Zinc Nickel Plating Kit With Yellow Passivate | How To Plate Metal Parts & Restore Old Fasteners

Zinc Nickel Plating Kit With Yellow Passivate | How To Plate Metal Parts & Restore Old Fasteners
In this video, I try using a Zinc Nickel Plating Kit at home for the first time.
We're intending to use this chemical process to put a corrosion-resistant and rust preventative finish on various nuts, bolts, brackets and fasteners from our car and motorcycle restoration projects. Check out everything you need to try this yourself in the list below:
Zinc Plating Kit: ebay.us/A8khUv
Zinc Nickel Plating Kit: ebay.us/82iYUz
Deionized Water: ebay.us/6PjaAA
Aquarium Heaters: ebay.us/GP6lyx
11L Containers: ebay.us/Q8FP6q
We have a constant battle against rust and corrosion when working on our cars and bikes. Being in the UK with the wet weather and salting of roads through wintertime takes its toll on any vehicle we work on or maintain. One of the problems we've had is removing all the rust and corrosion from fasteners, reinstalling them and finding that they very quickly rust again on us.
This can be incredibly frustrating, as as a result, we turned to painting fasteners where we could. Although this again isn't ideal and never seemed to last.
Zinc Nickel plating should be much more like manufacturers OE nut and bolt finishes and should leave a thin, durable coating in metal much less prone to rust and corrosion. It's amazing that you can get a zinc-nickel plating kit online for home use and get some excellent results.
Follow along and watch my first try at the process on some quite pitted parts cleaned up by my son for his E30 project build.
The results are pretty great in terms of rust protection, but hopefully, we'll get better at producing that smooth and shiny yellow passivated gold finish as time goes on.
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[@TheLairyLemur]

Although it's been a year I thought I'd just share my advice. Some of the more pitted parts you're plating are forming crystals or a kind of white sludge because they're not cleaned enough and there's still rust and dirt deep in the pitting. If I have pitted parts I clean them up on the wire wheel, give them 10 minutes in a degreaser and then leave them in the acid at least overnight, perhaps a full day. After that I just clean them up on the wire wheel again and do the process as I normal would on a cleaner part. The amount of bubbling you get is a good indication of how clean your parts are, if they bubble at around half an amp then it's no good, take them out rinse them, and get them in the acid for a lot longer. The acid salts you get with these kits aren't nearly as potent as something like hydrochloric acid. A large beaker and a hot plate would speed the process up if you don't like waiting.

[@SPANNERRASH]

That's really valuable knowledge, thanks for sharing that! I was about to say, having blasted them, then wire wheeled, then acid dipped, I can't see how they could be any cleaner - but maybe I will take your advice and let them sit in the acid a whole lot longer. That's a great indicator of the bubbles. Still, I was relatively happy with the results for a first try here. But good to keep learning and improving! Cheers

[@TheLairyLemur]

@@SPANNERRASH The parts really do need to be almost surgically clean if you want a proper finish with no weaknesses. Personally I would skip the blasting process all together unless it's vapor blasting. If it's just dry grit blasting then pieces of the grit will become embedded in the workpiece and the zinc won't want to stick to those areas. A suitable replacement before wire wheeling would perhaps be to put them in a tumbler with walnut shell grit for a day. The walnut is less likely to embed itself in the workpiece and both the alkaline cleaner and acid salt dip will dissolve anything that does get embedded.

[@alecthompson5856]

Thanks for this video. I've got a somewhat similar DIY setup and have had the exact same problem as you say here with pitting. I've found that removing the pitting with a dremel tool on low speed works well also. Then you dont have to wait a whole day for the acid to work.

[@stclairstclair]

I'm a retired mechanic and I do lots of projects, All I can say is "If you've never owned a bench top power supply, you don't know what you're missing! A home workshop must.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Interesting. TBH I haven't really thought what else I would use it for. I would love some ideas.

[@stclairstclair]

@@SPANNERRASH Really? *Testing and running small lights, motors and circuits like solar lights. *You can watch how many amps an item will draw at a given voltage *With its Constant Current-Constant Voltage capabilities (cc/cv) you can charge Li-ion batteries.(see EEVBlog) **Electroplating!!! *You can even compare christmas tree light bulbs to determine if you have the correct voltage replacement bulb I rebuilt an old Dustbuster vacuum with Li-ion batteries a digital voltage display and a charging port, with the help of my power supply!

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@stclairstclair Wow, a lot more than I realised then! The charging Li batteries has caught my attention. I will have a look into that.

