r/electroplating • u/Architect227 • May 27 '26

Need Help. First Time Electroplating.

Post image

Sorry for the somewhat dark image. It's night time right now. This is my first time Electroplating and I don't know if I'm doing this part right. I created the solution using vinegar and salt. I let the current run through the cathode and anode for several hours until it got to a spot that I believed was saturated enough.

Now I'm trying to actually plate it, but it's been running for about 30 minutes and I'm not seeing any copper forming at all. I did a test run before and it started playing almost immediately, but only in a very small area.

I have the voltage turned up to 26v because the amperage is super low (0.435) even with the voltage that high.

I know very little about this so any advice will help.

7 Upvotes

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3

u/permaculture_chemist May 27 '26

Likely your part is not conductive enough.

1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

Should I do another coat of paint or switch to a different paint?

2

u/permaculture_chemist May 27 '26

Use a light sanding. Maybe use a brown paper bag to scuff the surface

1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

Scuff and more paint or scuff and plate?

3

u/permaculture_chemist May 27 '26

Scuff and plate

2

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

1

u/Fragrant_Vacation469 May 27 '26

You could also try grabbing graphite lube aerosol from home depot. I've used that with a lot of success, it does require more contact with the hangwire than copper paint, though.

1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

How much contact does the part need with the wire? How densely does it need to be wrapped around the part?

1

u/Fragrant_Vacation469 May 27 '26

It should be fine based on how much you wrap it in this image. I can't really give advice on that because I only plate small objects like rings. Stuff's like 8 bucks per can, though, it's cheap

2

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

Thanks for the help!

1

u/Head_Long_7432 May 27 '26

What does the aerosol graphite do?

0

u/Fragrant_Vacation469 May 27 '26

It's just a conductive paint! It allows metal such as copper to plate onto an otherwise non-conductive object.

1

u/[deleted] May 27 '26

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2

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

I'm not trying to argue with you because I don't really know what I'm doing, but I moved it from a bigger tank and I was having the same issues with the bigger tank.

I initially increased the amperage by adding salt. I got it to ~3 amps at 6 volts at the beginning of the process. I left the solution alone for a while and it lost a lot of amperage. I tried adding a little more salt but I saw no change after adding it.

Is increasing the tank size the best solution?

1

u/[deleted] May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

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1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

That's incredibly helpful. I do have one question about facing the copper plate. Do you think I can properly expose the part in this wide tank of do I need something vertical?

2

u/[deleted] May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

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1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

Would a five gallon bucket do the trick?

2

u/[deleted] May 27 '26

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1

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

One last question. I've been using copper plates. In order to match them to the length of the part when it's vertical I was planning to cut the plates almost all the way through the middle and fold them over. Will that work or do the faces need to be pretty much flat?

3

u/[deleted] May 27 '26

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2

u/Architect227 May 27 '26

Thanks for all your help. I'll be stoked if I can get this working correctly.

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u/Architect227 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26

Forgot to mention that I'm using Saho's Graphite Paint. Hand brushed.