Fault
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Possible cause
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Corrective action
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No plating at all.
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Electricity not flowing |
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Check that the the rectifier is switched on, that volts are showing and that the circuit is switched on (see manual).
Check all electrical contacts and clean if necessary. |
Conductive layer has broken with the main jigging wire breaking the electrical circuit. |
Remove from the process, rinse and dry.
Repair the brocken circuit with Conductive Paint and allow to cure.
Replace in tank and start off at half the calculated amp setting for the first 5 minutes. This will allow enough copper to plate to carry the amps.
After
5 minutes, increase to the calculated amp setting. |
No plating. Item looks damaged on removal from plating process
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Leads connected wrongly. |
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Check that the black connection from the rectifier is connected to the work piece and the red connection to the Beaker Ring. |
Dullness of plate in the middle of articles and recesses.
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Amp setting too low
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Increase the amp setting until brightness returns. |
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Lack of brightener. |
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Add 2ml of Copper Electroforming Brightener for every litre of solution and check for difference.
If no difference is observed after a third addition, do not add any more. |
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Temperature too high.
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Reduce temperature to within operating range (see Tech Specs) |
Low conductivity. |
The bath starts off at a lower conductivity. The conductivity will increase as the bath is used (using our Platinum Rod Electrodes) and brighteness distribution will also increase.
The conductivity can be increased by adding sulphuric acid, but this must be done by a qualified person. |
Copper content too high. |
Lower the copper content by allowing to plate out without making Copper Electroforming Replenisher additions.
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Deposit dull all over.
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Grease or oil contamination. |
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Treat with Carbon Powder (see shop).
Add 10ml of Copper Electroforming Brightener for every litre of solution treated.
Run the plating bath until full brightness resumes. |
Burnt deposit especially on corners and edges. Nodular in extreme cases.
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Amp setting too high.
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Decrease the amp setting. |
Article too close to the anode. |
Move the item in the beaker or rearange the anodes.
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Low copper content evident in clearness of solution. |
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Add Copper Electroforming Replenisher at 40 grams for every litre.
Repeat unti original solution colour has returned. |
Too little agitation. |
Increase agitation.
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Temperature too low. |
Increase temperature. Please note that deposit will become less bright if the temperature is raised over 25 centigrade.
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Matt deposit, rough in extreme cases.
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Particulate contamination especially in small installations without continuous filtration. |
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Filter solution into a clean beaker/container.
If using copper anodes, scrub to remove fine particulate copper and rinse anode bags thorougly.
To prevent particulate contamination from copper anodes, consider using platinised anodes with bags. |
Pitting of deposit – small holes which can become larger on further plating.
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Fit anode bags. |
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If anode bags are not fitted to the Platinum Rod Electrodes, gas bubbles will escape and adhere to the surface of the work causing gas pitting.
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Particulate matter in solution. |
Filter.
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Grease or oil contamination in solution. |
Treat with Carbon Powder as above.
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Unplated area (step or skip plating).
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Improper cleaning |
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Check cleaning cycle especially for water breaks (see Online Manual) |
Vertical tide marks especially evdident on thin, flat articles.
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Laminar nature of agitation especially when stirring. |
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Consider using a stirrer with reversing action in order to make the agitation more turbulent.
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Streaking of deposit.
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Excessive brightener additions.
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Plate out without adding brightener. |
Organic contamination.
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Treat with Carbon Powder as above. |
Contaminated rises or lack of rinsing.
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Extend rinsing cycle. |
Deposit peels from basis metal.
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Improper cleaning.
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Check the cleaning cycle for the metal (see Online Manual). |
Check the type of metal being plated. |
Consider gold flash intermediate coating especially of plating on brass, steel or stainless steel (refer to Online Manual for a list of pretreatment stages). |