Cleaners

CLEANERS

With all Jane Kits products, the key to successful plating is in the preparation of the items to be plated. Parts must be chemically clean. In order to ensure that you get pleasing and consistent results. Jane Kits sell very efficient Cleaner Kits and Acid Stripper. Thorough cleaning is essential in the preparation of parts prior to electroplating.

Jane Kits recommends and supplies two cleaners to ensure your items to be plated are prepared and chemically clean. These are called Jane Clean and Parts Wash.

Jane Kits also recommends and supplies an acid strip, in a dry acid salt form, which will assist in the removal of certain coatings. This is called JPK Acid Strip.

JANE CLEAN

Jane Clean is a powerful rust and scale remover which will clean items showing signs of rust or other corrosion. Jane Clean is also great for removing zinc plating, chromated zinc, cadmium, galvanising and other surface treatments. It is a multi-purpose acidic based solution that is an ideal tool for assisting in the preparation of items pre electroplating. It is predominantly used in the early aggressive stage of preparation to assist in bring your parts back to bare steel. Jane Clean is extremely concentrated and the ideal mix for is 1 part Jane Clean to 5 parts water. Jane Clean can be used neat if required.

As Jane Clean is used at the early stages of preparation and therefore your parts will then continue through other forms of cleaning and preparation prior to going into the plating bath, the original mix can be used multiple times. Make up a suitable mix of Jane Clean in a shallow container. Submerge the items into the container and monitor regularly. The time required in the Jane Clean solution will depend on the condition of the part to be cleaned. To assist in placing, removing and monitoring the items placed in the Jane Clean solution, wiring the parts with the copper hanging wire is recommended. This will avoid the need to place your hand in the solution.

NOTE always wear chemical resistant gloves when working with Jane Clean. Any items left in a Jane Clean mixture should be monitored regularly. Jane Clean is ACID based and items left in this solution for extended periods of time will eventually damage the parent metal.

PARTS WASH

Parts Wash is a very strong cleaner which removes all traces of grease or film and is used immediately before your parts go into the plating bath. Using this cleaner ensures that the parts to be plated are spotlessly clean. It is recommended that this product is used as a final cleaning solution for everything that is to go in the plating or treatment baths (i.e. parts, anodes etc).

The ratio of Parts Wash to water is not critical, a soapy solution is all that is required. However, the recommended mix is 1 part Parts Wash to 5 parts water. Parts Wash can be used neat if required

This stage of preparation is critical, this is the final stage prior to parts going into the plating bath. During this step of cleaning, you must not touch the parts with your fingers. Make up a mix of Parts Wash and place it into a shallow container. Wire the parts up with the copper hanging wire ready to go into the plating bath and handle the parts holding the copper wire only. Do not touch the parts during this stage with your fingers, gloves, rags or place onto the bench. Don't make contact with anything other than the Parts Wash solution and the brush used to clean it. Once you have scrubbed the item in the Parts Wash bath, clean water rinse it twice, do a water break test and then place it straight into the plating or treatment bath.

The best way to clean the items would be to brush them using a toothbrush for small items or a kitchen brush for larger items.

JPK ACID STRIP

JPK Acid Strip is a water-soluble dry acid salt used for aggressive stages of metal preparation prior to plating. The salt is mixed with water at a ratio of 200gm per litre. The acid is a sulphuric acid-base and is predominantly used in the early aggressive stage of preparation to assist in bringing your parts back to bare steel. This type of acid is excellent for most metal preparation requirements. It will dissolve zinc coatings, steel blackening coatings, some paint finishes from metals etc. It is an excellent addition when used in conjunction with Jane Clean, Jane Kits other aggressive cleaner.

As JPK Acid Strip is used at the early stages of preparation and therefore your parts will then continue through other forms of cleaning and preparation prior to going into the plating bath, the original mix can be used multiple times.

NOTE always wear chemical resistant gloves when working with JPK Acid Strip. Any items left in a JPK Acid Strip mixture should be monitored regularly. JPK Acid Strip is a Sulphuric Acid-base and items left in this solution for extended periods of time will eventually damage the parent metal.

 

CLEANING & PREPARATION

If your items to be plated are new or are in good condition and are free of any traces of previous plating, then you may be able to avoid the need for Jane Clean and or JPK Acid Strip, a quick scotch bright and light wire wheel and then a final clean of Parts Wash may be sufficient.

If the items are in poor condition, rusty or corroded, hang them in the Jane Clean and monitor them regularly. Take them out and rinse when they are free of rust or corrosion, scotch bright or light wire wheel the parts and then move onto the final cleaning using the Parts Wash.

