CopyCAD/Zinc Water Marks & Sealer?

[rich2768]

Hey All,

I am using the New formula copy cad kit. I am restoring an old Motorcycle and am looking to get a pure CAD finish, I do not want a bright Zinc finish.

My problem is that no matter what part I plate I get water marks on the part when it is dry. The finish looks great at first until it has dried and the marks are left.

The next problem is, after the part has been left untouched for a day after plating once handled it begins to start to oxides. My findings are that you must chromate or seal the part to keep the raw zinc from prematurely oxidizing. I have read that WD40 will seal the part, but how long will WD40 last in protecting the part when it is out in the elements while on a motorcycle? Is there other options for sealing the part to get the best protection for weather? Do they make clear chromate?

Here is the thread that talks about the WD40
Fresh copy cad system leaving white swirls

MY Setup

Bead blast with glass beads
blow off with air gun
SP Degreaser for ~2 min
Distilled water rinse from a squeeze bottle
10% Muriatic Acid dip ~1-2min
Distilled water rinse from a squeeze bottle
Plate in Copy Cad Solution w/o brightner @ 110-120F For 20min
(I am setting my current to .14amps/in^2)
Distilled water rinse from a squeeze bottle
Hang for at least 12 hours before touching

I have also used the air gun to dry the parts after the last rinse, but still get the water marks when dried.

Then after it has sat for a day or more and is then handled, it will rapidly oxidize, so I am looking to know what sealer to use for an outdoor application.

Thanks for your help,

Josh

[Lester]

Take what I have to say with a grain of salt as I am new here too.

The only things that I see as different that I do is:

I don't plate for 20 min, 5 - 10 is what it usually takes but YMMV.

I rinse the bejesus out of my part AFTER plating under TAP water, no problems so far.

Lester

[rich2768]

Lester,

Thanks for the reply. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was out there. I have seen great results with this kit and I refuse to give up on getting it to work.

I don't think increasing my rinse time will hurt anything, I will give that a try. Do you leave the part hanging while rinsing, or do you wear gloves and actually handle the part while rinsing in the tap water?

I will also do a part tonight with less plating time to see if that helps with my rapid oxidization.

Also, are you coating or chromating the part after plating?

[Lester]

Usually i am holding it by whatever I had it suspended in the solution by.. so not directly holding it. Lots of tap water, no scrubbing, and reasonable although not predictable results .. yet..

Lester

[gmtorchred]

Use distilled water to rinse. Rinse very well.

[pnoeth]

Josh,

I am also new at this so what I have to say may or may not be of any help. I am plating clear zinc and my problem so far has been that the parts are not shiny. But I have not had any problem with water marks. My process is the same as yours except I have been using 33% sulfuric acid to remove residual rust from the parts before plating.

After the parts come out of the zinc bath I spray them with distilled water and dry them right away with a paper towel. I don't get any finger prints or unusual marks. I am not chromating. As I have said, my problem is that they come out dull, looking somewhat like cad, and I use a wire wheel or buffing wheel to polish them. I've done that immediately after plating or a day later, the result is the same either way. The parts are bright and shiny after polishing (although that is not the look you are after). I've had some done for over a week now and they are not showing any signs of white corrosion.

I wonder if you can get the look you are after by washing the parts using a 3M pad with detergent and water to buff off the watermarks. That might not make the parts shiny, leaving them looking more like cad.

The parts I am plating are under hood fasters and brackets. Since they are not going to be on the engine proper, I am coating them with clear lacquer (Eastwoods Diamond Clear) to protect them. It comes in both gloss and matte and once it is applied you cannot tell it's there. Hopefully that will keep the finish looking nice for a longer time than the uncoated raw zinc.

[nessism]

Another newbie here learning to use the zinc kit...

I've been using brightener and still get dull looking parts. My power supply is far from optimized so that's likely part of the problem. The brightener makes the zinc metal smoother but the finish comes out with a brown surface finish. At any rate, what I found that helps is a brief acid dip (phosphoric acid) after the parts are plated to remove the brown residue. There is still a slight brown tinge but the dip really cleans up the streaks and such - I only dip them for about 10 seconds or so. You might want to try something similar on your cad copy parts and see if this improves your results.