Troubleshooting Your Plating Process

When things start to go wrong with your process line, do not fret. Instead, take a deep breath and take the following troubleshooting steps.

In a perfect world, everything would work as planned every single time. But sometimes, even in the structured environment of the process line, problems can arise.

But there is a way to deal with these bumps in the road. A good troubleshooting process will help you identify the issue quickly and develop a comprehensive resolution plan.

There are five steps you can take that are crucial when you are starting to troubleshoot a process line:

1. Completely determine all the symptoms of the problem.
2. Review when the problem started.
3. Provide production records that will include operating parameters including temperature, pH, amperage, voltage, conductivity, etc.
4. Compare the analysis and operating parameters to the predetermined optimal ranges.
5. Look for trends in one or several parameters, take note of any differences.

After completing these helpful steps, it’s time to look at the defect itself. Sometimes the defect can be easily seen with the naked eye with a clear cause. These causes might be a visible fingerprint, a water break line, or something else entirely.

But in other cases, using magnification is crucial for determining the original cause of the problem. The quickest type of magnification is a 10X-20X loop. This handheld loop is nondestructive, leaving the part intact after examination. Non-destructive methods of magnification include 10X to 1,000X and destructive methods includes 50,000X plus.

What You Should Look For

Using the form of magnification that works for you, the defect is often easy to see, and the probable cause will be revealed.

While this is not an exhaustive list, some possible defects may be:

• A sliver connected to the base metal after improper buffing
• Porosity in the casting
• Inclusion in the substrate
• Mechanical damage to the base metal
• Microscopic base metal defects
• The metal itself

Key Insight: The brighter the deposited metal, the easier it is to see defects on the part.

Finding the Defect Location

Your next job is to determine where the defect is in the base metal or the plated deposit. Oftentimes no clear-cut distinction is possible or the defect is a combination of the base metal and the plated metal.

The final step in the process is to gather evidence and review what might be causing an issue. Changes in chemistry of the plating bath or the cleaners can be directly related to the defect if it is coming from the deposited metal or on the surface of the part.

Defects in the base metal can be traced to the handling, polishing, or casting process. Some parts are defective before being plated and the plating process brings them to the surface. With all these possibilities it truly is an art and science to effectively troubleshoot any plating problems.

Conclusion

While we may cross our fingers and hope our processes go smoothly in our work, being prepared with a troubleshooting plan is the best way to help you avoid future headaches.