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Help Nickel Plating Help

Discussion in 'Maintenance' started by kiffsta, Oct 11, 2019.

  1. kiffsta

    kiffsta Senior Member

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    Okay, so I am gearing up to nickel plate the bolts for my GT380 project. I have sourced the following :

    • 0.5-6v variable DC power supply (0-2amps)
    • Nickel acetate powder
    • 99.9 % Nickel Anode
    • Copper wire to hang parts
    • plastic dishes to suspend my bolts in.
    • Demineralised water
    I have watched a heap of videos online and am somewhat confused, so what I really need is the recipe and process . The dishes I bought are 2l and 6l in size, so I need to understand :

    What ratio of demin water and nickel acetate do I put in the dish ? lets work on 1l of water to ___ ?
    How long should I plate for ?
    How many volts should I set my power supply to ?
    How many AMPs should I use ?
    What prep process do you use to clean your bolts ?
    Do I need to use a different bath and heat the Nickle acetate solution ?

    I have a bag of bolts which Id like to start with , I have used an industrial degreaser to remove grease, dirt and rust, I have then hand cleaned them with a carwash type solution, rinsed them clean and then wiped them clean with a clean rag.

    Any help \ advice would be appreciated, going to have a play tomorrow.

    Starting to think I should have bought the Janes kit for the manual :)

    Kiff
     
  2. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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    I used 50g of Nickel Sulphate to half a litre of water

    Plating i left the part's sitting in there for 5 minute's, tap the wire hanger's every minute or so to make the bubble's come away from the part/s
    I used a 6V 800ma power source, but lower voltage work's too

    Bolt's and part's were just degreased, then wire wheeled or cleaned up with 0000 steel wool
    The Solution does warm up a little as you plate, i only heated the first lot of water, then the next few time's i did it i left it cold
    But i just read that Nickel Acetate need's heated water and need's the pH to be adjusted to between 5.8 and 6


    Wash the part's thoroughly after plating, then you can polish up with some 000 steel wool if you want them a bit shinier
     
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    Last edited: Oct 11, 2019
  3. ruckusman

    ruckusman White Mans Magic Master Premium Member Dirty Wheel Club

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  4. kiffsta

    kiffsta Senior Member

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    Thanks guys , appreciate your help

    what'd you use to measure ph?
     
  5. ruckusman

    ruckusman White Mans Magic Master Premium Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    You could get one of the Aquarium PH test kits from the pet store, or perhaps litmus papers - otherwise PH meters are relatively cheap, you might even turn something up at a garden store, what range do you need to measure?
     
  6. kiffsta

    kiffsta Senior Member

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    Looks like a trip to Bunnings tomorrow , might get a glass dish so it can be heated , @my67xr did you see anything on optimal temps ?

    Should I be using distilled or demineralised water , I thought they were one and the same , but google says different
     
  7. ruckusman

    ruckusman White Mans Magic Master Premium Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    For memory you could get 5 litres of distilled water at the chemist for little $ - the differences for your purposes likely aren't important as the charged particles have been removed in both instances so you won't get contamination with either, remnant viral and bacterial matter probably won't be an issue.

    Do you have an ultrasonic cleaner, you could use that as just a heated bath, or if you use a glass container immerse it in that bath for heating

    For what it's worth, use a lower amperage and the bubbles generated won't cause an imperfect surface, thinking that using an ultrasonic might dissipate the bubbles quickly and give a smooth finish

    worth testing...
     
  8. ruckusman

    ruckusman White Mans Magic Master Premium Member Dirty Wheel Club

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  9. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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    This is where i read it when comparing Nickel Sulphate to Nickel Acetate
    https://www.finishing.com/463/08.shtml

    Pet store's and Pool place's have cheap pH test kit's and chemical's to adjust
    I never bothered with heating the solution after the first lot
    Same with checking the pH
    I used demineralised water from Bunning's $4 for 5L
     
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    Last edited: Oct 11, 2019

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