In electroplating it's the flow of current that does the work. The voltage only needs to be high enough to produce the required flow of current. That amount of current depends on the materials, the size of the area being plated, and – within limits – how fast the plating is to be done.

Generally plating calls for a DC power supply delivering lots of amps at a few volts, perhaps less than 2V. A small amateur set-up would work with a few amps; a big industrial plater could consume thousands. In both cases the voltage will be the same – low. (This is not like motors where a 1000V motor at 1A delivers the same power as a 10V motor at 100A).

It's important not to over volt whilst plating. Too high a deposition rate will form a spongy layer poorly fixed to the item being plated. Excess voltage will also decompose and heat the electrolyte. A hot gassy electrolyte full of active ions is likely to cause multiple unwanted side-reactions, all reducing the quality of the electroplate whilst wasting power.

Years ago I looked for and failed to find a suitable and affordable power-supply for electroplating, say variable 0-3VDC at 20 amps+. That was before the internet! Can anyone recommend one now?

Dave

As already been suggested use an older type car battery charger, the one with a transformer and rectifier. They easily modified to obtain a lower voltages. Being very careful you can wind on another set of windings over the top of the existing set, make tapping at every two volts, then bring the connection onto the front of the steel box/cabinet. A simple way of adjusting the current, an ammeter would be an asset but you can use a multimeter on the DC amp range. As Dave has said to higher rate (amperage) and the deposit is spongy, a bit of trial and error is needed.I copper coated a friends carburettor so that he could have it chromed, it didn't improve the fuel consumption, but he said it looked better. John

I'm a little bit confused.

I contract out a lot of anodising after successfully experimenting with a home setup & I'm still firmly in the belief that anodising is all about controlling the amps. The voltage can vary due to very many factors, but to be in control of the process you need to control the amps.

I've discovered for myself, confirmed by my anodiser of choice, that controlling the amps cannot be done with a 6/12v battery charger. There are too many variables that make this power source a hit-n-miss affair. Yes, you can anodise a part with a battery charger . . . But you cannot repeat that result unless you control the multiple variables . . . Which makes being able to control just the amps seem like the sensible choice.

Am I confusing anodising with electro-plating?

Hello Jeff. Neil drew my attention to this forum post.

What you need is a small, cheap power supply. The one I use came from http://www.rcpitstop.co.uk and is called Fusion 200W twin output adjustable, PS201ADJT, cost £35.95. This was the cheapest supplier I could find but the same model is offered elsewhere.

In my previous electroforming work I used a 12V battery with various resistances in series (light bulbs etc) to get the current I wanted. The current is your starting point so you must have a ,means of measuring it. I used my multimeter. Then you can use really any source of DC power and it doesn't matter what its nominal voltage is. The Fusion will show you the actual volts & amps and the volts will probably be around 1 to 3 depending on the size of the job.

I cannot emphasise enough that getting a Fusion or one like it will remove so many headaches and constant hunts around the shop for resistors and bits of wire, connectors, bad joints etc etc. I found the current remained absolutely stable despite changes of temp for hours on end. OK it's 40 quid but I don't think you would regret it as it removes a kind of mental barrier to all sorts of plating you might want to do in the future. Just plug in and go!

You must calculate your current density in advance using the area of the cathode. Industry usually quotes in A/dm (amps per decimetre) but I prefer A/ sq inch. Keep this lower than advised by industry sources, especially if using copper scrap as the anode, to ensure a fine grain smooth deposit. Any sign of nodules means that current should be reduced.

Another tip is to stir the electrolyte and avoid air bubblling which creates a fine mist all over the place, corrodes your connectors and depletes the solution.

BTW Gateros Plating is a good company, very approachable and friendly. They are writing a book about plating and about to run classes as Neil said. Also they realise that their website and instructions sent out with kits are a bit sparse on info, so are taking steps to improve all this.

Good luck with your project

Stephen Wessel

The products I ordered all came with about six pages of detailed manufacturers datasheet, so it looks like they have.

Neil

A useful book I have on amateur electro-plating is "Electro-Plating" ,fully illustrated, one of the little "Amateur Mechanic & Work" handbooks, its probably pre WW2, but not too far back, it covers chrome plate.

Ian S C