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WHICH IS BEST, TANK PLATING OR MOBILE
/ BRUSH PLATING?
This question opens up a whole assortment of
sub questions.
Basically, if you start with an OEM Chrome
piece, you will do a fine job of brush plating a durable layer of 24-Karet Gold onto the
layer of nickel.
The gold mirrors the surface below it.
- If you start with a top quality piece, you
will get very good results.
- If you start with a piece that is
"rusted, corroded, pitted and worn, without any trade-in or salvage value" when
you are done, the piece will look basically the same, except it will have a gold color to
the piece.
The brush type gold plating
systems do a great job of gold plating the assorted scripts and emblems while they are
still on the vehicle. The brush type gold plating system speeds up the entire Gold Plating
process for the installer and consumer. It also cuts out the need to get fresh adhesive
backings to re-install the pieces.
The down side of Brush Plating
is the potential for uneven gold plating.
The uneven gold plating does not
show up to the naked eye looking, and or inspecting, the script and or emblem, from 3 feet
away.
The uneven gold plating does
show up to the naked eye looking, and or inspecting, LARGE PIECES such as GRILLS and
WHEELS, from 3 feet away.
The best way to explain this is
to make a simple comparison between BRUSH PLATING and TANK PLATING.
BRUSH PLATING is like taking a
shower.
TANK PLATING is like your taking
a dive in a pool.
To give you more information on
Tank Plating, you can read the balance of the information.
Commonly, a TANK PLATER will
wash the pieces they are going to Gold Plate to remove common dirt.
Although it is not exactly the
same conditions, this simple illustration gives you an idea of why TANK PLATING requires
filtration systems and so on.
Because TANK PLATING reuses the
chemicals in the tanks, the process of sending the TANK CHEMICALS for LABORATORY ANALYSIS
is a common occurrence.
In BRUSH PLATING, you get
basically FRESH CHEMICALS for each application.
However, the description of TANK PLATING
means different things to different people.
- To some a 16 ounce container is a TANK TYPE
PLATING SYSTEM to gold plate over existing gold on small jewelry
items.
- From our point of view, TANK PLATING means a
MINIMUM of a 33 gallon tank designed to do AUTOMOTIVE WHEELS.
The same basic system of TANK PLATING is how
the Gold Plating of Automotive scripts got started.
Basically, TANK PLATING of Automotive scripts
and emblems came first. There are an assortment of TANK PLATERS all over the US who do
work on AUTOMOTIVE RELATED ITEMS. Some do not do any Automotive items.
Tank plating is considered one of the BEST
WAYS to thoroughly and reliably deposit gold onto a surface. These operations are inside
buildings where the entire gold plating process is under a more controlled basis.
- In TANK PLATING, the chrome stripper bath is
generally heated and electrically activated.
- In TANK PLATING, the nickel activator bath is
generally not heated and non electrically activated.
- In TANK PLATING, the Gold Bath is generally
heated and electrically activated.
A heated bath speeds up chrome stripping and
gold plating steps in tank plating.
In just these three steps, you should see a
substantial difference.
- In MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING, you will need to
electrochemically activate your chrome stripper but you will not be able to heat your
Chrome Stripper, DO NOT EVEN TRY TO HEAT YOUR CHROME STRIPPER.
- In MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING, you will need to
electrochemically activate your nickel activator.
- In MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING, you will need to
electrochemically activate your Gold Plating solution
but you will not be able to heat
your Gold Plating Solution. DO NOT EVEN TRY TO HEAT YOUR GOLD PLATING SOLUTION.
So, is TANK PLATING of GOLD a better job?
YES. However, in many instances, BRUSH PLATING does a great job.
There simply is no question about TANK
PLATING of GOLD being superior to MOBILE / BRUSH type Gold Plating.
However, that is not to say MOBILE / BRUSH
PLATING is no good and or will not last. It really is two separate issues.
Tank stripping of the chrome is a more
uniform stripping job the chrome stripper is HEATED and the piece is fully in the chemical
bath and has the electricity applied to the bath.
The temperature controlled bath of chemicals,
and uniform electrical charge through stainless steel, gets all of the chrome stripped off
of the entire piece (the piece must be rotated on the rack) in a uniform manner. If mobile
/ brush platers have a common problem, it is the failure to strip off all of the chrome.
Tank stripping of the chrome does not have that type of problem. Again, the chrome
stripper is HEATED and the piece is fully in the chemical bath and has the electricity
applied to the bath. A person with mobile / brush type of plating simply can not do that
job with the part on the vehicle.
Tank plating will do a better job of
depositing Gold onto a surface. The Gold Plating Solution is HEATED and the piece is fully
in the chemical bath and has the electricity applied to the bath.
Temperature controlled bath of Gold Plating
Solution, and uniform electrical charge through stainless steel, gets gold on all of the
activated nickel. A person with mobile / brush type of plating simply can not do that job
with the part on the vehicle.
So, you can see you are not going to be able
to do exactly the same as a TANK PLATER. That aside, what can you do?
