I almost tried to build up some pits on a set of BSA forks last week using the zinc plating set up. But I decided to use epoxy instead. Quicker and easier to remove if I choose. The plating provides a nice result for what you have invested. My spokes came out great and that alone was a major cost savings when I spruced up my CL77.conbs wrote:I have been following this thread since you guys started it. I got the zinc strip and am trying to put together by plating outfit.
I went through the whole thread and copied and pasted all relevant comments into a Word document, thinking I would distill it down into a kind of "best practice" kind of guide for myself and to help me put together my plater. But, I find I still have some questions.
First question: It seems to me like there is an optimum voltage/amps combo that should be the target in the bath. It would seem that would drive the choice of parts for the plating setup (if not somebody please set me straight). You had a comment about .85 volts and .85 amps giving you good results, but then there is the comment about the Caswell set up being 1.5 v. Does anyone know if there is a target for volts/amps that optimizes zinc plating?
The current limit (amps) is determined by your power supply. Exceed that limit and you will fry the power supply. My experience is 1.5VDC seems to be the max voltage for a decent plating job. Go up too high and the plating gets dark. You also need to watch the bubbles. Smaller parts take less current/voltage. The bubbles indicate H2 coming out of solution because there is not enough surface area to plate. So you should back off on the rheostate until you just see a slight trickle of bubbles.
Second question: I think Snake has figured out that a 1-2 Amp 12v charger or power supply coupled with a 50 watt/500ohm rheostat is a good combination. Others are having luck with smaller amperage chargers but the plating either takes longer and/or works well only on smaller parts. Is this a good assessment? I used smaller chargers to start out because it was what I could find in my collection of old chargers. I did fry one by running the current too high once by mistake.
Third question: I am guessing that my "float" and "automatic" chargers will not work because a guy wants a steady current to keep the plating even. It would seem like a "manual" or "trickle" charger would work okay or just a dedicated power supply, but that would be about it. Is that correct?
I would say yes, although I'm not really sure how one of those would react to a plating application. You don't need anything that elaborate, anyway. You just need a stead source of DC voltage/current. So a simply transformer, which is all those small chargers are, is all you need.
Fourth question: I have an old ceramic 300v 100 ohm, 1 amp rheaostat. Physically it looks like overkill, but those parameters are out of sync with what has been described. Can I use it with a different size power supply and hit the target Volts/amps? I am probably going to buy a charger or power supply, so this is important.
That's a 300 watt rheostat (volts x amps = watts). At low voltage it will take a lot more amps, but you are not going to do that. I'd have to check mine to see if you have enough resistance to get you in the operating range for plating. Resistance is the ohm rating. You want a big rheostat because it gets hot.
Thanks for your help and thanks for all the time you guys have put into this thread. I am really getting excited to get started.
regards,
Rob