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24 ga. tin plated copper wire is arcing the hard chromed surface of a ring

I am hard chrome plating the outside diameter of some wire spools that 24 ga. tin plated copper wire is riding on. During this process, the wire will be annealed on the ring using current that is charged to the ring. I am uncertain of the amount of current to the ring. We have coated many rings with electroless nickel and the rates have reached 40,000,000 - 50,000,000 conductor feet. The rings that were hard chromed had only reached (best case) 17,000,000 conductor feet (worst case) 3,700,000 conductor feet. My question is to know why the arcing is more present with the hard chrome plating and the elctroless nickel is successful ? We are trying to experiment to exceed our footage even with the electroless nickel. The base material of the rings are mild steel. The customer calls for a polished surface after plating. Any help is appreciated. Thank you in advance, Mike Deye.

Mike Deye
Plating Shop Employee - Toledo, Ohio, USA
2007

I would go with hardened steel that is ground and polished and then EN coated to 0.0015 per side and then baked to harden the EN.

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
2007