De-Plating Chrome

[68commando]

What Cathode (-) material do I use to de-plate chrome from steel parts in Anodize and Chrome Stripper (Sodium Hydroxide)? What current do I use too?

Dave

[jimcarry]

Lead Cathode at 10 to 12 amps My mistake this is Volts not amps

[68commando]

Holy Cow, I am not de-plating auto bumpers. Just nuts, bolts and special hardware for a motorcycle. I assume the lead cathode will be fine, but I think I will keep the current to around 60ma?? for a small item like the picture.

Dave

[jimcarry]

I de-plated one 46 hood ornament 36 sq inches two lead cathodes 12 amps 5 to 10 min de-plate time no car bumpers here either just followed the instructions My mistake this is Volts not amps 10 to 12 volts

[68commando]

I didn't want to buy a lead anode, so I tried an old stainless knife(-) in the Hydrogen Peroxide solution and hooked up a .5A supply to the chrome part(+) that has maybe 1-2 sq in of chrome. I so far have a lot of foam, and have replaced the .5A supply with a 5A supply and it has been running for about 2-3 hours now. It seems to be deplating and foaming a lot, so it must be working. I didn't believe it would take this much current to deplate chrome, but it seems to. I just don't want to hook up my 50A supply to it yet. So far the knife looks like new. I suppose I can just dump this lye solution down the drain to my septic field? Or is there some heavy metal (chromium?) in this stuff I don't want to put in my soil? If so what do I do with this stuff. It sure is ruining my alligator clips too.

Dave