Pumping plating soluitions

[dawghowseproductions New User Find all posts View Profile Close dawghowseproductions]

I have 40 gallon tanks,Flash copper,acid copper,copy chrome,nickle. I want to be able to circulate and filter these continously I tried boat bilge pumps from wall mart do a wonderful job but are only good for a few days to a week because the acid eats up the seals and they die.
I purchased plating soulition pumps from NOrthrtn Tools,made by little giant pump co. they lasted a little bit longer but when they burned out and started leaking they wouldnt warranty the pumps and said they were only for water,not what thier literature said(ILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM EITHER OF THESE TWO COMPANIES AGIAN)and as you can see im not recommending anyone else to either!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Im not thru with then yet!!!!!!!
My question is does anyone know WHERE and WHAT KIND of pumps i can get that will hold up to the acids??Thanks Beau

[fly Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close fly]

YOu might want to try A-Brite.com they have chemicals but Im not sure about the pumps, but they might help you find one.
I have the same set up and I have never filtered mine and still have good results.
Do you like the copy chrome compaired to the decrative chrome, or have you had the decrative chrome.

[dawghowseproductions New User Find all posts View Profile Close dawghowseproductions]

Hey thanks for the tip,i do have real decorative chrome,i actually almost never use the copy chrome unless im doing something i dont have enough power to do in tripple chrome.I usually use nickle annodes in the cc tank to give me two nickle tanks.
I took out the air adgitators because i was starting to get oil in my tanks and went to the water filters and pumps man you would believe the trash in those tanks,when its working right i can see the part down in the souloution plating,and a clean plate i just need the right pumps if you read my first post youll see who not to buy from Beau

[engineerscott Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close engineerscott]

I've seen some pumps used for chemical laboratory applications that would work great but the price is not so good. These typically have internal components made from Teflon which is very inert. There are obviously industrial situations that have the need to pump reactive chemicals. You might look at McMaster-Carr (if they don't have it you don't need it ). Their website is http://www.mcmaster.com/

If you find a source let us know. I may be interested in doing something similar.

[engineerscott Amateur Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close engineerscott]

I just looked at McMasters. On page 279 they have some electric pumps made out of polypropylene that would probably work. Also saw some air powered pumps on another page that were constructed out of Nitrile, which would be an excellent material for what you want to do. Don't know if you have air in your shop or not but these are generally cheaper and also reliable.

Anyway, McMasters has plenty to look at, just type "pumps" into their search engine.

[sswee Metal Finishing Guru Find all posts View Profile Close sswee]

Was the second pump you tried a magnetic drive pump designed for high corrosive or another submersible like the bilge pump?

[hademes New User Find all posts View Profile Close hademes]

Pump

I have 20 Gal tanks I use a little giant chemical pump I bought from Mc Master-Carr #9988K86 5.4 GPM it sits in the bottom of tank I have it piped to a filter out side the tank then it returns back to the tank. I use 2 of these pumps 1 for filtering and 1 for circulation. The circulation pump I put a mixing nozzel on the pump McMaster-Carr #8328K31 this eliminates air for circulation. 40 Gal. Tank I would use 2 circulation pumps. After burning up water typ pumps like you I found this pump works great. I use it in Nickel/Flash Copper/ Acid Copper/Zinc/ not for cuastic or crome.

[jimcarry Experienced Metal Finisher Find all posts View Profile Close jimcarry]

Re: Pumping plating soluitions

The least expensive way to do this would be a submersible fuel pump something that is interchangeable you can buy them just about anywhere for approx. 25-35 dollars