[@mr.stent.2]

I've watched this like 100 times, I'm just setting up my kit today can't wait to do it..... thank you so much for this video ❤❤

[@SPANNERRASH]

You are so welcome! Make sure you fully clean and de-rust the parts before starting. Also you can put them in the cleaning baths for longer, I was going with the minimum but I have had better results by extending the cleaning bath times. Let us know how you go on.

[@randytravis3998]

well it has been a month .. how is the plating going ?

[@ldservicesltd595]

You can avoid plating 'shadow' by including two, or ideally four anodes in the bath, wired in // to avoid voltage drop at the farthest anode. A 5 second acid dip and an additional wash after the plating wash will lightly etch the freshly plated surface and aid adhesion of the chromate.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great tips thanks for sharing those! Wiring the anodes in parallel is a great thought.

[@stclairstclair]

If you own a decent size dehumidifier you can produce some perfect water for this, dehumidifier water is also used for growing certain plants

[@SPANNERRASH]

This is a great idea, that never occured to me. I don't have a dehumidifier at the moment but it is something we have thought about.

[@johnhall8455]

Yes you are correct in thinking different size surface areas require adjustments in the processes… Obvious questions….Where from and how much?….nice video btw..👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks John, and yep, lots of trial and error to perfect things. I picked up the kit from ebay here: ebay.us/WVdErJ

[@bgee461]

That's a gorgeous plate job

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers, pretty pleased considering how they started off :)

[@dee1323]

A handy thing I've found through research is that the closer the parts are to the top of the zinc/nickel solution the better they plate (while still being fully submerged)

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great tip Damon, thanks for sharing that. I'll have a play around with that myself and see if it improves our results too.

[@DETON8]

Excellent and informative video 👍🏼

[@SPANNERRASH]

Glad it was helpful!

[@balticbagalut2347]

Very educational video, thanks for sharing your experience 👍

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers mate, hope it helps you out :)

[@ThinkingAhead54]

Very well done 🙌

[@SPANNERRASH]

Worked very well.

[@robbateman7987]

Yes amps are. I go with 140mA per Square inch for my Zinc plating. Def get some ventilation, An old cooker hood extracted outside works great.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great idea, we'll try to get something like that rigged up.

[@deankay4434]

Ventilation is a naturally occurring process after eating 3 bean burritos for breakfast! Right?

[@PompeyMatt17]

the thing to be careful of working in the attic is the acid gives off hydrogen gas...you don't want your house to turn into a convertible ! 😅

[@SPANNERRASH]

Thanks for the heads up on that, sounds like it could have been a big surprise if we'd lit a match! 😆 In all honesty it's pretty well ventilated up there, and we seal the lids on the tanks when we're not using it. We'll be careful though!

[@Randomer086]

Good work, enjoyable video.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Cheers Gary!

[@pattygq]

Make sure you have some sort of ventilation up there to outside.

[@SPANNERRASH]

Great point, the loft is pretty drafty luckily, but it still catches the back of your throat if you're up there for a length of time.

[@pattygq]

@@SPANNERRASH I picked up 3M acid gas cartridges for my mask. I'll be doing this outdoors but after reading the MSDS I'd think twice about doing it without ventilation.

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@pattygq Sounds wise, we'll definitely bear that in mind too. Not worth risking your health over.

[@bobmarley_1979]

Excellent job

[@mulliedog1]

Good luck!! Great job!!

[@mofosheee3189]

Hello Spanner Rash Would you comment on the use of an ultrasonic parts cleaner o "clean" parts prior to electroplating? Thanks

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hi mate, ultrasonic cleaners are great, I use one quite a lot when working on bike carbs. If the parts you're trying to plate are completely rust and corrosion free, then a scrub followed by ultrasonic clean would be an excellent choice to prep things for the plating process. Especially if there are internal faces. However, ultrasonic cleaning won't remove rust or corrosion, and that needs to all be gone before plating for best results. Hope that helps :)

[@expatconn7242]

That was cool thanks

[@tapaswinibehera8822]

Sir what type cathode material is better for electrodeposition of nickel zinc alloy for better appearance

[@SPANNERRASH]

Not sure if I can help, we were looking for a good anti corrosion finish, we had 6 zinc annodes and 2 nickle. If you want a better consmetic finish you will need to ask one of the plating materials suppliers.

