During the use of electroplating equipment, various issues may arise. Jianzheng Electromechanical Plating has summarized several common faults here, hoping to assist customers!

1. Pinholes. Pinholes are caused by the workpiece or the plating solution being dirty. They are characterized by raised spots without a shiny finish and have no fixed shape.

2. Pitting. Pitting occurs when hydrogen gas is adsorbed on the surface of the plating and is not released. It is more likely to form when the plating solution lacks wetting agents and the current density is too high.

3. Airflow stripes. Airflow stripes are caused by excessive additives, too high a cathodic current density, or excessive complexing agents. If the plating solution flows slowly, or the cathode moves slowly, hydrogen gas rising along the workpiece's surface can affect the crystallization arrangement during the electrolytic process, forming stripes from bottom to top.

4. Brittle plating. The primary causes of brittleness are excessive additives, such as brighteners, or high levels of inorganic and organic impurities in the plating solution. Brittle plating is identified when cracks appear between the nickel layer and the base metal or between the tin and nickel layers.

5. Masking plating. Masking plating occurs when the soft excess material at the workpiece's pin part is not removed, preventing electroplating from occurring in that area.

6. Air bubbles. Air bubbles form due to the shape of the workpiece and the conditions for air accumulation. During electroplating, attention should be paid to the orientation of the workpiece hook to avoid the formation of air bubbles.

7. "Tin flowers" at the center of the plastic-sealed black body. When there is a tin coating on the black body, this occurs because the gold wire in the tube is ejected too high during welding, exposing the gold wire on the black body surface during plastic sealing. The tin is then plated onto the gold wire, resembling a flower.

8. "Crawling tin." This happens when copper powder worn from brushing the SMD frame before plating becomes embedded in the black body, forming conductive "bridges." During electroplating, the deposited metal extends over the "bridge," resulting in a branching deposition that connects with other copper powder, making the tin area grow larger.

9. "Mustache tin." This occurs when the SMD frame is plated with silver using masking plating, but the masking device is not tight enough, causing silver to be plated where it is not needed. During plastic sealing, part of the silver layer is exposed on the black body. During pre-plating treatment, the silver layer peels off, and the tin plated on top of it forms a "mustache" or clumped tin. Avoiding exposed silver layers is key to successful masking silver plating techniques.

10. Orange peel plating. When the base material is rough or when corrosion occurs during the pre-treatment process, or in the case of Ni42Fe+Cu base material where some copper layers have been removed while others remain, the entire surface appears uneven and rough.

11. Pitted plating. The surface of the plating has irregular, sparse, and dense pits (distinguishable from pinholes) and appears like "orange peel" plating.

1) When the jet pressure is too high, the kinetic energy of the glass beads impacts the plated surface, creating small pits. When the plating is thin, the pits are not filled, leading to "orange peel" plating.

2) The base material has an uneven metallurgical structure, and selective corrosion occurs during pre-treatment. If the pits are not filled during electroplating, the result will be "orange peel" plating.

For more information, please visit: Guangdong Jianzheng Electromechanical Plating Equipment Technology Co., Ltd.