You can do an acceptable job of mobile /
brush plating. To do this, you need to thoroughly strip off all of the chrome, activate
the nickel and then deposit the gold onto the surface. The results of your work will not
be the same as the results of the work from the TANK PLATING PROCESS. However, it is an
acceptable quality, after you learn how to do the work.
Can you deposit more gold than a tank plater
would deposit? This begins to split hairs. If a tank plated wanted to, they could apply as
much gold as want. Technically, you could apply as much gold as you want too.
The real question is, exactly how much gold
should you deposit? To much gold and it begins to turn dark and does not shine as much. To
little gold and it does not look good either. So, it is a matter of your EYE looking at
your work. After a short time, you will find out what looks OK and what does not look OK.
What looks OK is what is correct. So, to a point, the amount of gold you deposit is
unimportant, as long as you put enough on. And, you well learn how to put enough on after
you do a few vehicles.
Getting back to the question, "WHICH IS
BEST, TANK PLATING OR MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING?" There is a simple way to explain this.
Years ago, TANK PLATING was the common way for people to Gold Plate the assorted Scripts,
Emblems, Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers. As you think of it, there are very
few vehicles that have Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers. The basic group were Cadillac
and Lincoln that had Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers.
The Cadillac line of vehicles was the most
popular vehicle to dress up with Gold Plating.
The Lincoln line of vehicles was the second
line.
However, by far, Cadillac was the dominant
vehicle line to have Gold Plating.
The typical process was to remove the
assorted Scripts, Emblems, Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers and send them in for TANK
STYLE GOLD PLATING. In tank plating, they had to scrape off the adhesive backings. Some
did this before they did the plating, others did it after they did the gold plating. The
assorted chemical baths made the adhesives softer and easier to get off. Occasionally a
nick would hit the back side of the script or emblem but it would not show on the surface.
Then, the TANK PLATING COMPANY would put on NEW BACKINGS. The Cadillac Models did not
change much, over the years. The script "SedanDeVille" is very common in
the older models. The same for "Coupe DeVille" and so on.
As the growth of AUTOMOTIVE RESTYLING grew
out of working on the Cadillac Sedan De Ville as the BREAD 7 BUTTER CAR, restylers started
looking at the Lincoln Mercury line. Some Lincoln Models were ripe for restyling. The 1990
redesign of the Lincoln Town Car made it a target for assorted restyling, including GOLD
PLATING on the Scripts, Emblems, Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers.
This created an extra expense because molds
to cut out the backings for the Lincoln Line had to be ordered. The cost is expensive but
over a lot of vehicles, it made sense.
This type of TANK PLATING is generally called
CORE EXCHANGE. You take the assorted Scripts, Emblems, Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock
Covers off of the vehicle(s) and send them in to be gold plated. Depending on who you may
have served, you may have chosen to OWN several sets of CORES. That way you had gold
plated Scripts, Emblems, Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers on your truck ready to
install, and ready to collect, and or bill for, NOW. This was and still is a popular way
for a number of people to work.
The reason some people still use CORE
EXCHANGE TODAY hinges on their servicing specific Car Dealers and they can have plated
stock in their van and be able to remove the old scripts and emblems in a few minutes.
Then they replace the old chrome ones with GOLD PLATED parts. The time required to make
the switch from chrome to Gold is less time than it takes to set up to do a mobile / brush
type Gold Plating job on a vehicle.
Then, about 1992, a company in California
came out with a MOBILE GOLD PLATING SYSTEM. It was EXPENSIVE. However, being able to do
Gold Plating right in your shop, with the assorted Scripts, Emblems, Hood Ornaments and
Trunk Lock Covers right on the vehicle. You could do the work on whatever vehicle drove
into your drive, on a basis where you did not have to worry about having cores or have to
worry about waiting for the chrome parts you removed to get to and to get back from the
TANK PLATER. This made sales, and collection of the money, quicker for the shop
owner. In many respects, the SHOP OWNER gets the most benefit out of being able to do ON
SITE GOLD PLATING. There is no way a Shop Owner could begin to try to have cores ready for
whatever drove into their shop.
Then, others who worked mobile were able to
do Gold Plating on a mobile basis which gave a wider sales potential for the people who
were offering Gold Plating. The problem of cores dropped off. You did not need to worry
about CORES when you could do the Gold Plating work with the assorted Scripts, Emblems,
Hood Ornaments and Trunk Lock Covers right on the vehicle. For mobile installers who offer
gold plating, the idea of offering a core exchange program still makes sense, on some
vehicles. Which vehicles hinges on the types of Car Dealership the mobile installer
services.
The answer to the question of "WHICH IS
BEST, TANK PLATING OR MOBILE / BRUSH PLATING?" really hinges on the market you are
addressing.
Tank plating is clearly the BEST if the
process is properly controlled.
However, the mobile / brush plating system
can do an acceptable job and is ideally suited for SHOP OWNERS and mobile installers who
service a wide variety of vehicle makes and models.
NOTE: Our 25 AMP and 35 AMP Power
Supplies can
do Tank Plating in certain instances. It has to do with the size
of the tank.
To go back to the top of the
frequently asked questions page, CLICK HERE.
To go to our GOLD PLATING INFORMATION PAGE,
CLICK HERE.
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