Power Supplies

POWER SUPPLIES

Jane Kits offer two different power supplies for use with our plating kits and supplies. All our complete Electroplating Kits include a power supply. Our 4, 10, 20 and 30 litre Electroplating Kits include the 5 amp power supply unit and connecting leads.

You can also choose an option to upgrade to the 40 amp power supply at an additional price.

The output or current relative to electroplating is referred to as ampere. The amount of ampere or amps/current required to plate an item is relative to the surface area in square centimetres of the item or items you wish to plate. Below is an approximate output required for different electroplating procedures:

Zinc, Cobalt Nickel, Nickel, Copper and Ultra Strike electroplating: 1 ampere will be required to plate approximately - 160 cm2 of surface area.

Electroforming Copper plating: 1 ampere will be required to plate approximately - 66 to 160 cm2 of surface area.

Jane Gold electroplating; 1 ampere will be required to plate approximately 333 cm2 of surface area.

If you purchase a 40 Amp power supply separately from the Electroplating Kits, you will need to add the positive & negative connecting leads which are available on our website in the Plating Supplies section. (this does not apply to the 5amp power supply which include the leads). However, if you purchase or upgrade the power supply when purchasing a complete Electroplating Kit, the relevant power supply leads will be included.

5 Amp Power Supply

This slimline 5 Amp power supply provides up to 80W of power, still plenty of grunt for many smaller Electroplating Kits. It is an ideal power supply for 4 or 10 litre size Electroplating baths. It is also ideal for Electroforming and Gold Plating. It provides constant current and constant voltage options. This allows total control of critical ampere delivery which is not a feature of the 15 amp power supply. Simply select your power range, then adjust the controls to obtain your desired outputs. It has a variable output and current from 0 to 5A.
The maximum current output is 5 ampere continuous.

40 Amp Power Supply

This high powered dual controlled switchmode power supply will deliver up to 40 amps. This allows total control of critical ampere delivery which is a must for electroplating. It has a variable output voltage from 1 to 15VDC and variable current from 0 to 40A. It features overload, short circuit, over-temperature and tracking over voltage protected. Output voltage and current are displayed on large, easily read seven segments LED displays and incorporate an intelligent fan control program that checks the fan at power on and adapts the right speed to ensure quiet and efficient operation. The maximum current output is 40 amperes continuous. Incredibly light, weighing only 2.9Kgs. Includes mains power cable and positive and negative power cables. The maximum current output is 40 ampere continuous.

Larger power supplies are available upon request. POA

POWER SUPPLY CONTROLS

It is a little hard to explain what happens in a plating bath and how any power unit that you use will actually work in it. Basically, there are two main elements of power when it comes to Electroplating procedures. Current (Amps) and Voltage (Volts). A dual controllable power unit is able to be controlled in either of these modes, such as in;

1. Constant Voltage - shown as (CV)
2. Constant Current (Amps) – shown as (CC)

If you’re not already aware, the Current (Amps) is the one that is most important when electroplating. The amount of Current (Amps) is what we need to manage, and the amount required is determined based on the total surface area of the cathode object/s (items you are attempting to plate) in the plating bath.

When Electroplating you need to ensure you remain in (CC)(constant current) mode at all times.

The actual Volts at any given time are basically not important. Volts will amend itself depending on the resistance in the bath and as a result, the number of Volts required when Electroplating will be generally dictated by two things.

1. The amount of Current or (Amps) you wish to plate and set on the power supply &
2. The resistance in the plating bath.

Without going into crazy detail, the resistance is basically the bath electrolyte (liquid) and anode/s etc. Generally, a small bath size will result in a small resistance, however, our Jane Kits stock 1 litre Gold Electroplating baths have large resistance, whereas a tested non-stock 1 litre size acid Copper bath had a very small resistance. They are all different.