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* Electroless Nickel Plating *
Electroless Nickel Plating (ENP) vs. Hard Chrome Plating In 1971, when S4J began manufacturing Luer fittings, Electroless Nickel Plating (ENP) was selected as our coating of choice, with many fine platers available to perform the relatively new process. While we experienced reasonable success, as our batch sizes grew, the occasional reject batch became increasingly more costly and of course, affected lead times. Since high quality and on time delivery is a priority at S4J, this was clearly the area in most need of improvement. Troubleshooting
the problem with our platers usually ended with the result being an inherent
problem with commercial chemical processing. A commercial plating line is
designed to accommodate many different base metals, contaminated with a large
assortment of soils. As a result, our previous platers would typically
blame poor plating runs on their previous job, and the effect it has on the
process. We were frequently told the only way to avoid those problems
would be a dedicated line for
our product. So we chose the most reliable
company we knew, S4J Manufacturing Services, to run a dedicated electroless nickel plating line. We contracted with a leading manufacturer of plating systems to design, build and install a turn-key, fully controlled, state of the art Electroless Nickel plating line. A closed loop system was designed that would stand up to the strictest environmental regulations, complete with wastewater evaporation. Opting for an in-house plating line was a major factor in the need for a new facility that eventually resulted in our relocation to Florida. The new plant is designed from the ground up as a dedicated facility for the manufacture of fittings from bar stock to completed, ready to ship components. Why Electroless Nickel Plating? Autocatalytic nickel plating, commonly referred to as electroless nickel plating, is based on the deposition of coating applied by chemical reduction (unlike electroplating) which results in a uniform thickness over the entire surface of base material. Since all surfaces wetted by the electroless nickel solution are plated, the deposit thickness is highly uniform. This unique property of electroless nickel makes it possible to plate the internal bore and complex geometries found on Luer components. Such uniformity of deposit thickness is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve by any other method. The major benefits of the High Phosphorous ENP are:
Electroless Nickel Plating (ENP) vs. Hard
Chrome Plating
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