Our Gold Tank Plating Solution contains 4 grams of gold per litre. It is made specifically for tank plating and gives consistently bright results.
HS Code: 3824 99 70
Gold Tank Plating Solution
£131.63 – £4,240.86 + VAT
- Description
- Examples
- Videos
- Product Details
- Manual
- Calculator
- Tech Specs
- Delivery
- SDS
- FAQs
- Process Sequences
Because our Gold Plating Solution for tank plating contains 4g of gold per litre, it is very flexible and can be used to gold plate on sterling silver to vermeil standard (a gold thickness of 2.5 microns) as well as plating thin, decorative gilding layers of 0.1 – 0.2 microns. All you have to do is enter in the surface area and the thickness of plate you require into our Plating Calculator, which can be found on this page to the right of this panel, and plating times for whatever thicknesses you need are worked out for you. The ring in the photo has a surface area of 8cm squared and took 14 minutes to plate to a thickness of 2.5 microns. If only a layer of 0.1 microns was required then the ring would have only needed 33 seconds immersion in a 250ml tank.
Once you have used your gold plating solution to plate to particular thicknesses you will need to check you have enough gold left in your solution. You can use our Gold Tank Replenisher to keep the concentration of gold in your solution topped up. Here is a link to our Gold Tank Concentration Calculator that will help with replenishing your gold.
Our Gold Tank Plating Solution being used to gold plate a sterling silver ring. For more guidance on how to use our tank plating solutions and equipment, please see the relevant guides in our Manual by clicking HERE and visit our Gold Tank Plating Calculator to work out how much plating solution you’ll need.
How to use our coulometer with your gold tank plating kit to achieve vermeil standard plating.
| Features | Benefits |
| Formulated specifically for tank plating | Plates consistently bright over a range of operating conditions |
| Designed to be used with our online Gold Tank Plating Calculator | You know in advance not only how much gold you’ll be plating but also how much gold will be left in the gold solution. |
Gold tank plating a silver ring to vermeil standard
Our Gold Tank Plating Kit, when used with our on-line Gold Tank Plating Calculator, means you’re now in complete control of the gold plating process.
Plating to vermeil standard requires a layer of gold of at least 2.5 microns on sterling silver and our kit will help you plate to these kinds of specific and substantial thicknesses of gold.
You’ll not only be confident that the layer of gold you’ve plated is of a uniform thickness, you’ll also know how much gold is left in your remaining plating solution and therefore how long it will take to plate your next item to the same or a different specification.
Our kit also offers you the flexibility of plating larger objects in our 500ml, 1 and 2 litre capacity Plating Beakers.
1. Arranging your kit
Set up your Gold Tank Plating Kit as shown.
Below is a video showing you how to set up the power source for this kit, the Microplater Classic.
2. Setting up the gold plating beaker
Once the plating beaker is filled with gold solution and is on the hot plate stirrer, grip one of the red leads to its mesh electrode.
Turn on the Electronic Stirrer and place the magnetic stirrer bar in the gold plating solution. Set the hot plate stirrer bar speed to 1 and the heat setting to between 0 and 1. You are aiming to heat the gold plating solution to 25 to 30 degrees centigrade, so you will need to adjust these settings as you go, to maintain a constant temperature. Check the temperature of the solution with the Temperature Probe.
3. Setting up the cleaner beaker
The other red lead should grip on to the mesh electrode in the cleaner beaker.
4. Connecting the Plating Stand
The black lead should be plugged in to the base of the Plating Stand.
5. Connecting to the power source
The other ends of the red and black leads should be plugged in to the MF Rectifier.
6. Calculating plating and powered cleaning times
You’ll need to work out the surface area you’re plating and decide the thickness of plate you require.
In this case we’ll be plating gold onto a sterling silver ring to vermeil standard. This means we’ll be plating to a gold thickness of 2.5 microns. The surface area of the example ring worked out at 8 square centimetres.
Go to the Gold Tank Plating Calculator on the Gold Tank Plating Kit shop page and enter in the required data. Press the ‘Calculate’ button and take a note of the results.
Based on the above data, the amp setting on the MF Rectifier for gold plating will be 0.08 for just over 22.09 minutes.
