smooth power

[studuff]

When plating, how important is a smooth DC supply. What effect does a ripple in the supply have on the plate applied, and if it is a problem, how much ripple is allowed - I notice some supply specs show ripple as a % whilst others have a pk to pk figure?

Thanks - Stu

[binarius]

I haven't done plating, but as an electronics engineer with some knowledge of battery systems, I would bet that only the *average* current density is an issue here. This assumes reasonable duty cycles for periodic waveforms and reasonable values of ripple. Sort of like baking a cake at 325 deg. for one hour is not the same as 975 deg. for 20 min.

fwiw

[mcaswell]

In most applications, ripple doesn't make much difference. However, the best source will be pure DC with no ripple. Below 3% is usually normal.