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RE: [TCML] keeping primary copper tubing nice and shiny

Hi all and thanks so far for the request for my plating mix.
I have answered all requests so for, it is about a 9mb set of attachments. If you did not hear from me, please drop a line and we will try and work it out. 

Some hints for plating:
1) Plating will not bring out a polished surface, you first must polish you surface to get a final result. IE what goes in comes out. If the surface has a mat finish or is scratched, then the plated surface will be scratched and mat. 
After the surface is plated, you still need to polish the nickle.
If the plating is spongy, then you used too much current.
Best plating results are to reverse the polarity for short periods of time and the then plate again. This strips peaks on the surface and evens out the job.
2) The surface must be clean, clean, clean and grease free, any contamination will give unplated or dull spots. The best way to clean the surface is to use simple hot soapy water and a hot rinse and air dry. There is really no need for distilled water unless you really have problems with mineral spots in your water. In the states, Dawn dishwashing liquid really does get rid of grease and works great! Use rubber gloves for the clean surface to prevent the oils in your hands from contaminating the surface after it is clean. I have not found a need for a solvent if the surface is washed properly but IF you need to degrease, I would suggest acetone as a solvent.
3) Voltages are not high, only a couple volts DC and some current. The current depends on the surface area to be plated. A simple power supply could be a small 6 v , 8A rechargeable battery and a rheostat in series or some 6V old style auto lamps in series and an ammeter. Amperage is to be adjusted for the surface area of the item to be plated.
4) My solution uses the nickle dissolved in the liquid so no Nickle anode is required but the solution will get depleted of nickle and will stop plating. It cannot be recharged and you have to mix up a new batch.
I have one antique Oudin coil that is about 90 yrs old with 1/4" nickle plated tubing for the primary and it still looks great after all these years.
This all sounds complicated but it is actually very simple once you get the hang of it! 

Frank


At 03:46 PM 1/15/2010 +0000, you wrote:

Now I *need* to plate my primary with gold. The colour must be great.
Frank, I'd love to have your nickel plating recipe. If anyone has a gold
plating recipe, I'd be interested as well

Many thanks

Thomas

-----Original Message-----
From: tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tesla-bounces@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Paul Brodie
Sent: 15 January 2010 06:48
To: Tesla Coil Mailing List
Subject: Re: [TCML] keeping primary copper tubing nice and shiny

I have another plating solution, no pun intended. All Electronics sells a
plating powder that you mix and heat and simply place the part to be tin
plated in the solution with no electric current required. The powder costs
$9.50 part number ER-18. I can't remember how much solution one packet makes

but it plates 600 sq. inches. It is actually made for plating circuit
boards. It would probably be impossible to plate the coil and you would have

to plate the tubing prior to making the primary coil. I don't believe you
would want to disassemble the coil in order to plate the tubing.
www.allelectronics.com

Also, Micro-mark tools sells a plating kit that includes a small swab you
use to apply the plating solution but it does use electric current and I
think it is expensive. The way it looks in the catalog, you attach the
cathode to the part to be plated and the swab is the anode that you dip in
the solution and then "paint" the plating onto the part. I may have the
anode and cathode backwards but you get the general idea. www.micromark.com
I do not own stock in either company. :-)
Paul
Think Positive

----- Original Message -----
From: "Frank" <fxrays@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Tesla Coil Mailing List" <tesla@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 6:53 PM
Subject: Re: [TCML] keeping primary copper tubing nice and shiny


> LOTS of elbow grease to polish.
> I use only Brasso, I have found this to be the best polish, and follow it
> with Flitz to give a final  shine. You will be amazed how much it makes a
> difference.
> BUT and this is a big BUT, I have also found Flitz will tarnish quicker!
> The copper will tarnish faster on a coil than elsewhere due to the corona
> and ozone. Additional factors that will accelerate tarnish are cigarette
> smoke, pollution and wood smoke from stoves to name a few.
> Then use Zinger spray shellac and spray the tubing.
>
> Pretty much once you have the coil tuned you should not need to keep
> changing the tap, however, if you are always wanting to adjust the tap
> then put a good quality car wax on the tubing. This will keep the
> oxidation down for a good amount of time but you will have to repeat the
> process on a routine basis. The time between polishing and waxing strictly

> depends on your local area and how much you run the coil.
>
> A more long term solution is to nickle plate the copper. This is actually
> easier than you think and can be done at home, you just need the plating
> chemicals, an adjustable low voltage current source (an old time battery
> eliminator works great) and a small paint brush.
>
> I can send anyone my plating formula I found in an antique plating book.
> It works great! The chemicals are still available but very expensive now.
> I got mine many years ago as a fluke and cheap!
>
> Frank
>
> At 02:14 PM 1/14/2010 -0600, you wrote:
>>Sure, Flitz will clean it up nice, but it never stays that way.  Anyway i
>>prefer this cheap stuff called "bar-keepers friend" or something like
>>that,
>>i think i get it at home depot or menards.  Its a powder and is extremely
>>effective at ripping the oxide right off the copper, and as noted, its
>>really cheap.
>>
>>I found that putting a lexan plate over my primaries tends to increase the
>>"lifetime" before it looks like crap, but i suspect thats mostly due to
>>handling (you dont get your oils all over it).  Even still, give it enough
>>time and it will start turning darker.
>>
>>Steve
>>
>>On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 7:59 PM, DC Cox <resonance@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> > Flitz works great.      Get at boat marinas.
>> >
>> > DC
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Thomas Ryckmans <
>> > thomas.ryckmans@xxxxxxxxxx
>> > > wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hi,
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Any ideas of how I could keep my primary copper tubing nice and
>> > > shiny? I
>> > > need it conductive so I can tap it at different points - but would
>> > > like
>> > to
>> > > have a protective layer on it to keep the nice sheen. New copper is
>> > > so
>> > much
>> > > prettier than the oxidized one
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Many thanks
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > Thomas
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
>> > > Tesla mailing list
>> > > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> > > http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>> > >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Tesla mailing list
>> > Tesla@xxxxxxxxxx
>> > http://www.pupman.com/mailman/listinfo/tesla
>> >
>>_______________________________________________
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