Zinc Plating Introduction - D.I.Y. Hobbyist How-To Demonstration 

As another viewer has noted, the plating process tends to require line of sight between the zinc anode and the areas of the part that you want to be plated. The ideal is have surface of the the zinc anode entirely surrounding and equally distant from all the surfaces of the part. Obviously, it is not practical to achieve that ideal setup, however, if the setup departs too far from that, the process may not work, as was illustrated with the interior of the first part. In the semi-enclosed areas of the part, there will be little electric field to drive the plating process. So, for that somewhat hollow part that wouldn't plate internally, try arranging extra small zinc anode centrally within the hollow space of the part. Given the short distance between that extra anode and the internal surfaces you will have to dial back the current to avoid the fury zinc deposit problem. Good video. Cheers

As always, a great video. The best content providers as yourself, show the Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. I will be watching the comments to see the input from your viewers. Thank you for all of time you take to provide us Neophytes.

Skip the pump and get a aquarium air pump insted. Works just fine. And for zink you can buy zinkanodes for boats and use them

Thanks for posting both your successes and failures. Very educational video. Thanks for the information and links.

Thanks for the transparency, one thing I did notice is after you dip your part in hydrochloric acid, you need to dip it into a water/baking soda solution. That will neutralize the acid. Best of luck

I'm starting to dabble in zinc plating myself, restoring a few rare parts. Thanks for sharing.

Zinc anodes will turn black during the plating process. You would normally place a zinc anode into a Anode filter bag.

Place the anode or anode in the middle of your box that way the current will be in the center of your box I'm trying to learn how to electric plate and you have done a great job describing how to make sure you come out with a good results to my opinion I'm sure that if you put power inside of that box it will cover as well as it did on the other sides.

The deposition will happen on the closest surfaces to the anode. Another thing you could try is to use wax on the surfaces already coated, that will make the zinc only have opportunity to stick to the parts that remain in electrical contact. If you are heating the solution the wax may melt; you might want to turn that off for the second part. Another solution is to place the sacrificial anode inside the part, that way the zinc will migrate first to the uncoated metal. Make sure you use something to isolate the cathode from the part.

Thanks for all the tips! I just reccomend that you focus on the fluid dynamics of your system, since, together with electromagnetic forces (?) it's the advective flow that will carry all the ions to the piece you are plating!!! My best regards!

ok , I've done a little zinc , copper and nickel plating and I think you have 2 things affecting your results , 1 you need to load up the electrolyte with zinc ions first - turning the solution into zinc acetate . hook one zinc anode and one zinc cathode up in the solution with no part involved and plate from one to the other for an hour or two then reverse the polarity and plate back to the other totalling maby 6 to 8 hours , this puts the zinc in to solution ready to plate all surfaces immediately with the anode 1. replacing zinc ions real time with ones being deposited onto the part and 2. being (well) the anode. second is I think your mix is off , 1. I'd try more like 2:1 vinegar to water maby even 3:1 and 2. reduce the epsom salt by half at least maby only 1/3 - the epsom salt is there to make the solution more conductive and I believe the (crystaling) burning on the edged are from the current being to high exacerbated by the overly conductive solution. with plating balancing the the solution is important and slow and steady wins the race , your prep work is absolutely perfect the problem is all what's in the bucket and the current it is plating at

instead of a straight anode, I recommend rolling it into a cylinder around the edge of the bucket.

This is why commercial plating solutions have a myriad of different additives to increase the "throw" of the solution. That is electroplater jargon for a solutions ability to coat uneven surfaces. Simple solutions usually have a throw of something close to zero, meaning it will coat very unevenly. Definitly not inside corners. For a home player, it is pretty much impossible to set up a solution just right for a certain piece. That is also the reason why commercial platers refuse to do small batches. Because the solution and the process must be dialed in for each piece. But for us, there is a way around it: Change electrode positioning during coating. First do it like shown here. Then place the anode very close to the uncoated surfaces. Stick it inside the part if necessary and go on plating. 3D printing fixtures can help suppress short circuits. And one possible misunderstanding that I pick up: Increasing the voltage and amperage INCREASES Faraday shielding of inside corners. It makes it MORE uneven. Lower voltage improves the throw. You cannot go down to zero, as you have a minimum voltage necessary to drive the process. But going slow and giving it time helps, and might reduce the number of steps required.

Viendo el vídeo al final solo lo tiñes de amarillo, creo que debes sacar la pieza del baño de zinc, luego enjuagarla con agua, después pasarla por un ácido pasivo, después enjuagarla con agua, luego teñirla de amarillo, luego enjuagarla con agua, después secarla con aire con un soplador y después secarla en un horno o sea una fuente de calor que evapore la humedad y debes lograr el efecto brilloso en la pieza.

Try putting a filter around the zinc anoide to help stop the crux bits, maybe a coffee filler. I have no experience in plating but going to give it a go. Keep up the good work.

