what the heck is this!!!

[Gently]

O.K. I have finally gotten my copy chrome and plating process down, well almost.......Here is a NEW problem:

I plated a tool box latch, came out beautiful, I set it aside and started on another project.

It set on my counter for 3 days, as I admired it, the beauty of the shine the smoothness of the plate and the over all great job I had done.

On day three I wandered into the shop, started heating everything up and glanced over at the latch I noticed a spot... I must have spilled something on it or possibly splashed something on it, as I picked up the latch I was horrified to find MANY of these "whiteish" colored spots on my masterpiece!

I tried to buff them out, no luck, I scrubbed harder and the stain lightened up and a "ring" appeared and it will not polish out!

Does anyone have an explanation for this? I will take pictures and add them tomorrow. by the way it only occured on the POLISHED side, where I did not polish (the back) NO spots!

I do not want to replate it without knowing knowing WHY this happened. But I got a call from a friend of mine that I plated a couple of bumperguards for and they are doing the same thing!

HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME!

Mike.

[woodjames]

Mike,
When I first saw your post, I did some searching, and couldn't come up with anything to explain your problem. However, recently I came across something that may be of help to you. Most likely the white spots that you are seeing are from calcium contamination, much like how a hard water stain works, only in ''spot'' form in your case. Somewhere in your process did you introduce tap water? Such as in a rinse step? I would think that you should be able to dummy plate it out if it's a small amount, however you may need to do a carbon treatment.

-Jimmy.

Originally Posted by Gently

O.K. I have finally gotten my copy chrome and plating process down, well almost.......Here is a NEW problem:

I plated a tool box latch, came out beautiful, I set it aside and started on another project.

It set on my counter for 3 days, as I admired it, the beauty of the shine the smoothness of the plate and the over all great job I had done.

On day three I wandered into the shop, started heating everything up and glanced over at the latch I noticed a spot... I must have spilled something on it or possibly splashed something on it, as I picked up the latch I was horrified to find MANY of these "whiteish" colored spots on my masterpiece!

I tried to buff them out, no luck, I scrubbed harder and the stain lightened up and a "ring" appeared and it will not polish out!

Does anyone have an explanation for this? I will take pictures and add them tomorrow. by the way it only occured on the POLISHED side, where I did not polish (the back) NO spots!

I do not want to replate it without knowing knowing WHY this happened. But I got a call from a friend of mine that I plated a couple of bumperguards for and they are doing the same thing!

HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME!

Mike.