Alkaline Zinc-Nickel Plating

BUMP.

Sorry, but, once more, anyone out there running this process?

Once upon a time, I ran a high volume double barrel line, McGean-Rohco Ecolozinc. Alkaline, non-cyanide. After some initial nightmarish start-up problems, it ran like a top. The key was lots of Hull Cell testing combined with vigilant and constant inspection of the work coming off the line.

I'm doing some research on Atotech's Reflectalloy ZNA bath, and it sounds similar. There's the additional complication of what seem to be (to me, anyway) separate carriers for the Zn and the Ni. Though in a fresh make-up, the Ni constitutes 8.5% of the metal in solution, it makes up 12 - 15% of the electrodeposit. That is, if you do it right.

It seems to be the consensus that you need an XRF machine to monitor the deposit ratio, which is critical to getting the pure gamma phase Zn-Ni alloy. Perhaps, this is so; but I have a hard time seeing why the same thing couldn't be accomplished by clipping a precisely measured square out of a Hull plate, dissolving the deposit off with some HNO3, and doing some careful colorimetry with dimethylglyoxime or PAN. I know the former method quite well, it's possible to get very accurate and precise results from it, if the standards are properly made, and the operator is careful.

Something tells me that some shade tree wizard in China or India is already doing this, and it always challenges me when everyone says you need a 50,000 dollar machine to do something.