steam it out. An immersion plate will look really similar to that, where there is no complete circuit, but that can't be because you are getting an amp reading.
A ''AA'' battery puts out 1.5v. Try running the bath with a few in series, just to rule out a PS problem.
If you added to much brightener, you'd have plated some of that out when you dummy cycled it, how did that turn out? That wouldn't give you adhesion issues though.
Also, go right from the sandblaster onto pipe, obviously not the finish you'd normally look for all the time. Clean it before hand like you said you normally do, rinse, then go right from rinse to live in the tank. The blasting will take care of the final cleaning and activation. That'd point to a problem in the prep process.
You didn't prior to this at some point reverse the polarity?, or not rinse properly and dragged-in to much junk?
Sorry if that bounces around to much, typing as I'm thinking...
If not for anything else, be sure to try the batteries!

-Jimmy

[woodjames]

As promised, took a look at this post again, and have some insight. The cloudy areas can come from anode bags. It's the reason why some come pre-leached, and there's actually a process to leach them yourself. It doesn't make any sense to me, can't explain why, but can tell you how to fix it.
Since you've already got it in the tank, simply dummy it out. You should be able to fix this in about 3-4 hours.
Here's how -
Take a piece of steel exactly 1/2 the size of the total surface area that you've got for anodes. Just for example - if you've got 2 6x8 nickel anodes, cut up a piece of sheet steel 3x8 inches, as you account for 1 face of anode and both faces of the steel.
Bend it into corrugations, 2" linear for each bend. 4 bends total following the example math. Drill a hole in the top.
Clean the piece.
Place in the bath, at correct temp, with filter on and follow this cycle -
Plate at 1 volt for 1 hour.
Plate at 5 volts for 5 minutes.
Plate at 1 volt for 1 hour.
Plate at 6 volts for 5 minutes.
Pull out the piece and inspect. If the cloudy area is turning iridescent then you're getting close. Go through the cycle again.

Look familiar? Caswell Inc. Metal Finishing Forums - woodjames's Album: Equipment - Picture Believe me, this pic wasn't showing when it was really bad!

Easy fix, just hadn't experienced this one yet when you had posted it.

If there's any metallic contaminants they'll get plated out. The black smut you described was/is most likely copper. Usually shows up in low current areas. The deep spots in the corrugations combined with the low voltage cycle are optimum for dumping copper out of the bath.
Problem is that the dummy cycle will eat up your brighteners/levelers at a higher rate. But when the brighteners begin to get excessively consumed they'll begin to dull in LCD areas first, so you'll see it coming. After you run the dummy cycle, attempt a flat piece of steel. If the outside edges are really bright, and the center shows dullness, add 85mls of the brightener solution. However, for a satin finish the leveling agent will be working against you.

Post results.....

[Brintiff]

Jimmy, thank you very much, I'll post the results when I get situated and give it another shot.