Five reasons for insufficient adhesion of electroplating coatings

Mar. 28, 2022   |   425 views

Electroplating, as a protective treatment method for metal surfaces, is widely used in various metal production due to its irreplaceable advantages in beautifying product appearance, enhancing metal texture, and improving corrosion resistance and wear resistance.

Therefore, nickel-iron plating, iron-tin plating, gold-silver plating, and aluminum-silver plating are derived. Although these plating types are different, many manufacturers have reported a problem in the production process: that is – the bonding force of the plating layer is not enough, and it is easy to fall off!
Why this phenomenon occurs, according to expert analysis, there are many reasons. Basically, there are five reasons.

1. The electroplating solution is contaminated

In the electroplating production of the factory, due to various reasons, harmful impurities such as metal oxides, metal impurities, insoluble suspended solids, organic impurities and so on enter the electroplating solution, and the accumulation of these impurities will affect the quality of the electroplating solution and the coating layer. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly clean up impurities and process the plating solution.

2. Poor pre-treatment of substrate

If the bath is OK, it may be necessary to recheck the substrate surface for ash layers or liquid residues, as well as other chemicals. Because the plating products are not cleaned properly, the flatness, corrosion resistance and bonding force of the electroplating layer will be affected in light, and the plating layer will be deposited, loose and discontinuous, or even peeled off, and the product will lose its practical use value. Therefore, it is also an important job to ensure a good pre-plating process.

3. The process control is not in place

Process control plays a crucial role in the quality of electroplated coatings. If there is no problem with the plating solution and pretreatment, it is necessary to check whether there is a problem with the process control. The temperature in the tank, the density of the current, the pH value of the potion, the plating time and other process controls must be matched with the product. Therefore, process control must strive to be accurate.

4. The production progress is too fast

A product is often assembled from many parts. As we all know, in order to complete the processing of these parts, it is often necessary to cross multiple workshops. Unfortunately, electroplating is the last process. Therefore, we often see such a scene: the parts have not yet arrived in the electroplating workshop, and the brothers in the assembly workshop are already waiting for the parts to be assembled.
In this way, the construction period is too tight. In order to complete the task, everyone continuously works overtime and rushes the construction period, resulting in the electroplating time not meeting the process requirements. In addition, the night work light affects the inspection, which ultimately affects the electroplating quality.

5. Unreasonable product design

Product designers and production people are two completely different people. Product designers pay more attention to the shape, size, machining accuracy and other conditions of product parts in the design of part drawings, but do not think much about the processing technology of the product, let alone the electroplating process. Therefore, it also brings some unnecessary troubles to the electroplating work, which also has a certain impact on the quality of electroplating products.