When we use nickel plating additives to produce, sometimes there will be slight pinholes and pitting in the coating of the workpiece, which will affect the appearance and performance quality of the coating.What is the reason for this?
Bigolly Technology made an analysis based on the field experience and the characteristics of the product nickel plating additives Ni-301,there are four main reasons for the occurrence of pinholes and pitting in the nickel plating layer:
1. Too little wetting agent in the plating solution.The hydrogen bubbles generated during the nickel plating process will stay on the surface of the cathode, and nickel ions are continuously deposited around the hydrogen bubbles with low discharge, and the nickel layer is gradually thickened.When the nickel layer is too thick to withstand the hydrogen bubbles, the foaming will automatically burst, and pits will appear in the bubbles that are not deposited on the nickel layer, which is what we call pinholes or pitting.
2. The filter pump has air.In a bath with discontinuous filtration, there may be air in the filter pump.When the plating solution is filtered, the air remaining in the pump is not exhausted, and the air will be brought into the plating solution with the filter pump and become bubbles on the plating layer, so that the plating layer is prone to pinholes or pitting.
3. There are organic impurities such as oil stains in the plating solution.These organic impurities without electrical conductivity will adhere to the surface of the workpiece, which will cause nickel ions to fail to deposit on the surface of the workpiece.Where the organic impurities are not adhered, the coating will continue to deposit and thicken, so that the coating will form pit-like pinholes or pitting.
4. The iron ion content in the plating solution is too high.When pitting still occurs after the plating solution is adjusted with a wetting agent, it is necessary to consider whether the content of iron ions in the plating solution is too high.Iron ions will form a colloid in the plating solution, which is difficult to remove by filtration. It will adhere to the surface of the workpiece and cause pitting on the plating layer.
Therefore, in the production process of using nickel plating additives, we need to pay attention to these 4 points when there are pinholes or pitting in the nickel plating layer, and solve the fault as soon as possible.If you are interested in nickel plating additives, please contact Bigolly customer service, you can get free samples and detailed technical information!
If you want to know more about nickel plating, you can click to view "Common-problem".