The first time I zinc-plated was when I was a kid in the 70's. I got zinc from dead flashlight batteries the cases are made of zinc. I put my battery charger on 6 volts I think. I was amazed at how well it worked and I didn't know what I was doing.

Exlent teaching.

Great video thank you

For better uniformity, hang a bolt at each threaded hole and connect all bolts to a separate copper wire, then connect each copper wire to your copper pipe. The problem is that electrons want to flow as far from each other as possible and thus accumulate at the edges. You need to get the electrons propagating from the "hidey-holes".

Good job bro

i think you need to charge your electrolyte with more zinc ions before you plate.' you're trying to drag out too much zinc from the anode to make up for it. thus, burning the edges and getting a crusty finish. i only use an old phone charger. that's about 3 volts and it's rated in milliamps. its slow to Coate and comes out very good surface finish nice flat silver color. but no shiny Crome look like Caswells kits give you. if i need shiny i polish the part

Try using a fish tank pump for adjitation that will help in hard to get areas

in the alkaline zinc plating process, DOHENYS FLOCCULENT can be used to shine the zinc plating and after the passivation process, get that iridescent appearance. Could you test if it also works for acid zinc plating? Unfortunately here in Brazil they use aluminum in similar products and I believe that aluminum will affect the cleaning of the solution. Look for the "DIY Bright Zinc Plating" video to see the amount of flocculant.

I watched another video and the guy put the same amount of suger as salt into the brine, this apparently stops the bild up on the edges. good video cheers.

Plating works by line of sight. If you are not getting plating on all parts of the part then that part doesn't have line of sight with zinc.

thank you

Try using Sulfuric acid instead of acidic acid. It's a little more dangerous but will give you more throwing power. The zinc ions don't like to plate in recessed areas. You could try building off of your hanger a cage that mimics your recessed areas. Not touching the part of course. Also, I would suggest hanging the part directly and moving it throughout the process. otherwise, your threads will not plate and rust will start there and propagate out.

Try using 4 pieces of zinc evenly spread.

Wow, I don’t have your patience which is why I just use zinc color spray paint😂

VERY helpful video!! How long do you typically leave the parts in the mixture?

20:04 the shortest way between anode and part. collect dust with a balloon rubbed on your hair, you will understand. use 4 anodes + one inside your part.

Good video just one suggestion is let zinc sit in solution for a day then do it. It devolves in solution

Question for you @redlinestands - could you do this type of zinc plating, but on the inside of a gas tank, after you have acid cleaned it etc, to stop it rusting? Instead of having something sitting on a wire in a plastic bucket of solution, have the tank as the electrified part, solution inside it, and zinc plate the inside of the tank? Thanks

Do you need surfactant like cumylphenol

Is it possible that instead of using Epsom salt you could use washing soda which is what a lot of people are using. I cant get washing soda in my country or I just can't find it so I make my own I learned in a couple of RU-vid videos. I buy baking soda and spread it evenly on a baking tray. Cook in the oven on 200c for 30 minutes to evaporate all the water out of it and the result is washing soda after 30 minutes in the oven. You might need to shake the tray half way through cooking it if you have a lot on the tray and you don't need to add anything at all to the tray while cooking. HINT: If you place a baking sheet of paper on the tray and put the backing soda on the sheet then when cooked it is easier to roll it up and funnel it into the container you want to keep it in

Put the zinc anode in the Center of the part

I personally use a 14v 4A car battery charger and recently I copper plated a 4 inch vise😂😂😂

How do you fix the fuzzies? Do you strip in miuratic or just drop amps and continue plating?

if you do not want a yellow finish , do you just not dip into Yellow chromate solution ?

your problems are easy : less plating insides concave parts (low current density area) = need more zinc ions/salts in the solution. burning on part edges (high current density area) = need less current. for a more uniform deposite in acid zinc plating, you need a complexing salt. most popular acid zinc formula are based on zinc chloride, and potassium chloride complexing agent. for a shine plating you should use a surfactant, SDBS is very good. acid bath are good for build-up tickness plating, alkaline bath have a better throwing power. before imerge your part into the chromate passivating solution, you need to imerge the part into a dillute nitric acid solution.

I bet the edge effect you are seeing is because of the plasma cutting torch hardens the metal.

wouldnt you have to double your amps with two anodes?

About those edges over-plating @18:37 it is said that electric fields are stronger on sharp edges. Maybe that is the reason for the plating material being attracted more towards the edge of the plate?

*You just need an Air Bubblier and air-stone!*

Simply unplug the pump before you stick a probe in it. No danger.

LIKE👍👍👍👍👍 💯💯💯 😻😻😻😻

Wow your really not good at this process yet

Instead of a pump, use an equarium bubbler for circulation... No moving parts or stray current.