FlexKraft™ rectifiers cut chrome plating times in half
When a UK metal finishing company Reddish Electroplating started experiencing quality and repetition issues, they knew that it was time to upgrade their rectifiers. They chose KraftPowercon’s FlexKraft™ switch-mode modular rectifiers.
Faster plating, greater consistency
The change in how the chrome plate was applied was evident from the very first plating job Reddish undertook using their new FlexKraft rectifiers to deliver power to the line. The task was to chrome plate two huge rotors (almost 5,000kg) with a complex conforming anode construction attached. Each rotor usually took two nights to plate, in two 16-hour sessions (32 hours in total).
This time, when they processed the first rotor, the Reddish team were amazed to find that they had already achieved the full required deposition by the end of the first 16 hour-session. And when the team plated the second rotor the same way, they got exactly the same results. What used to be four nights of chrome plating was cut down to two.
Quality was significantly enhanced, too. The chrome plate thickness was significantly more consistent: the low-current density areas had more chrome than they’d been seeing before, and the high current density areas had less over-plate.
“It was an unmitigated success, and we’re now consistently achieving the same results, again and again: surfaces are coming out of the plating bath with a better surface finish, and a smoother deposition with high lustre.”
Graham Hanks - Production Director, Reddish Electroplating
Plating time of 5000 kg
Before
32 hrs
After
16 hrs
“One of the most significant things that we noticed was the vast drop in our energy bill. The new rectifier, albeit 4000 amps larger than the previous one, was using less electricity than its predecessor. The promise of greater efficiency was totally founded.”
Graham Hanks - Production Director, Reddish Electroplating
Faster plating, greater consistency
Low ripple is the main reason for more efficient plating into low current density areas and controlling over-plate on high current density areas. With the extremely linear DC voltage, you can achieve a much more even coating on components. If a heavier deposit is required, you can simply automatically ramp up the current, gradually reducing plating times.
Vast energy savings
The success story doesn’t end there. As well as saving time and improving quality, Graham noticed something else.
Energy savings, efficiency, quality and automation add up to proven ROI
Reddish has since installed another two KraftPowercon FlexKraft rectifiers, and has plans to add three more to complete their transition.
“We have gone from manual control, poor efficiency and fluctuating quality to automated control, and excellent efficiency, resulting in vast energy savings and a greatly improved quality...The energy savings alone are enough of a deciding factor to switch to these state-of-the-art KraftPowercon rectifiers. And with the added automation, we now have 100% control of the process - saving more energy, chemicals and post-chrome processing. I did get quotations from alternative manufacturers, but they didn’t come close to [FlexKraft] in quality, functionality or price. Most didn’t even offer the built-in polarity switching. We made the sensible decision. I’m sure many others will.”
Graham Hanks - Production Director, Reddish Electroplating