Alkaline non-cyanide zinc (ANCZ) plating has been prevalent in the plating industry for about 50 years. It has become a preferred process for finishers who require a fairly bright zinc-plated finish on parts that have challenging geometrical shapes. ANCZ is typically the chosen zinc process for complicated geometrical shapes due to its ability to plate zinc at a preferred low ratio of zinc thickness from the high current density areas to the low current density areas. Thickness ratios can range anywhere from 1:1 to 2:1 from the high current density area to the low current density area. Bath … [Read more...]
July 19, 2019 By
Is there a better way to provide a high corrosion resistant finish that is not an expensive alloy process?
If a high corrosion resistant finish provided 400+ hours to first white corrosion product and 700+ hours to red corrosion, until now, the answer was NO. Alloy finishes with passivate and seals that were complex and difficult to control were the only choice to achieve 400+ hours to first white corrosion product and 700+ hours to red corrosion. Traditional zinc plating just could not meet these requirements. As a result, finishers and their customers could only look to zinc alloy systems to provide high corrosion resistant attributes. The challenges associated with these processes were just a … [Read more...]
February 7, 2017 By
Sample Analysis with Confidence
Regardless of the circumstances, Asterion is committed to supporting each ounce of chemistry that leaves its facility. While there are many ways we support our customers, sample analysis is arguably the most useful and efficient form of technical support a chemical supplier can offer. And as hard as it may be to believe, many chemical suppliers do not provide any free technical support or laboratory analysis. I’m pleased to note that this is not the case with Asterion. Our sample analysis process, while detail-oriented and comprehensive, is designed with timeliness and accuracy in mind. … [Read more...]
December 18, 2016 By
Tips for Maintaining Your Process Line
If you are like most platers, you have a laundry list of things that need to be accomplished around your shop. Realistically, you don’t have enough time to do it yourself. However, if you were to divvy these jobs up, it would substantially assist in ensuring your shop is running at optimum performance. With this in mind, I offer you the following checklist that will assist in completing the tasks at hand. The list should include those responsible for completing each individual item, as well as the frequency for the task to be completed. Most importantly, posting the list in a common area, … [Read more...]
June 1, 2016 By
Water and the Plating Process: Part 1
It may seem fairly obvious to most readers, but water plays an integral role in the plating process. Whether it’s the rinse tanks, or the process tanks, water is in every bath. It may come as no surprise to you that the different types of water will interact with the plating process in different ways. In this series of blog posts, we will delve into each type of water and how it interacts with the process, starting with hard water. Hard Water As you may recall, hard water is characterized by its mineral content. These minerals, typically calcium and magnesium, can cause several issues. Let’s … [Read more...]
April 27, 2016 By
Bright Nickel Chrome Plating
Nickel is plated for many reasons. The appearance can be altered by modifying the nickel deposit itself or the thin chrome coating over it to produce bright, satin, or dark finishes. First and foremost, we tend to think of nickel as a bright finish. Nickel provides a decorative appearance due to its ability to cover imperfections in the basis metal (leveling). Nickel deposits can be made brilliant and when covered by a thin layer of decorative chromium, will maintain its brilliance even under severe conditions. Satin Nickel Satin nickel under bright or dark chromium offers a wide range of … [Read more...]
April 21, 2016 By
What Is “Burning” from a Plating Bath?
We've all seen it. That crispy, flaky, nodular, usually dark deposit on the high current density extremes (edges, etc.). Usually, turning down the current is the reaction done immediately to try and remedy the problem. But exactly why does burning occur? An understanding of the mechanisms involved with the formation of a burn can better help a plater to avoid this nasty problem. Going back to high school chemistry (if you can remember that far back), you may have seen demonstrated the two electrodes from a battery, generator, or rectifier placed in a beaker of water. You will see gassing at … [Read more...]
March 22, 2016 By
The Basics of Electroplating
Even though many people refer to plating as an “art”, there is no doubt that sound scientific principles and practices are critical to successful plating finishes. The basics of electroplating start with an understanding of the metallurgical properties of the substrates to be plated. This is crucial because the most important process in plating is the pre-treatment of the substrate. The choice of cleaning chemistry is dictated by the alloy of the metal as well as the soils to be removed. Soils such as oils, paraffins, and buffing compounds are normally encountered in the plating process, … [Read more...]
March 17, 2016 By
Functional Zinc Plating
Electrodeposited zinc is used for coating iron and steel parts when protection from the corrosive effects of the atmosphere is the primary goal. Zinc however by itself, while offering sacrificial corrosion protection based upon its larger negative electro-potential than iron, is not used without subsequent treatment. Electroplated zinc becomes dull gray after exposure to air, so that bright zinc is give a subsequent post treatment in a conversion coating which most often contains either hexavalent or trivalent chrome. Non-chrome bearing conversion coatings have also been … [Read more...]
February 2, 2016 By
It’s All About Plating
Plating is one of our specialties at Asterion. It's a big deal for our manufacturing clients and is often the most important part of their production process. Are you aware of all the different ways metal can be plated onto different media? There are also many different plating solutions for each unique and custom parts manufacturing job. Here are a few of our favorite posts on various plating methods and outcomes: Hard Chrome Plating The process of hard chrome plating has been used since the early part of the 20th century. It is a process that is used in nearly every aspect of manufacturing … [Read more...]