Set the Economy Rectifier to 3 volts for cleaning.
7. Preparing the surface of the ring for plating with MPU
First clean the ring with MPU using a soft tissue. Then make a small jig to hold the ring, using the Gold Plated Jigging Wire and the Wire Cutters.
8. Preparing the surface of the ring for plating with the Ultrasonic Cleaner
Hang the ring on its wire jig in the Ultrasonic Cleaner and turn it on – a couple of minutes should be enough.
8. 1st and 2nd of the 6 rinse stages
Briefly dip the ring into the first and second of the six rinse stages. The water you use can be ordinary tap water for 5 out of 6 of the rinse stages; we recommend for the last 6th stage that you use deionised
9. Powered cleaning 0.8 amps
The Gold Tank Plating Calculator has told us that the amp setting for the gold plating stage should be 0.08 amps. For the Cleaner stage, the amps on the MF Rectifier should now be set to 0.8
Leave the ring in the Cleaner for 2-5 minutes. Once it’s done, take the ring out of the Cleaner and pass it through rinse three and four of the six rinse stages.
10. Gold tank plating
Adjust the rectifier so that the amp reading is 0.08
Grip the wire jig (with the ring hanging from it) in the crocodile clip that’s fixed to the arm of the plating stand.
Make sure the Plating Timer is set to the right time (in this case 14.04 minutes) and start the timer as soon as you lower the ring into the plating solution.
11. Final rinse stages
After the plating has finished, take the ring out of the plating solution and pass it through the two remaining rinses.
We recommend that the last rinse should be deionised water.
12. Finishing with MetaSeal
The gold plated ring can now be finished with MetaSeal to bring out the lustre of the plate and help seal its surface.
14. Maintaining your tank plating solution
To maintan the plating solution in best working order, cover the beaker with cling film between uses. This will prevent dust and fine hairs getting in and reducing the eficiency of the solution. If you’re not going to be using the solution for more than three consequetive days it is best to re-bottle it.
At some point it’s also a good idea to filter your solution. Guidance on this can be found on the filter kit product page HERE.
Gold Tank Calculator
How to use this calculator :
1. In the first box, enter the thickness that you want to plate to in microns (thousandths of a millimetre).
2. In the second box, enter the surface area of the article in square centimetres (cm2).
3. In the third box, enter the gold concentration (for a new solution that’s 4 grams per litre).
4. In the fourth box, enter the speed at which you want the gold to plate (microns per minute).
5. In the fifth box, ender the volume of solution purchased (ml).
6. Click the ‘Calculate’ button.
7. Read off the amp setting for your rectifier and the plating time.
8. Amp-hours (Ah) and Coulombs are quoted in the next two boxes. These should be used if you’re monitoring the process with the MicroPlater (in Amp-hour mode) or using our Coulometer.
9. Temperature and agitation are quoted in the following two boxes.
10. The concentration of gold remaining and the volume of replenisher to add is shown in the next two boxes.
11. The cost of solution used and weight of gold are shown in the final two boxes.
Operating Conditions and Deposit Data
| Plating Factor | 0.01 A/cm2 (see notes) |
| Plating rate | 0.15 micron per minute at 0.01A/cm2, 20°C and low agitation ( see notes) |
| Maximum plating thickness | 4 microns |
| Temperature | 18 – 40 °C (see notes) |
| pH | 4.3 – 4.5 |
| Gold concentration | 4 grams per litre |
| Turnovers to exhaustion | 20 – 24 grams of gold added per litre |
| Agitation | Low to vigorous (see notes) |
| Electrode | Mesh or Platinum Rod Electrode (preferably bagged) |
| Gold content in plate | 99.9% (balance carbon) |
| Cathode efficiency | ~25% at Plating Factor = 0.01A/cm2 |
| Hardness | 190 – 210 Hv |
| Density of deposit | 19.3 g/cm3 |
| Stress | Medium |
| Special storage requirements | Away from sunlight |
| Shelf life | 1 – 2 years |
| Health and Safety classification | Harmful |
| Special considerations | Contains potassium cyanide (0.15%) |
| Transport (UN number) | None: Not classified as dangerous for transport |
Notes:
- Recommended plating factor range is between 0.008 and 0.012 A/cm2
- The plating rate varies considerably with temperature and agitation at any
fixed plating factor. - The only gold that should be replenished is via Gold Tank Replenisher; the amount to add should be calculated using our online calculator.
