Do It Yourself Zinc Plating

[onformula1]

This for the write up! I have done a little research on this in the past with a little more technical details but less of the critical details that you cover such as the photos!

From what I remember, there is a calculation for surface area to be plated and amps for the "ideal" speed/time. I'd say an axle would take atleast 2, maybe 3 anodes hooked together to spread out the power source, and either run a larger power supply, or 2-3 of them and keeping the anodes not shorted together. A battery charger isn't required, anything that puts out power works great. Lots of people have used computer power supplies, but the process is slower. The old black box plugins for phones, routers, etc work too, you just need DC power. I don't remember if Voltage mattered or not, laptops and printers use 17-36v, so that might be a bit too high.

Someday I'll get into zinc plating, it seems simple enough and the results are generally great vs what you start with.

I tested this first in a much smaller scale using a Mayo jar here is what worked for me and somethings that did not.

10-12 oz. of pure Zinc worked great with 1 to 1 1/2 gallons of solution, I did try more and I didn't see anything different.

During my small scale test I tried a AA battery and X2 AA batteries with poor results, using a lot less Zinc.

The batteries are 1.5 volts each, so 1.5 & 3 volts did not work well.

Anything under 6 volts did not work. 6-12 volts worked great.

I found that the amperage was the most important factory, 2 amps or less did not work, 10 amps seems good or maybe a bit much, 6 amps was perfect.

The power supplies you are talking about, I believe are below 2 amps I only checked out the old stuff I had laying around, so I could be wrong.

[onformula1]

Ever thought about making your own zinc chloride? I didn't read into it much, but it sounds like you just need zinc + hydrogen chloride which I'm sure you can buy locally, shipping however is unlikely as it is a fairly strong acid if I remember correctly. Of course before you do anything, read and learn how to handle the chemicals safely and what the dangers are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_chloride

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_chloride

Pretty sure the plant I worked at in the past used Hydrogen Chloride, since I remember the "science" building people talking about HCL which is the chemical name for it. Also it is half of the formula to make aqua regia for processing gold from gold plated material. Got to love the random science learning when I was just a computer tech talking to the chemists =).

I was trying to stay away from- hydrochloric acid in the shop, I may try it, outside someday.

[ps2fixer]

Semi-old power supplies for computers on the 12v rail generally ran 10 amp + but the resistance of the acid will lower that quite a bit. I'm guessing you're looking at the amp specs @ 110v, 2 amp = 220w/12v = 18.3a. Of course it isn't 100% efficient, and it all doesn't go to 12v, but most of it does.

I won't claim to be an expert, but from my understanding, the zinc you put in the acid gets dissolved and when you electroplate, the dissolved zinc collects on the anode(s). As this happens, more zinc dissolves. Kind of the same logic as dissolving salt or sugar in water, then somehow removing some, and you can dissolve more.

I brushed up a little on the process, and the plating speed is controlled by current flow, based on what I read, with vinegar you should be targeting 1.5-3v because vinegar does not hold much dissolved zinc and any excess power will be wasted to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, you will see tiny air bubbles if this is happening. I don't think it hurts anything, but your wasting electricity at that point.

For the amount of power you need in amps, generally accepted is 20amp per square foot of surface area to be plated. Sharp jagged parts like a pile of bolts, should be done at lower amps and for a longer time, while flatter parts can be done at higher amps at a shorter time. If you put too much power in, you get uneven coating, or even spots that don't plate. Moving the parts around helps reduce that effect as you can't completely get away from it.

Remember, just because a power supply is rated to put out 20 amps, does not mean it will push 20 amps though the solution, there is resistance that will make the current rate drop. Simply put think of it as a normal light bulb vs shorting out the 110v wires together for near 0 ohms vs say 100 ohms (idk the actual resistance of a light bulb).

[Jmoozy27]

I was trying to stay away from- hydrochloric acid in the shop, I may try it, outside someday.

I would try sulfuric acid in the +90% range. The higher % the less corrosive it is to metal. Sulfuric does not off gas like hydrochloric / muriatic. With that being said you do not wAnt to get this stuff on you.

[onformula1]

I would try sulfuric acid in the +90% range. The higher % the less corrosive it is to metal. Sulfuric does not off gas like hydrochloric / muriatic. With that being said you do not wAnt to get this stuff on you.

Yeah, there is a lot of stuff I could try, but when a 2 buck bottle of vinegar works perfect I get the feeling I should move on to the next project like the DIY aluminum anodizing.

Plus the solution make a great Zinc vinaigrette salad dressing that is not too sweet or salty.

[ps2fixer]

Yeah, there is a lot of stuff I could try, but when a 2 buck bottle of vinegar works perfect I get the feeling I should move on to the next project like the DIY aluminum anodizing.

Plus the solution make a great Zinc vinaigrette salad dressing that is not too sweet or salty.

Well at least you can say one thing about your salad dressing.... it's high in Zinc!

[onformula1]

Excellent thread. Thank you for the information onformula1. This should be stickied so it can be found easily.

Do they do that anymore?

Thank you for the thought.

[bkm]

I just ordered my ingots, I just need to source a metal basket for nuts and bolts.

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[onformula1]

A small bread pan, step drill and a sharpie make a nice Swiss cheesed basket, also a stainer works, hung by two pieces of wire- under $3 bucks too.

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[bkm]

DIY barrel plater.
http://www.nulltime.com/zincplating/...rel/index.html

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[onformula1]

DIY barrel plater.
http://www.nulltime.com/zincplating/...rel/index.html

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I thought about something like that using a old windshield wiper motor (I have tried this on my fake"No computer" CNC plasma cutter setup, it worked) or a electric die grinder with a rheostat. (It works and will go surprisingly slow)