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Nickel "chips" on EN coating over Fe material

We are plating EN (thickness 13-15 microns) on Fe material which will be used as VCM in computer Hard disk drive Ass'y. Recently we have an issue of Loose Nickel chips on the plated VCM which can be detached easily and there is no base material exposure after detaching the chip. Before plating/loading the component we didn't see such chips on the component.
Any one please advise the possible causes.

Kondepudi Rao
plating shop employee - Singapore
July 13, 2008

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July 14, 2008

Hi, Rao. It sounds to me like your filter is not working and particulates are gathering on the parts and being nickel plated.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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Hi Ted Mooney,

Thanks for the advise. But I have another concern here.
We are loading two different geometrical type of components in a single jig but always we are encountering this loose nickel/metallic chips on one particular model only. The other model did not have this issue. The only difference between these two models is geometry. The problematic part have bending legs and other model flat. We always noticed these chips on the bend log and through holes only. Please advise your valuable inputs.

Thanks & Regards,
Rao

Kondepudi Rao
plating shop employee - Singapore
July 17, 2008

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If you have particles suspended in the bath they will tend to settle down (like a sediment) when they find surfaces facing up. Air dust, abrasives from previous operations and spontaneous reduction of nickel when the bath goes out of balance are common sources of suspended matter. You have to improve filtration and stabilize your bath.
G. Marrufo-Mexico

Guillermo Marrufo
- Monterrey, Mexico
July 18, 2008