How close to anodes for chrome?

[mdarr]

Tried to chrome plate a piece of nickel-plated copper tubing. First time in came out with a flaky wrinkled finish. Buffed off and tried again using lower power setting and not as long (2 minutes instead of 3 this time). This time, it came out with a dull hazy finish. Buffed using white and a spiral wheel but ended up buffing down to the bright copper underlayment. This is the 4 gallon setup and the tube I was plating was about 4 to 5 inches away from either anode. Is that too far away? Also, the book mentions plating a piece of steel prior to each time you use the chrome plate bath to "charge" the bath. Is this necessary each time? I als did not clean off the yellow chromate residue off of the anodes before using it a second time.