Ruff sandpaper like finsh??? Zinc??

[MrPontiac]

Seems like everything went south for me after my 3 rd batch of parts, zinc finish is ruff like sandpaper instead of smooth and glossy look like before. Im running 1.5 amps on my rectifier, parts are 3/16 tube only 1/4 long. Ive cleaned my filter on the pump also. parts are glassbeaded, polished on a wire wheel. After 18 to 20 min. parts are removed and look very ruff like sandpaper, any ideas??

[seanc]

Im running 1.5 amps on my rectifier, parts are 3/16 tube only 1/4 long.

And how many of these parts are you plating at the same time?

3/16 x 1/4 tube is < .3 sq-in surface area (inside & out). 1.5 amps is enough to plate 37 of them at a time.

Are doing 37 parts at a time? If not, then you're using too much current and burning them.

Sean

[MrPontiac]

seanc, Thanks for that info. doing 2 at a time, i did another set of 2 set at 1.5 had no problems?? ill try lowering the currant again.

[seanc]

How did you settle on 1.5 amps for 2 tiny pieces? I'm surprised any of them plated at all.

My parts will burn a 2x the required current, and you're using 15x. That baffles me.

Sean

[MrPontiac]

I don,t know, there not burning at all but they are plating ok, its just looks like sandpaper finish, gritty, ive tryed again down to .7 amps and im still getting this finish a little ruff. Sort a dumb question?? ok?? i trimmed my anode plates like the book says but there sitting in the bucket lope sided i have the outside strip hanging over the bucket like a hook. Are you doing this also?? Also, may i ask, how are you jumping from one anode to the other for the + field?? I just bought a jumper wire with 2 aligator clips on it, is this what the norm is??

[adamthomas]

Hey Pontiac, I'm new here as well but I just wanted to say that I have pretty much the same anode setup as you. I'm using a jumper made out of solid copper wire with two aligator clips to tie the two anodes together. The fact that the anodes are slightly askew as they hang on the tank should make no noticable difference. Just get them aligned as closely as possible to get the best coverage. My setup is working great like this despite the challenges with my current rectifier.

Based on the testing I have been doing with my new setup over the last few days, I get the same sandpaper finish whenever I push too much current through the part(s). As seanc stated, 1.5 amps is way too much much current for the two parts as described. Once I started doing the calculations and ignored the visual indicators(fizzing), my plating results have improved.

Good luck with your testing..