Trusted Leader in Electroless Nickel
Plate-Out Reduction
What is a Plate-Out?
A “plate-out” is an unwanted runaway plating of tank walls, filters, and pumps or in the most extreme cases autocatalytic decomposition of an electroless nickel bath. Plate-outs can happen for a variety of reasons; including insufficient passivation of the plating equipment or tank, excessively high solution temperatures or solution pH, contamination, poorly designed bath formulations, poor solution maintenance, inadequate filtration, improper heating devices, and other reasons. Many baths that experience plate-outs can be recovered with the proper steps. Focusing on proper routine chemical maintenance, plating techniques, and by using the highest quality electroless nickel solutions will help minimize the number of plate-outs that occur.
How much does a plate-out cost?
- A major “plate out” will drop nickel concentration 30-40%. So, every plate out wastes 0.3-0.4 MTOs worth of deposit you could have sold.
- A plating shop in the Upper Midwest operating two 800 gallon EN tanks was plagued with weekly plate-outs using an older legacy high-phos chemistry.
- The tanks would fully plate out every 2-3 operating days killing both process efficiency and affecting employee morale.
- After switching to Meta-Plate Ultra Phos OG they have these eliminated frequent plate-outs and have maximized production.
- Chemical spend on EN chemistry has decreased over 30%.
Learn more about the products used to achieve these amazing results
Metal Chem is Electroless Nickel
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