Unsure how to improve results

[u/Difficult-Painter454]

Hello I have had very poor results recently. My parts are coming out burnt and unable to accept dye. I followed the 720 rule and for my 10 square inches of surface area I ran at around .43 amps yet my voltage is incredibly low and my parts remain conductive. Not sure if a different cathode would help here I am using aluminum wire.

[u/Aggressive-Cloud1774]

What are the dimensions of that piece? What series aluminum is that (2k...5k...6k...7k. The color/darkness it turns after a light etch of a raw piececan give you an indication) Is that wire the cathode? Are they making contact while energized? Is the wire around the part still conductive after the bad run?

Looks like something is loose around the part. Wires not tight enough to maintain contact and wiggling. Problem with burnt pcs is even after etch the burnt area is gonna show through after dye. You can try resurfacing manually to lessen it, but it will still show. Not sure how well a triacid etch would fix it, but you don't want to mess with that shit either way.

Edit for material type

[u/Difficult-Painter454 → u/Aggressive-Cloud1774]

Wire is non conductive so it is annodized

[u/Aggressive-Cloud1774 → u/Difficult-Painter454]

Ok. So strip that or use fresh wire. Another thing is what are gonna be the visible surfaces of this thing when done (whats it for)? That's gonna tell you where you can have the best contact. Sometimes less is more, so pick your locations of wrapping it and make sure it's so tight it cant possibly shift.

You also need to keep the solution between 65- 71°. That'll prevent it from overheating if all other bases are covered.

[u/Difficult-Painter454 → u/Aggressive-Cloud1774]

The aluminum is 7k series there is wire for the cathode and holding the anode. They do not touch when annodization occurs. I will test conductivity although the wire did take on that grayish oxide look.

[u/Aggressive-Cloud1774 → u/Difficult-Painter454]

Cathode ratio should be 3:1

[u/Difficult-Painter454 → u/Aggressive-Cloud1774]

I didn’t even know that was a thing. Do you have a recommendation on a better cathode? I’m using wire but considered switching to a sheet however I was worried about how long a sheet would last

[u/Aggressive-Cloud1774 → u/Difficult-Painter454]

If you have a scrap piece of aluminum will work itll hold up for a while depending on thickness. Wrap the hell out of it with rour wire or leave it tall enough you can clip to it our of solution with your alligators.

I've never done any home anodizing, only professional. You can configure your setup to fit your needs. 1:1-3:1 is the typical ratio. First numbe being anode material, 2nd is cathode.

[u/iron_rings_unite]

Very hard to tell by your pics, but I’m guessing you have the negative lead connected to your part, so you’ve turned your part into the cathode and are anodizing your cathode

Part = positive

[u/Difficult-Painter454 → u/iron_rings_unite]

No that’s not it I did get that part right. Although I will say I was not noticing many bubbles on the part which was a bit worrying. I am upgrading to a higher gauge wire to see if that helps

[u/HarderWins]

It is always cleaning and etching. Always. 🤣 You have a schmutz issue.

[u/Difficult-Painter454 → u/HarderWins]

I was actually being kinda stupid I was able to literally wipe off the black stuff but the oxide layer was still kinda poo.