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Nickel & Nickel Chrome

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What is Nickel plating?

Nickel electroplating is a technique of electroplating a thin layer of nickel onto a metal object. The nickel layer can be decorative, provide corrosion resistance, wear resistance, or used to build up worn or undersized parts for salvage purposes. Nickel electroplating is a process of depositing nickel onto a metal part. Parts to be plated must be clean and free of dirt, corrosion, and defects before plating can begin.To clean and protect the part during the plating process, a combination of heat treating, cleaning, masking, pickling, and etching may be used. Once the piece has been prepared it is immersed into an electrolyte solution and is used as the cathode. The nickel anode is dissolved into the electrolyte to form nickel ions. The ions travel through the solution and deposit on the cathode.

What is Nickel Chrome plating?

Also called decorative chrome plating, nickel-chrome plating involves electroplating a thin layer of nickel onto the item before the chrome layer is plated onto it. Copper may also be electroplated on the item prior to the application of the nickel. The layer of nickel adds smoothness, reflectivity and corrosion resistance. The chrome layer that is applied on top of it is very thin, measuring in the millionths of an inch. The appearance of decorative chrome primarily comes from the nickel plating. The thin layer of chrome that is applied on top of it will give a slight blue hue while the nickel underneath is more yellow. The chrome layer helps to protect against scratches and tarnish and adds to the corrosion resistance. Without the nickel layer, the finish would not be decorative, reflective and rust-resistant.

Applications

    Decorative coating
  • Decorative bright nickel is used in a wide range of applications. It offers a high luster finish, corrosion protection, and wear resistance. In the automotive industry bright nickel can be found on bumpers, rims, exhaust pipes and trim. It is also used for bright work on bicycles and motorcycles. Other applications include hand tools and household items such as lighting and plumbing fixtures, wire racks, firearms, and appliances.
    • Engineering applications
  • Engineering nickel is used where brightness is not desired. Non decorative applications provide wear and corrosion protection as well as low-stress buildups for dimensional recovery.[5][9] The method can be used for making nanocomposite wear resistance coatings.
  • Effective Racking for Electroplating
    • Although components are sometimes wired for electroplating (suspended on copper wires), this method has several drawbacks. It is difficult to ensure that the components are correctly positioned in relation to the anodes, it is wasteful of nickel and the wires may tend to swing due to the agitation. Additionally, wire marks are often a problem. If wiring is selected, it is much preferred to attach the wires across a support frame. This allows the total cathode area (and hence, the current density) to be accurately controlled and also eliminates the problem of swinging.
  • Care and Maintenance of Plating Racks
    • Racks should be inspected regularly. Damaged coatings can cause considerable problems including entrapment and carry-over of process solutions and/or metal build up on the racks. Rack tips may become loose, leading to poor or intermittent contact. Any such damage should be attended to without delay. Excessive build-up of metal on the rack tips or prongs must be prevented by regular stripping. Mechanical removal should be avoided because of the likely damage to the racks. Nickel can be stripped either by chemical immersion using nitric acid-based strippers or anodically in proprietary electrolytic rack strippers. These anodic strippers are particularly effective if applied after each process cycle. It should be emphasised that proper attention to rack stripping is an essential part of process control.
  • Reducing Solution Losses
    • For both economic and environmental reasons, it makes sense to reduce solution losses. Losses can result from various causes including: • Leakage from defective valves, pumps or other equipment. • Spillage due to careless handling, unsupported hoses, overflowing of tanks, etc. • Filter cleaning and servicing – where applicable, the use of suitable drip trays below the filters can be helpful in recovering solutions that have drained from the filters during filter maintenance.