Hard Chrome Plating Additives? HEEF Advantages? MSA?

"Chrome Plating Simplified"
by Clarence H. Peger
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A. Hi Andrew. I've heard of proprietary plating solutions. Atotech offers their HEEF-25 which, under the right conditions, could offer almost twice the efficiency of the conventional Sergeant bath. Enthone-OMI offers a competitive product.

There are also the older proprietary mixed catalyst baths (Atotech's brand name was SRHS (self-regulating high speed) based on partially soluble fluoride salts which are again asserted to offer higher plating speeds than the standard sulphate catalyst.

But I've also heard the very experienced chrome plater, Clarence Peger, claim that none of them are really very valuable because they prevent you from taking the truly necessary measures to get high plating speeds (like very high temperature, very close anode-cathode spacing, and high solution concentration. Unfortunately, you'll never get a straight, unbiased answer to this question--only opinion. My opinion is that Atotech and Enthone-OMI are on the right track for general purpose hard chrome plating. Good luck!

A. You may need to mask the unwanted area. Many times rectifier capacity becomes a problem. Select an appropriate rectifier. (Initially you might need high current) Possibly select rectifier based on at least 50 Amps per sq dm. or 500 ASF C.D. Keep good cooling in bath to maintain appropriate temp (say 60 °C ± 1) Cooling can become a bottleneck. The current carriers also become a bottleneck in some cases. Circulation of chemical will help.

A. I doubt it. If there is a commercial product, it would surely be proprietary .
How thick is your chrome. How hard is it, and how hard is the substrate?
You may have to redesign your bearing to accommodate the load.

"Hard Chromium plating"
by Robert K. Guffie

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Hi, Jim. I believe the patents on HEEF-25 may have expired/expiring and that they may have had a lot to do with MSA. I think that's what Montee is referring to. I believe that our friend Sarah was marketing an Enthone process that competes in this market. But even if the patents are expired (and I don't know that they have), there is probably still some trade secret knowledge involved in making and properly using the additive -- I don't know.

Regards,

A. Hi Ted,
I used HEEF 25 for several years. It does not give a harder or more wear resistant chrome, it deposits with a 25% efficiency vs a conventional 8 - 12%.
It works by somehow raising the hydrogen overvoltage potential so that you generate less gas (I think),

Thanks, Jim. Yes, I know that HEEF-25 stands for high-efficiency, 25%, etch-free. I was with Atotech when they started marketing it (although I had nothing to do with its development or marketing, I was in the plating equipment division). There are several threads on line here where users from India claim that it offers higher hardness; your experience says that it doesn't, and I don't know whether Atotech makes that claim.

Regards,

A. Hi,

It works as an catalyst helps in increasing the efficiency of process. It also increases the cracks as well the hardness. But for sure there are secrets involved in formulating the product.

Regards

A. Hi Vishal. It is widely reported in the literature, for example Dr. Ned Mandich's bibliography, that MSA has been found to significantly improve the current efficiency in chrome plating.

Therefore, it is probably not an unreasonable guess that Atotech's HEEF-25 high-efficiency additive may have something to do with MSA. But you'll have to examine the patent situation for yourself, and decide for yourself how to try to formulate such an additive.

We have no way of knowing whether a poster's knowledge was legitimately learned or whether it a contribution to the crowd sourcing of industrial espionage, so we can't post responses about additive formulations except for pointers to published literature or patents -- everyone is encouraged to refer you to those.

Luck & Regards,

A. Hi, HEEF25 chromium is a proprietary system both in chemistry and process set up. You need to have both correct if you hope to have any success in using it. I suggest you use a recognised license holder to offer the system to you and to provide you with backup.