If the parts are rusty or corroded, they should be soaked in the Jane Clean, which is an excellent rust and scale remover. 15 minutes in Jane Clean will be sufficient if the parts are only affected by surface rust or the corrosion is only slight. Leave parts in the Jane Clean longer if required. Badly corroded parts can be left in Jane Clean for an extended period but exposure to corrosive solutions should be monitored closely. Only leave your parts in the Jane Clean for the minimum amount of time required to achieve the desired results. Excessive exposure can cause damage to the parent metal.

If the parts have blackened coatings, zinc finishes or certain types of paint coatings etc. they should be soaked in the JPK Acid Strip. Some coatings will not dissolve off but will be loosened and will require a wire brush or similar periodically to assist removing the coating. Avoid items being exposed for extended periods and always monitored closely. Only leave your parts in the JPK Acid Strip for the minimum amount of time required to achieve the desired results. It is a highly corrosive solution that will continue to attack the metal and excessive exposure will cause damage to the parent metal.

When all the rust and corrosion has been removed it is best to carry on with the final clean and plating procedure as parts will start to rust again very quickly.  If you are going to plate nuts, bolts or any items that have threads or similar, make sure these areas are thoroughly cleaned out. Any traces of old plating, grease or oil must be removed prior to plating.

When your parts are stripped of old plating and/or corrosion you can move onto the next step of preparation. Any scratches and marks that are present in the surfaces to be plated will carry through to the finished product. You will need to remove these marks to achieve great results. It can be time consuming, but it is worth it as good preparation makes for good plating results. A linisher is a handy machine to clean up surfaces using a fine belt. Prepare and polish up the bits the best way you can, use steel wool or a flock wheel on your grinder. Be sure to get burr marks off nuts. Steel wool or wet and dry are ideal for preparation.

If your parts are too damaged to polish or sand out, then an acid copper plate would be a good solution. Jane Kits sells a Copper Plating Kit that can be used as a surface coating to fill imperfections. Very thick applications of copper can be applied using Jane Kits acid Copper Plating to fill scratches or pits on parts that are to be plated (see Copper Plating Kits on our website).

When you are happy with the look of the part, you are ready to wire it up using the copper wire. When wiring bolts, it is best to wire them around the thread. For nuts, it is best to wire those on a hook of copper wire. If you wire them tightly it will leave a wire mark on the nuts face.

The next step is the final rinse. Jane Kits second cleaner is what is called Parts Wash. Parts Wash is a final clean for all parts and anodes that are about to go into the bath. Anything that ends up in the plating bath should go through the Parts Wash cleaning solution and water rinse tanks immediately prior to placing them in the bath.

When you have the part on the wire, hold it by the wire and give it a brush with Parts Wash solution mixed with water. Use an ice cream container or shallow take away container to put the Parts Wash in and brush with a toothbrush or similar. Rinse in a clean water rinse tank that you have standing by on the bench. Repeat the process with the Parts Wash solution and rinse again in a separate clean water rinse tank.

NOTE When you commence the Parts Wash final clean process, you should not touch the part with your fingers, or have it come in contact with any other surfaces. Hold the part by the copper wire and perform the clean and water rinse procedures. Once the final water rinse is done, shake the excess water off. Do a WATER BREAK TEST and place the part into the plating bath. DO NOT WIPE EXCESS WATER OFF WITH A RAG. 

WATER BREAK TEST

The only way to check that parts are chemically clean is the WATER BREAK TEST. Rinse the part and hold it by the wire to inspect. Water must hang on the part in an unbroken sheen, no beading. Water will hang on perfectly clean parts in an unbroken film. Do not touch it with your fingers and place into the plating bath.

Jane Kits have two types of Cleaners available. Jane Clean & Parts Wash

They are available in various sizes and are sold together or individually:

Standard size cleaners – (You receive 500 ml of Jane Clean concentrate & 500 ml of Parts Wash concentrate)

Economy size cleaners – (You receive 1 litre of Jane Clean concentrate & 1 litre of Parts Wash concentrate)

500 ml Jane Clean – (You receive 500 ml of Jane Clean concentrate )

1 Litre Jane Clean – (You receive 1 litre of Jane Clean concentrate)

5 Litres Jane Clean - (You receive 5 litres Jane Clean concentrate)

500 ml Parts Wash – (You receive 500 ml of Parts Wash concentrate)

1 Litre Parts Wash – (You receive 1 litre of Parts Wash concentrate)

5 Litres Parts Wash – (You receive 5 litres of Parts Wash concentrate)

 

Jane Kits have two sizes of JPK Acid Strip available.

600 gram bag JPK Acid Strip salts (mix ratio 200grams per 1 litre water)

2 kg bag JPK Acid Strip salts (mix ratio 200grams per 1 litre water)