Cheap DIY yellow zinc plating?

[droopsnoot]

Interesting that they comment on hanging from wire, I think that's how I've always done it. Then again, I've always had patchy results, so something to remember next time I have it set up. If the zinc plate doesn't result in a shiny finish, then the passivating will be dull too.

 

[Turbo]

From my experience with electrolysis it takes a large strong crocodile clip to hold a bolt securely. But that will cover up a lot of the surface area and possibly cause uneven coating.

Better to use wire to support the weight and fly leads and small clips so supply the power.

 

[Turbo]

I have the power from my supply going to a common manifold and fly leads with crocodile clips connected to it.

Use the wire from rubber flex as it is more flexible than plastic coated.

 

[JOEPRO]

Round 2 underway. Changes I made:

Using their powder acid prep (seemed useless but I used it anyway)

No air pump agitation. Lower temp in plating bath





Will see how this looks after their 4 hour dip per instructions

 

[JOEPRO]

Still dull as anything



Being plated but dull grey. Ill message the suppliers again tomorrow. Nearly £300 into this with the extra tank, pump and 3x 300W heaters and dull parts are not what I was expecting!

 

[Misterg]

Still dull as anything

View attachment 540166

Being plated but dull grey. Ill message the suppliers again tomorrow. Nearly £300 into this with the extra tank, pump and 3x 300W heaters and dull parts are not what I was expecting!

Try the clear passivate on these.

Mine come out of the bath grey, but go shiny in the passivate. (I use a slightly different process though).

If they don't come out shiny, it's a bit disappointing.

 

[JOEPRO]

Ive just turned the plug up a couple of settings too. To try higher voltage and see if that makes any difference

 

[JOEPRO]

OK so seems better this time - out of the zinc bath:



Then the blue and yellow steps (My kit requires both)



The other item went patchy with the yellow. I tried to quicky acid dip and go again but it refused to take any yellow after that. So ill re plate that part and try again. The but above looks quite decent. Where the clip goes is not ideal so ill have to think about that more carefully.

 

[droopsnoot]

It's quite demoralising to get patchy results - particularly when you get one piece that comes out really well, figure you've got it sussed, then the next one is back to being dull again. I put my kit away to get the space back, and because it became winter and I figured it wouldn't like the cold, but my similarly inconsistent results are probably one of the reasons I haven't set it up again. I'd like to find the space at home to set it up, but that's not happening any time soon.

 

[Misterg]

Out of curiosity, do the instructions say anything about the conditions for using the yellow passivate (temperature, time, etc.)? I couldn't get it to work at all.

 

[DennisCA]

I've used trivalent passivating solution, it was bought from a german supplier. It's a real chromate based solution but is not carcinogenic. It is supposedly even more durable, but lacks the self healing properties of hexavalent passivation. Don't get the rainbow colors though....

Bolt I've passivated for OEM appearance

I put them on wires, but loosely and stirred them around in the solution for 20-40 seconds. I tried various methods of cleaning them but as long as they are clean it seems fine.