Electroplating materials, from the anode to the bus bar

Nickel anodes dissolve to replace the nickel plated out onto the work, so the bath stays in balance. Purity matters, because impurities in the anode end up in the bath as sludge or as dark, rough deposits. We supply flat nickel anodes and oval nickel anodes; the choice usually comes down to what your hooks, anode bars and tank spacing were designed for.

Most bright and semi-bright nickel lines are run with anode area at least equal to the work area. Too little anode area pushes up current density on the anode, which can make it passivate and stop dissolving properly.

Keep a few spare anodes cut and hooked. When an anode thins out at the waterline or drops into the tank, the shop that has a replacement ready keeps the line running; the shop that has to order one loses a shift.

Every volt lost in the bus bar is a volt the rectifier has to make up, and the lost energy turns into heat in the plating shop. EC copper bars and flats carry current from the rectifier to the tank with the least loss. Flight bars and cathode rods are often copper too, sometimes with brass hooks for wear.

Acid copper plating baths normally use phosphorised copper anodes, which behave differently from plain EC copper in the bath. Tell us the bath type when you ask for copper so we supply the right material for the job.

Chrome plating uses insoluble anodes; the chromium comes from chromic acid in the bath, not from the anode. Those anodes are lead alloys, most often lead with around 7% tin or with antimony, which form a lead dioxide surface that keeps chromium in the correct state. We supply lead, tin-lead and antimony for anode makers and for shops that cast their own.

Lead sheet has also long been used to line older chrome and sulphuric acid tanks. Many shops have moved to PVC or polypropylene-lined tanks, but lead still turns up in repairs to existing ones, and in heating and cooling coils for chrome baths, where its resistance to chromic acid at temperature is useful.