- Evaporation losses are made up usually at the end of the day by topping back up to the original level with deionised water.
- Rinse articles above the solution when you remove them from the tank so all the gold solution left over on the work goes back into the tank and is not wasted. If not, the gold will be dragged out and wasted.
- One litre of gold solution should last between 5 and 6 turnovers. That means that a gold solution which has 4 grams per litre of gold in it as supplied should plate out at least 5 x 4 = 20 grams of gold before it becomes overloaded with potassium and starts to crystallise out as potassium salts.
General guide;
Certain small items, for example Swabs, Nibs and Plating Pens can be sent by normal post within the UK
- The courier option for UK deliveries is FedEx
- Free UK mainland delivery available on orders over £200
- International orders usually 3-5 working days.
For all price quotations for deliveries, please add your items to our shopping cart. You will be able to see the shipping costs by clicking on the ‘Calculate shipping’ button in the cart and before checking out.
Please click on the link below to download the SDS for this product:
Fault |
Possible cause |
Corrective action |
||
No plating at all. |
Electricity not flowing in the plating circuit indicated by a red light at the bottom of the display on the MultiPlater. | Check all electrical contacts and clean if necessary. | ||
No plating. Item looks damaged on removal from plating process. |
Leads connected wrongly. | Check that the black connection from the MultiPlater is connected to the work piece and the red connection to the Beaker Ring. | ||
Plating dull or matt |
Plating on to porous surface
. |
Polish the article you are trying to plate. | ||
| Old solution which has plated in excess 24 grams of gold per litre. | Renew the gold plating solution. | |||
| Temperature too high.
|
Reduce temperature to within operating range (see Tech Specs). | |||
| Low conductivity. | Check the plating circuit for electrical faults. | |||
| Organic contamination. | Treat with Carbon Powder (see shop). | |||
Burnt deposit especially on corners and edges. Powdery in extreme cases |
Amp setting too high.
|
Decrease the amp setting. | ||
| Article too close to the anode. | Move the item in the beaker or rearrange the anodes.
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| Gold content too high. | Reduce the amps on the MultiPlater by 10% increments until burning disappears. Don’t make any additions of gold replenisher and gradually increase the amps until burning has gone at the recommended original plating amp setting. |
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| Too little agitation. | Increase agitation.
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| Temperature too low. | Increase temperature to within operating range. | |||
| Plating but not to correct thickness. | Incorrect amp or time settings. | The vast majority of failures to plate to thickness are due to wrong estimation of surface area. Double check your estimation of surface area paying special attention to the units which should be in square centimetres. Then input this together with your desired thickness into our online Gold Tank Plating Calculator. |
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| Temperature setting not correct. | Temperature can effect the plating rate: as temperature increases, so does the plating rate. Check that you have the correct temperature setting against our Gold Tank Plating Calculator. |
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| Agitation setting not correct. | Agitation can affect the plating rate. Check that you have selected the correct agitation rate against our online Gold Tank Plating Calculator. |
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Deposit bright but rough. |
Particulate contamination especially in small installations without continuous filtration. | Filter solution into a clean beaker/container or consider using a filter pump intermittently or continually. |
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Pitting of deposit. |
Tiny gas bubbles adhering to the surface of the article during plating (gas pitting). |
Fit anode bags to reduce the gas released into the solution during plating from the platinum electrodes. Increase agitation. |
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| Particulate matter in solution. | Filter as outlined above. | |||
| Grease or oil contamination in solution. | Treat with Carbon Powder as above.
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Un-plated areas.
