CopyCad Solution Does Wear Out "Kind of"

[GHudgens]

Sometime back in a reply to one of my posts, it was stated that the CopyCad solution does not "wear out".

Well, I have been having a lot of trouble with my small CopyCad plating bath. It was not plating very well and I increased the plating current and increased the plating time a great amount and still got poor results. I noticed the plating was not doing well the last three plating sessions I conducted. The symptoms were thin plate and very dark plating in recesses and at angles on the part and at the part edges. With the thin plating my chromates were not taking well. After eliminating every possible problem, I decided to change the plating solution. Wow! What a difference it made. Now I am back to my normal plating results.

What I finally figured out is that over a period of time (over 6 years) I probably diluted my plating solution to the point it no longer plated well. You always lose a little solution due to dragout and although I topped if off with distilled water, over time the strength of the plating solution must be getting reduced.

So, I have concluded that the CopyCad solution can wear out if its diluted.

Jerry Hudgens

[woodjames]

Baths don't always operate at 100% efficiency. For example, 2 parts from the anodes doesn't always deposit 2 parts on the cathode. There are many many factors that come into play to effect the ratio. Over a long period of time the change in the chemical composition of the bath that takes place because of that can add up; placing it in a state in which it no longer deposits optimally because it's not the optimal concentration of the bath components.

You are right on the money with drag out, however simply rinsing above the tank takes care of that. If you had a way to analyze your solution you'd have a better idea of what action results in change of the chemistry. Too little anode area, too low temperature...everything has an effect. 6 years of operation without analyzing is an incredible feat, don't be discouraged.

-Jimmy.

[zincplater]

This happened to me this winter. It was a bummer. Nowadays, I carefully rinse parts above the tank in the hopes of minimizing drag-out of the zinc salts and other stuff.

woodjames and I also surmised that I might have had inadequate anode area at times; so larger parts will require increased anode area to prevent "plating" some zinc out of the solution.

If I had the right data from Caswell, I suppose I could get the old bath analyzed and "repair" it by restoring chemicals that are low.

[craige]

PLEASE SEND ALL BATH SAMPLES TO THE PAVCO® LABORATORY FACILITY:
PAVCO® , Inc.
1935 John Crosland Jr Drive
Charlotte, NC 28208

Phone: 704-496-6800

They will tell you how large a smple you will need to send for analysis.

[zincplater]

Excellent!
Will it be possible for me to repair the solution?

[GHudgens]

I really do not know what to analyze in my bath (I am using the old CopyCad bath). But, to eliminate any possibility of other factors, I kept the same anodes, same operating temperature, same air supply/bubbler and all I changed was the solution. Its amazing how much better it is now. It plated two spacers that are about 1/2 inch diameter and about 2 inches long completely, inside and out without special anodes. The "throwing power" of my bath had weakened, but its now back to normal.

I am thinking about buying a new CopyCad bath and just use my old one for my small plating setup. I use it much more than my regular setup. Not sure what to do with the diluted solution from my small bath.

Jerry Hudgens