Matador
100 kW
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2016
- Messages
- 1,045
I'm also currently in the process of Nickel electroplating my copper bussbars so they don't oxidise anymore.
In that way, I keep the amazing conductive properties of copper, but with the thin Nickel layer, I wont get copper oxide formation on the surface to create additionnal resistance over time.
Here's som pictures of my artisanal plating method :
There's some youtube videos for the plating method... I made my own stock of Nickel acetate, and use some Nickel coins (canadian one made during 1965-1981 were 99.9% Nickel) as the electrode...
I used 8% distilled acetic acid- Nickel acetate solution, Plating at 3.80 volts CC (from 18650s !) at 20 milliamp for 12 hours (giving around 30-35 microns plating thickness).
EDIT : For future uses here's a reference for how to calculate nickel plating thickness versus time and ampere/surface area to plate. See pages 8 and 9 for the formula and tables : https://www.nickelinstitute.org/~/media/Files/TechnicalLiterature/NPH_141015.ashx
In that way, I keep the amazing conductive properties of copper, but with the thin Nickel layer, I wont get copper oxide formation on the surface to create additionnal resistance over time.
Here's som pictures of my artisanal plating method :
There's some youtube videos for the plating method... I made my own stock of Nickel acetate, and use some Nickel coins (canadian one made during 1965-1981 were 99.9% Nickel) as the electrode...
I used 8% distilled acetic acid- Nickel acetate solution, Plating at 3.80 volts CC (from 18650s !) at 20 milliamp for 12 hours (giving around 30-35 microns plating thickness).
EDIT : For future uses here's a reference for how to calculate nickel plating thickness versus time and ampere/surface area to plate. See pages 8 and 9 for the formula and tables : https://www.nickelinstitute.org/~/media/Files/TechnicalLiterature/NPH_141015.ashx