Category Archives: Electroplating

EPi App has been updated for I Phone and Droid based phones included trouble shooting of plating processes

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By Eric Olander

EPi recently received approval from Apple's APP store for I Phones and Google's APP store for Droid base phones. This new update works on the larger phones Samsung Galaxy and I Phone 5. This will work for the I Pad as well.

The improvements include the following;

1) You can now receive Push Notifications from EPi about it's latest happenings and events.
2) Trouble shooting guide for electroplating solutions.
3) You can also access EPi's blog as well and You Tube channel .

We still have the Hull cell ruler and the capability of taking hull cell pictures and sending them via email with the parameters then storing the pictures.

Have a friend you want to share the trouble shooting guide line? Email template to email trouble shooting guide.

The app costs $0.99 , but now is even more valuable than before. Another EPi first as EPi was the first company to develop on App for metal finishing and plating.

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EPi’s E-Commerce site offers shipping discounts and mobile web site for EPi e-commerce orders!

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by Eric Olander

The last two months EPi has been offering shipping discounts on orders placed on EPi's e-commerce site saving our new and existing customers money. For the month of March the shipping discount will be;

$5.00 off on shipping charges on purchase  of $50-100 order

$10.00 off on shipping charges on purchase of $101-249 order

$15.00 off on shipping charge on purchase of $250 or more

EPi's e-commerce site does not offer all of EPi products on the EPi main website.  The EPi products are; Black Oxide,Electroplating ( copper, silver and  electroless nickel), antiquing/oxidizing, Gel products for blackening and antiquing, rust preventives, trivalent chromates clear and yellow,and  metal cleaners for all metal substrates.

EPi's e-commerce mobile website works great on your iPhone, iPad, Windows, Blackberry, and Android phone as EPi has created a mobile e-commerce site for easier navigation and also for people with large thumbs like me! See the example below on my iPhone.

mobileecomsite

 

 

EPi solves Chicago base copper plating problem in E-Brite 23-11R / Electrosolv cyanide copper plating process

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Copper Cyanide pictureCopper cyanide photoBy Eric Olander

For the last three weeks we have been working with one of our loyal EPi customers in Chicago, IL determining the root cause of poor copper plating in their copper cyanide plating processes. We determined that the E-Brite 23-11R / Electrosolv are not causing the problem in creating a new bath. What we did find was actually startling it was the copper cyanide causing the problem. Two different samples were pulled from two drums and as you can see in the pictures the panels are not smooth and bright. These panels are dull in the high current density in the one above and the one on top its bright, but has an unusual deposit in the low current density range. It has been since the late 1980's that EPi experinced  this  problem with copper cyanide from an over seas supplier. E-Brite 23-11R is an inorganic brightener system that produces leveling cyanide copper plate. Electrosolv is a copper/brass/bronze anode corroder that twice as effective as Rochelle in the build up of carbonates. If you are in the Chicago area and plate cyainde copper check your copper cyanide quality. In the past we have had excellent with Univertical cyainde copper.

E-Brite 150: Twice the Power in Cyanide Brass Plating , in Half the Time!

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By Eric Olander

E-Brite B-150 cyanide brass plating process has produced thousands of bright yellow-green (70/30) brass plated hardware and plumbing components. The B-150 is a no amine and low ammonium  hydroxide bath that actually generates ammonia eliminating having to make daily additions of ammonia. The B-150 is inorganic based brightener system that plates brass faster and over  wider current density range works well in rack and barrel applications. Barrel platers find the B-150 reduces the time for burnishing because it produces a finer brass plated grain that is easy to burnish. In rack plating air agitation is the preferred method for type of agitation because the B-150 process use Electrosolv not Rochelle salts for a brass anode corroder. Electrosolv is twice as effective as Rochelle salts and reduces carbonate build up in your cyanide brass plating tank.

The E-Brite B-150 / Electrosolv process is easy to control, plates faster and produces a beautiful yellow-green brass color.

EPi E-Brite 50/50 alkaline non cyanide silver plate results in a harder silver plate. Now the silver plater can plate less silver using E-Brite 50/50 silver plating process

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By Eric Olander

Recently a large US base power management base company conducted a study on EPI's E-Brite 50/50 alkaline non cyanide silver plating process, which has been previously used on bus bar, electronic components, and other electrical switching parts.

The hardness of the E-Brite 50/50 alkaline non cyanide silver was found to be 95-110 KHN 25 which is harder than cyanide silver deposit from a solution with no additives. The hardness is measured on a cross section sample with a Knoop diamond indented at a load of 25 grams.

