Silver Plating for Musical instruments

[wbs]

Dear Friends:
I'm new Here. I wish to know about silver plating. I just receive a Caswell Plug n plate for silver. I have plated a trumpet mouthpiece with good results using immersion method and using the power supply from Caswell. I have some new doubts. A Friend that its jeweler gift me a small Power supply. After I prepare the beaker with the stainless steel wand touching the solution to immerse another piece, when I apply power to the piece (that was suspended using a Cooper wire) it get black and the silver were not attached well to the piece. The power supply have a 0 to 10 Dial. I have marked when it reach 1.7 v for silver and 4.7 v for gold like the Caswell instructions tell. The solution was warmed in microwave. does any tell where was my mistake? what type of rectifier or power supply is suitable for this type of small jobs. My budget is limited at this time and my manner to see that is that the business grows I have to invest in better equipment.
Thanks
Phil

[bhhodges]

Sounds like it was plated with to much voltage. What is your cleaning method?? Did you do a water break test prior to plating?? What type power supply were you given ?? How "warm" was the bath?? There is only a small amount of silver in the plug and plate kit and if you use the stainless steel anode you will sooner or later deplete the silver content.

Bill