Questions about Plastic chrome plating

A. Hello J. To get the durable, non-peeling plating that we associate with exterior automotive parts, you need fabulous adhesion, and "plating grade ABS" is the top choice because it can be etched in a special way that produces terrific "tooth".

To really understand plating on plastic you may want to try to find a copy of the book "Standards and Guidelines for Electroplated Plastics".

adv.
Please search our Directory of Jobshops.

Good luck with the project!

A. G'day guys, I've been plating non-electroconductive materials and repairing pitted die cast (automotive) for several years now. In response to Jason's message, cost is always a factor and, yes, some of the work that I do for the punters out there can rack up the bucks. Restoring plastic instrument clusters with real chrome work, not that fake aluminium stuff, is time consuming and the process itself seems to take forever at times. In a mass production type case, ABS plastic is what ya stuck with.

A. Hi Don. There are also plateable grades of polypropylene, fiberglass, and nylon. But actual chrome plating is increasingly reserved for components that need great reflectivity, great corrosion resistance, and great adhesion despite temperature cycling, for applications like exterior automotive parts.

Less costly alternatives include vacuum metallizing and the 'chrome-look' paints. Good luck.

A. Good luck, Don, but you will find electroplating way, way, more expensive than vacuum metallizing.

A. A popular plating grade resin in the US is GE MC1300 which is a plateable grade PC/ABS resin (about 50/50). GE MG 37 EP is the standard plateable grade ABS resin. Keep in mind that plating on PC/ABS resins require additional care in the etching process. Idemitsu in Japan offers a plateable (PC/ABS) resin sold under the material callout SC253. Astaloy EHA 3510 (again plateable PC/ABS) is also available from Australia. Bayer offers several materials that are plateable grade under the Bayblend family.

A. Sorry, Mike, that's perhaps not possible economically depending on how many wheels you make. Chrome plating of ABS actually includes etching, palladium sensitizing, electroless nickel plating, copper plating, semi-bright nickel plating, bright nickel plating, and chrome plating as an absolute minimum. It's expensive to do, and would cost very substantial capital to install in house.

A substitute process may be good enough for you and might be either vacuum metallizing or chrome-look paints.

A. Dear Yashwantji,

As per your inquiry data is as follows,

1) EP-200 is plating grade material of Bayer.
2) Thickness is decided as per the requirement, as per thermal test, corrosion test, where you are going to use.
3) It is available in various colours i.e., natural, grey, etc.

A. Dear Guptaji,
1. You are using in ABS plating grade raw material EP-200 Bayer natural colour, and also you are using in gray colour.
2. As per your question you are using for plastic hand shower (chrome plated ) that type parts proper thickness (copper-40 micron, nickel-20 micron & chrome - 0.3 micron) should be maintain.
3. You are ref. PIAGIGO STD.2123 which related with abs material like colour, grade and raw material properties.

A. Sorry, but your question is a bit vague, cousin Guntur. Almost anything can be given a metallic look. Vacuum metalizing, for example, is very low cost (at high volume) and is suitable for some things. But if you need exterior automotive quality, which will not corrode or peel off, you need real copper nickel chrome electroplating on ABS. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Try Cycolac resin - it can be electro plated.

A. Hi Nitin. There are certainly guidelines for designing plastic parts for plating. These include general design guidelines for shapes for plateability (even thickness distribution, good rinsing and drainage, freedom from air entrapment, avoidance of sharp corners and edges that lead to burning, provision for rack marks); and guidelines specific to plated plastic parts (proper draft angles, proper thickness of gussets and part walls); and guidelines for good material compositions that etchable for proper tooth, etc. Presumably the other disciplines have their guidelines as well, although plating is probably more finicky than painting. But it certainly should be possible to design a single part which will be satisfactory for painting, plating, PVD, or hydrography

Regards,