Yellow chromate mix?

[zithlord]

Hi

I just bought a CopyCad kit, 11 liters. I have a few questions I cat find the answers to in the instruction manual:

What is the mixture between destilled water and the yellow chromate? In my kit there was on box with 200 grams of yellow chromate.

Do I need to heat the yellow chromate solution?

In my kit there is a rectifier that is adjustable from 1,5 volts to 12 volts, and it has an output of 500 Milliamps. I have read that 1,5 volts is the setting to use and that I should adjust the apms. with the size of the part I am plating. Is there any reason to adjust the voltage?

By the way I am going to plate some parts for a 1973 Porsche 911 2.4S.

Thanks guys

John

[zithlord]

One more question about the Copy Cad kit. I cant seem to find a "crocpot" for the DP degreaser in Norwegian stores. Can I use a pot with teflon or enamel coating instead of ceramic coating?

I have read contradicting claims for the temperature of the coating bath. In the instruction manual it says 110F but in a lot of the posts in this forum pople claim this is to high and recomends 80-90F instead?

Thanks
John

[MrPontiac]

zithlord, doing some yellow stuff myself, first off, No, i did not heat the yellow chromate up so no worries there, secondly i maxed out my rectifier on the voltage and when i did my parts and used 2.5 amps on all lingage ,it came out perfect. Thirdly i dropped in about a dash (say2 tsp. fulls) of yellow into my distilled water a gallon and a half. Caution i learned something myself, after your chromate A& B ARE MIXED, add about a tsp. full of brightener to the solution, makes my parts look super once they are dipped into the yellow. E-mail me anytime, maybe we can share ideas!

[seanc]

John:

What is the mixture between destilled water and the yellow chromate? In my kit there was on box with 200 grams of yellow chromate.

Doesn't the package state the mix ratios? Mine did.

.5- 2 oz per gallon. Weaker concentrations produce lighter shades of yellow, stronger concentrations deeper yellow. Just depends on your preferences.

Do I need to heat the yellow chromate solution?

Recommended operating range is 65-90º F.

Is there any reason to adjust the voltage?

Not until you get to parts large enough to need more than that. If you're manually adjusting the current somehow, the voltage will automatically settle at whatever it needs to be. If you find that you can't get enough amperage at 1.5 volts, then turn the voltage up until you do get the current you want.

I cant seem to find a "crocpot" for the DP degreaser in Norwegian stores. Can I use a pot with teflon or enamel coating instead of ceramic coating?

As long as it can withstand the temperature you're going to use it at, most anything will do.

I have read contradicting claims for the temperature of the coating bath. In the instruction manual it says 110F but in a lot of the posts in this forum pople claim this is to high and recomends 80-90F

The "old" formula worked best at 70-90º, the "new" formula calls for 110º.

Sean

[zithlord]

Thanks a lot to both Sean and MrPontiac !!

I will have a go in a couple of days, when I find a pot suitable for the DP degreaser. I guess it is not possible to heat the DPdegreaser in a plastic bucket, and a metal bucket/kettle will contaminate the solution?

I am realy strugeling to find a suitable container for the DPdegreaser and a heating source.

I spent 4 hours today wisiting a lot of hardware stores etc, couldent even find plastic buckets for the destilled water/rinsing bucket. The probem is that non of the buckets I found had lids if they where over 5 liters and I need at least 10 liters(2 gallons). In the end I had to buy a 10 liter bucket of defroster pellets and empty out the contents and clean the bucket. The reason I feel I must have lids is to store the solutions without to much of the solution evaporating and also to not get the solution contaminated.

John

[MrPontiac]

Can,t find a simple plastic bucket WOW!! aNYTIME YOU WANT ME TO MAIL YOU A 2 GALLON ONE LET ME KNOW, SIMPLE DOLLAR GENERAL HAS A DOZEN

[zithlord]

Thanks MrP. probably 100$ just to ship to Norway.....but thanks anyway.

I will use the plastic buckets i have even if they dont have lids(I have two with lids), but the problem I have to solve is getting a suitable pot for the DPdegreaser. I am looking at buying a enamel coated 4 liter kettle for sale at qxl internett auction, http://my.qxl.no/accdb/viewItem.asp?IDI=413710503

Hope it will work until I can get something better.

John

[adamthomas]

Caswell sells the buckets. Here' the part number for the 2 gal buckets with lids. #PLTNK2G They call them plating tanks. That's what I'm using for both the degreaser and the electrolyte. They came with the 1.5 gal Copy Cad/Zinc kit I bought here.