line. Those sources included
articles on PFonline.com, as well
as various other research on noncyanide copper plating processes.
The search ended with a frantic
phone call to Eric Olander, owner
and president of EPi, Electrochemical Products Inc., a Milwaukee,
Wis., manufacturer of chemicals
for the metal plating and metal
finishing industries. Olander
quickly found himself trying to
help Carraza debug his plating
line, get his chemistry in order
and speed up the process to boot.
ÒThey were experiencing a thin,
non-cyanide copper plate in the
recessed area, which resulted in
the acid copper eating through
the thin copper plate, causing
blisters in the deep recess areas,Ó
Olander says.
American Standard sent parts
to EPiÕs lab in Milwaukee, and
Olander and his staff quickly began
working on a solution for one of the
largest bath fixture manufacturers
in the U.S. They began with sending a batch of parts through the
lab tanks using EPiÕs E-Brite Ultra
Cu alkaline, non-cyanide copper
plating chemistry, and the results
were extremely promising.
Parts Plated in 20 Minutes
ePi's e-Brite ultra Cu serves as both a strike and a plate bath, and its lower
copper concentration means less sludge generation.
According to Olander, EPi plated
the parts at 20 asf (2 Adm-2) to
achieve copper-plated thickness
of 6-7 microns (0.0002 -0.0003
inches) in the deep recessed areas
in 20 minutes. The copper-plated
parts were then sent back to American StandardÕs Mexican plant.
The improved results were
immediately evident to Carraza
ÒThe difficulties were in the throwing and covering power
for deep recessed parts...
24
JUNE 2013