Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Electropolished stainless steel is not shiny
Q. Sir
I'm using phosphoric acid (63%), sulfuric acid (15%) for stainless steel electropolishing but shine is not being achieved. Would you like to suggest any inhibitor or any useful material?
Thanks .
M.Javed Nauman- Punjab, Pakistan
2003
A. I don't think it's a question of lack of inhibitor. Are you getting etching, or no reaction at all? If etching, I believe insufficient current density or water in the solution are the most common problems.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2003
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A. Or the temperature is off, or the jigging is insufficient or it has a chloride contamination or-or-or. Far too little information given.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
2003
A. Agree with all of above; also do not use a high alkaline pH cleaner, watch temperature, S.G. not too critical, but keep water out, monitor specific gravity, and if needed raise temp during off production hours to evaporate water -- a fan helps. Very important is that a new bath DOES NOT WORK! It needs to be seasoned and here we still have some of the art of metal finishing left. A new bath needs some iron to work well. A bath can be seasoned by "dummy plating." Iron while necessary to an extent, has an upper limit prescribed for each formulation. Above this level iron will inhibit functions of the bath.
Jon Quirt
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
2003
A. Try using hydrogen peroxide in your bath because at my company we use this in SS brightener.
Anant Chavan- Mumbai, India
2007
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