New To The Forum W/Question About Replating Bezels

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Hey Mark,

Whew ! You relieved me when you said that each step doesn't have to be done "immediately" following the previous. I was thinking that I would have to add on to my garage to set up 4 tanks at once ! I suppose the secret to taking each step nice and completely is to keep the part(s) clean between each step? One thing I do have ingrained in my mind is that the prep work equals the finished product.

I ordered my triple chrome kit on Thursday so I'm going to spend part of the weekend getting my garage set up for when it arrives.

Do you have any tips on controlling amperage with a 6/12 battery charger? Would a lamp dimmer switch control it enough? Also, can muriatic acid be substituted for sulfuric in the baths that need acid?

Thanks for your help. You've really shed a lot of light on replating for me and it's appreciated !

Steve

[SLOSteve]

Oops..........sorry for so many duplicates. My computer showed the message wasn't sending but I guess it did.

[KCV6]

LOL damn technology...

Yep plating is all in the preperation. as you are doing decorative tripple chrome, your end result should be excelent. No one does a chrome kit here in Aus with the exception of Caswell, but the price is very high due to the hazardous goods transport costs, so I have avoided it, stuck with NiCo for now. My wife already questions the amount I have spent. LOL but her taps are looking good.

I always use muriatic for copper/brass/steel/nickel activation an zinc stripping, so use extreme caution with pot metal items as it will etch them away real fast if the flash copper/ nickle strike coat has not fully covered. Good old pool acid mixed so you end out with 10% is the go. The sulphuric is only used for zinc activating and bright dip pre chromating (passivating).

I know caswell have real good pickles, but once again they are pricey to get here in Aus due to the transport costs.

I have been fortunate as far as power supplies go as I can borrow them from work if I need a high current rectifier. I also own a 0-30V 5A and a 3-15V 25A power supply. Caswell supply great instructions on a salt water rectifier for battery use. Basically two plates in a bucket of salt water. move the plates closer together, and you draw more current at the plating tank, further appart and the current is reduced. works well so long as you have a good multimeter to monitor the current.

I would only ever try controlling the current this way, or with a nice big high wattage wire wound rheostat (also on loan from work). have a look on ebay, you may be able to score a decent rheostat, just make sure it is high enough wattage for the amount of current you require.

Cheers, and let us know how it all goes

Mark

[SLOSteve]

Mark,

Are you sure you knew what I was saying after reading it 12 times? LOL! That was embarrassing

Okay.....so far as a power source I have a battery charger which has 3 volt/amp settings. One is 6v-6amp, second is 12v-2amp, and the third is 12v-6amp. It has a meter that shows constant charging status as well. Will this be sufficient if I run the charger on a 600w light dimmer to control the amps?

Also, some of my bezels aren't really that bad and I don't think they need to be stripped in order to plate. Today I sanded one of the not-so-bad ones and there was no pit, it sanded smoothly. In that case would I just clean then chrome plate over the existing plate. Will it stick and cover the scratches as well?

My kit should arrive by the middle of the week I hope. Now I need to make room in my garage to set up. That should be fun with 4 cars to move around. LOL !

As always your advice is appreciated !

Thanks,
Steve

[KCV6]

Steve,

I'd definately use the salt water rheostat method. Hook the battery charger to a 12V battery (optional, it just keeps a trickle charge going between plating cycles) and then run from the battery to the salt water bucket. and then to the item. Refer to page 50 of the Caswell manual when it arives, it is all explained there. Do as the manual says and plate a scrap piece first, copper pipe lengths are good. Don't do it every time as you will just be wasting the chromium in the chromic acid.

With the alkaline strip method I suggested, it will only remove the chrome. It will not affect any underlying plate or substrate, so this will be ideal for the bezels you have that are in reasonable condition. They can then be lightly sanded with 800 grit wet and dry to remove any scratches. Remember the less imperfections you have to start with, the less work required between plating applications.

The solution is a weak mixture of Caustic Soda and tap water. 6%, so if you have 60 grams of Caustic Soda for every litre of tap water. check the label on the draino crystals and make sure it is caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). go to your local steel supplier and get two 6 x 8 pieces of 304 stainless steel to use as cathodes. You can also use these as rheostat plates, you will just need to attach some hangers for one edge. You will see what I mean when you look at page 50.

Are you also getting the flash copper to strike coat the items first? Ooops, just looked, forgot the tripple chrome now comes with the flash copper. Is way too early.

Cheers

Mark