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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Practical to switch tank from zinc to copper plating without dumping?

I'm currently using a hobbyist zinc plating system to re-plate numerous small parts. I've had lots of good luck and wanted to play around with other metals, such as copper. So here's my question. Can I pull out my zinc anodes, install the copper anodes and de-contaminate the solution by plating a dummy piece?

Charles Stence
Restorer - Indiantown, FL, USA
October 13, 2009

No. You'll wind up making a mess of things; you'll still have too much Zn and not enough Cu in the solution. Remember, what gets plated is what is in solution, not what's hanging on the anode bar.

James Totter, CEF
- Tallahassee, Florida
October 15, 2009

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