VOLTS AND AMPS

[livingspirit]

I am gold brush plating solid bronze statues 3" x 1" I found that the flow onto these things is not as fast as onto a wedding type ring. I am using the 4.5volt 350ma plug pak. I want to know if a 5volt 1amp power pak is the way t5o get better flow of gold?

[dadkar2]

If you are using a 1 sq inch anode, you should not be having problems with your 350mA adapter. I use a 1.5V 300mA adapter. In fact, I often end up LOWERING the current by placing a 100 ohm resistor in series with it, which gives me more control over the plating process. You can aways experiment with higher current, but beware!! The color of the gold will be influenced by the current you use.

Also be sure the gold solution is still good. After a few small projects, the FastGold goes pretty dead and you have to get a new batch.

If you are not using FastGold, you should be.

Are you plating over a nickel substrate? This works better and lasts longer than ANY other substrate under gold. Lastly, make sure the bandage is completely saturated with solution.

Ken.

[livingspirit]

thanks ken, thats really helpful advice. i`m using brush plating solution
but i am immersing these little statues into it, takes about 2 minutes.
is this wrong? is the flah gold better? and i wont even ask about colour control. Hey can you tell i`m new at this You see down here in Australia
there isn`t much acess to local knowledge base and product availability is
zero. thank heavens for caswell!

[dadkar2]

I don't think there is anything wrong with immersing the part in the solution, except that if you want to know for sure that your solution is fresh, you'd want to take some out and use it a bit at a time. That way when you are out of solution you know you need to buy more.

The idea is to never put used material back into the fresh solution.

Ken

[livingspirit]

This is facinating stuff. I just did a batch of 20 these small bronze statues.
after nickle plating i did them in the brush gold solution. they take about
1 minute. the colour is really deep butter yellow almost coppery and there is this black stuff all over them like patina.
my solution ended up black! my electrodes bubble,well,froth slightly.
is this my high 4.5 volts? i feel the colour is too rich i`m after more of a 9ct look.

mike

[dadkar2]

Yes it sounds like your current is too high. It should definitely not froth. The black stuff is a smut that will form if the current is too high. It should polish off, but you should lower the current. Start by putting a 100 ohm resistor in series with the part. Radio Shack has them. Buy 100, 220, 330, and 470 ohm and try them starting with 100 ohm until you get the color and result you want.

Ken