[@tapaswinibehera8822]

Sir if I'm plating from solution, containing both nickel and zinc, then what will be the good cathode for plating

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@tapaswinibehera8822 The cathode is the item you are plating. I have only plated steel items so far, and their surface finish before plating plays a big factor in how the item will look once done. In other words, you need to plate a smooth item, to get a smooth plated finish. I assume you can plate other metals just fine to, so long as they transmit current. Hope that helps!😁

[@deankay4434]

I have attempted plating in my mind only. The chemicals, rinse, temperature & agitation. I calculated 20 per batch (Lot) but the math for amps took six days and gave me a headache. I look at it in a positive light, if 1.41 amps per square inch, kilometer or distance to the moon, I just crank it up until “LED Zeppelin” has a reunion tour. Jimmy Page alone should be 5-8 amps per pound! That’s my formula!!! Unless you have a graduated beaker (One who’s made it thru school) and drop each part and note the rise, it is near impossible to calculate surface area. Unless their is a app for that! But then, I have to get one of the grandkids to download onto my phone, only to tell me that it won’t work with an Apple iPhone 6 running 12.63 OS. Ok, it is amps times stairway to heaven divided by 4.3, yes. I have it now, drink two pints, check for color then repeat until the 5 pint is finished or the parts are yellow to suit me. Check, no math!

[@SPANNERRASH]

Hahaha! Love that, I think the 5 pint method is most accurate! 😂

[@tristanharpur5485]

Great video, i plan on doing the same with my restoration project, the link to the kit doesnt work, what brand of kit did you end up using?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Ended up using a kit supplied by Gateros Plating. Seems like they don't have the Zinc/Nickel kit at the moment, but they have a Zinc kit here: ebay.us/A8khUv Very similar, hope that helps. 😃

[@saab93contdi]

How much was that kit?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Around 200 if I recall. Seems the exact kit is no longer available, but this one looks very similar ebay.us/82iYUz

[@saab93contdi]

@@SPANNERRASH thank you

[@denguefever9489]

Once the water evaporates over time, can you simply just top up? I want to do this for my e30 restoration but unsure how long the stuff lasts? Is it essentially forever (or until you runout of zinc from plating a lot)

[@SPANNERRASH]

Good question! It definitely doesn't last forever, the chemicals degrade over time with use, and this is accelerated if you're topping them up with water. If you keep sealed lids on the tanks and take great care, this kit should last you quite a while. I think it would take a very long time to run out of zinc anode. Ours is still going strong despite many batches. It's probably paid for itself at this point. Although I still don't feel like we're getting optimal results. More trial and error is needed to master this.

[@bgee461]

The solution gains metals over time until it reaches saturation. You don't lose the solution. You could contaminate it by accident, but in theory it ought to last forever.

[@stclairstclair]

What really sucks is I found a wonderful pdf on professional plating, Covering myriads of chemical interactions and uses in plating, 90% of it went over my head, I couldn't understand it, it was all technical not written in anyway for a🤪 DA like me

[@SPANNERRASH]

It can be quite complicated chemistry, but following the instructions that come with the kit, it seems to work like magic. 😁

[@-Gunnarsson-]

Hello there! The most frustrating thing for me. Is To know for sure the whole part has nickel on it. If you have a polished part it looks just like steel. Iv been comparing them. But the other 2 sides thats not shiny you can see its yellow ish. So that leaves me wondering if its coated or not even If I do it for 1hour. My other problem is Some times the item get hazy spots. for unknown reasons. ( I Can polish them away after thought). Another weird thing also I clean them very well with brake cleaner etc. And they look fine before plating. Then after iv been plating some random spots can have yellow dots or so. I think it might be rust during the bath ? I can wipe them off to some degree. Then using evaporust will remove them fully. By the way iv been wondering, are the 0.1 Amp per sqare inch not gonna work with let say 5 inch object? or will it just take longer?

[@SPANNERRASH]

Yeah, it's not always easy to get pretty results doing zinc nickel plating. If you have your anodes evenly spaced and a good connection to the object you're plating then you have much better chances. If the object you're plating has micro pitting that can be the source of those spots you're describing, it's really hard to clean pitted areas properly to an even surface. I think you should be okay to use a lower amp (but not crazy low) and just let the part plate for longer, I'd suggest turning it around a few times to try and help it plate evenly in this case. Hope that helps!

[@-Gunnarsson-]

@@SPANNERRASH okej sure, what acid did you use for the dip ? Iv used hydrocloric but shiny parts gets dull after that?. My other thought is can I use any alkaline cleaner ?

[@SPANNERRASH]

@@-Gunnarsson- Hmm, it comes with the kit but its only described as "dry acid salts" or "dry acid pickle salts" so I'm actually not sure which acid it is. It does slightly dull the part and leaves a bit of an etched finish prior to plating. I'm not sure about the alkaline cleaner to be honest. Maybe give it a try with a test piece, it can't hurt!