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Improper cleaning. | Check cleaning cycle especially for water breaks (see Online Manual) | ||
| Surface porous or deeply scratch brushed. | Polish our the pores. It is not advisable to plate onto deeply scratch-brushed surfaces due the the cavities at the bottom of the scratch retaining contaminants such as oils and other debris. |
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| Trying to plate a difficult-to-plate metal like stainless or Inconel. |
Look under the Process Sequences tab for more information on preparing different substrates. |
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Vertical tide marks especially evident on thin, flat articles when using a
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Coalescence of gas bubbles forming around the eddies produced by the stirring action of the stirrer. |
Consider using a stirrer with reversing action in order to make the agitation more turbulent. If only plating for a short period, consider agitating the article by hand in a way as not to produce permanent eddies. |
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Deposit peels from basis metal. |
Improper cleaning or surface preparation. | Check the cleaning cycle for the metal. | ||
| Trying to plate a difficult-to-plate metal like stainless or Inconel. | Look under the Process Sequences tab for more information on preparing different substrates. |
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| Plated a too thick layer of gold. Gold plated from Gold Tank Plating Solution is of medium stress. Plating much over 4 microns can result in stress cracking and in extreme cases, peeling. |
Reduce the thickness of gold plated. Consult our online Gold Tank Plating Calculator for recommended amp and time settings for your work. |
Plating gold on copper, brass and bronze
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Acticlean/Activator dip (no power)
- Rinse
- Plate a barrier layer of nickel with Nickel Tank Plating Solution to at least 3 microns. If it’s not possible to plate nickel due to specifications, consider an alternative metal like palladium
- Rinse
- Gold plate
Note: Some types of brass may be difficult to plate directly with nickel. In this case, plate with Alkaline Copper Plating Solution 5 minutes at plating factor 0.01 A/cm2 prior to nickel plating.
Plating gold on nickel and its alloys (such as nickel silver and Monel)
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Plate an adhesion layer of gold with NiPrep
- No need to rinse, go directly to the gold plating stage
- Gold plate
Note: nickel and its alloys may also be prepared for plating by gold striking which included below.
Plating gold on stainless steel and difficult-to-plate metals such as surgical instruments and dental alloys
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Plate an adhesion layer with Gold Strike Tank
- Rinse
- Gold plate
Plating gold on to steel and iron
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Plate with Alkaline Copper Tank Plating Solution for 5 minutes at plating factor 0.01 A/cm2
- Rinse
- Build up with Copper Tank Plating Solution (see note at end of article)
- Rinse
- Plate a barrier layer of nickel with Nickel Tank Plating Solution to at least 3 microns. If it’s not possible to plate nickel due to specifications, consider an alternative metal like palladium
- Rinse
- Gold plate
Plating gold on zinc (also see individual product pages)
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Microetch in Activator for 1 – 2 minutes
- Rinse
- Plate with Alkaline Copper Tank Plating Solution for 5 minutes at plating factor 0.01 A/cm2 (see note below)
- Rinse
- Build up with Copper Tank Plating Solution (see note at end of article)
- Rinse
- Plate with Nickel Tank Plating Solution to at least 3 microns
- Rinse
- Gold plate
Note : For best results, zinc needs to be mechanically finished prior to plating. This we advise polishing, linishing or very fine scratch brushing such as the finish obtained with fine Scotch-Brite™ mops. Attempting to plate on a course scratch brushed surface will result in poor adhesion and unplated areas.
Plating gold on to aluminium
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Zincate in Zincate Dip for 30 seconds to 2 minutes
- Rinse
- Plate with Alkaline Copper Tank Plating Solution for 5 minutes at plating factor 0.01 A/cm
- Rinse
- Build up with Copper Tank Plating Solution (see note at end of article)
- Nickel plate with Nickel Tank Plating Solution
- Rinse
- Gold plate
Plating gold on tin and its alloys (pewter, Britannia metal and solder)
- Degrease
- Electroclean
- Rinse
- Plate with Alkaline Copper Tank Plating Solution for 5 minutes at plating factor 0.01 A/cm
- Rinse
- Plate a barrier layer of nickel with Nickel Tank Plating Solution to at least 3 microns. If it’s not possible to plate nickel due to specifications, consider an alternative metal like palladium
- Rinse
- Gold plate
More information about each process can found on the individual product pages.
Note: If the article is expected to be used out doors (for example, car parts), a protective copper layer of at least 10 microns should be plated with Copper Tank Plating Solution after the alkaline copper stage. After this, the article should be removed from the process and mechanically finished (polishing, linishing or fine scratch brushing) prior to nickel plating.