Why E-Brite 50/50? If it plates harder than cyanide silver process that means you can use 20-40% less silver plate when plating from E-Brite 50/50 process than a cyanide silver process because it will wear longer than the cyanide silver plate, To learn more CLICK HERE

Rick Dale’s Tip on what type of electroplating was utilized in the 1930′s

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By Eric Olander

Some of you are aware Rick Dale from Rick's Restoration was in our booth at Sur/Fin 2012 in Las Vegas, NV.  Any of you watching his show on the  History channel? This new season has been great.  I have been learning new technical ideas with every new episode.  Rick discusses re-finishing old plated finishes stating this should be blued ( black oxide), nickel plated, zinc plated, and chrome plated. Rick typically has part of the show dedicated  for Rick's tips. During  the American Restoration episode "Prank War"  Rick asked  the viewers  following question.

What type of plating was used a  final finish in the 1930's?

1.) Nickel

2) Chrome

3) Zinc

4) Copper

If you watch the "Prank War" episode at the 18:00 minute mark you will see the answer. CLICK HERE TO GO TO PRANK  WAR episode

I was surprised by the answer and what I learned!

Eric Olander installs a new E-Brite Ultra CU bath for zinc diecast with great results

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By Eric Olander

Recently, we installed a new 2500 liter E-Brite  Ultra CU bath for plating directly on zinc die-cast Zamac 3 alloy. The end results were excellent adhesion utilizing saw cut adhesion test and baking at  350 F for one hour then cold water quench. The copper-nickel-chrome plater found it plates faster than the competitive chemistry. The  resulting copper plated is outstanding throwing power in the 6 inch deep recesses. Eliminating acid copper plating bite through challenges in a deep recess zinc die-cast part.

The customer  now plates zinc die cast substrate without ever having to bring cyanide ever into their facility by installing to E-Brite Ultra Cu.

EPi’s E-Brite 23-11: Bright Cyanide Copper Plating

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By: Eric Olander

EPi has developed an extremely versatile inorganic single additive cyanide brightening process called E-Brite 23-11. E-Brite 23-11 can be operated at a variety of different cyanide salt baths sodium/potassium/sodium&potassium and with a variety of operating conditions.

Another benefit of using E-Brite 23-11 is its stability. The advantage is it does not decompose and is relatively unaffected by the presence of organic and metallic contaminants that affect other brightener systems. Breakdown products are not formed and therefore the bath works very well with evaporative recovery systems.

E-Brite 23-11 also offers incredible throwing power, providing for a comprehensive and uniform finish. Because it can be run at low concentrations, E-Brite 23-11 delivers a superior brighter finish at a much lower cost compared to other copper plating processes.

 

The brightness and leveling of E-Brite 23-11 is simply superior to the competition. It requires less bright nickel plating in achieving a bright copper-nickel-chrome finish because the  resulting cyanide copper plate is bright and leveling.

GO HERE to learn more about E-Brite 23-11 on EPi's website.

EPi Story: Copper Plated Bullets

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By: Eric Olander

Recently EPi worked on copper plating bullets. The project turned out so well, that I decided to feature it on EPi's blog. Here is a Question and Answer session with one of our chemists and, Larry, about the process.

  • Q1: What are the advantages of copper plating bullets?
  • A1: A lead bullet is very soft and  would fly apart.   The copper coating is harder and   will resist the stress of the firing and the velocity during flight - and also not be totally smashed upon impact.                                                                                              
  • Q2: What EPi products were used in the plating of the bullets?
  • A2: The products used were EPi's E-Brite 200M and E-Brite 200 RXW copper plating solutions
  • Q3: What were the advantages of using the E-Brite 200M and E-Brite 200 RWX in particular?
  • A3: Using 200M and 200 RXW together in the bath gives a balance of the additives that allows for bright, smooth, ductile plating on the parts. Without the 200M the copper would be rough and brittle. Without the 200RXW (or 205) there would not be brightness and smoothness would not be as good + the plating would be too soft.
  • Q4: In your opinion, how do you think the finished product turned out?
  • A4: I thought they turned out very well.

To learn more about EPi's copper plating solutions, GO HERE for general information on copper plating and GO HERE for information on E-Brite 200.

 

EPi’s Bright Nickel Plating: E-Brite 757

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BY: Eric Olander

EPi has developed a bright nickel plating that is Simply Superior to all other nickel plating solutions. E-Brite 757 has multiple features making it the most innovative nickel plating process on the market. It produces brilliant, white deposits of high clarity, reflectivity and depth, and will produce bright ductile deposits which are free from laminations.

One of the main advantages of E-Brite 757 is it has incredible throwing power. This means that the plating gets deeper in the recesses of the metal, making for superior distribution. E-Brite 757 gives your parts a much stronger, more uniform finish with its superior throwing power.

Another great advantage of E-Brite 757 is that it is a single maintenance additive process. Most bright nickel plating solutions multiple additive processes, increasing the chance of an operator-caused imbalance. You can plate with confidence using the simply superior formula of E-Brite 757 from EPi.