Power Supplies

POWER SUPPLIES

Jane Kits offer several 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. The Electroplating Kits can be purchased with the standard 5 amp or optional 15 amp power supply for the same price. You can also choose an option to modify to our compact 3.75 amp power supply or 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 15 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 3.75amp, 5amp and 40amp power supplies which actually includes the leads). All of our complete Electroplating Kits will include the relevant power supply leads.

 

3.75 Amp Power Supply

This compact adjustable power supply is designed for smaller Kits and is ideally suited to our Gold Plating Kits. The compact power supply is ideally suited for its quality, accuracy, controllability and size. Gold Plating requires a power supply with the ability to be able to accurately adjust the amps or current to suit the amount of output required for the surface area of the object/s in the plating bath at the time of plating. This is the ultimate power source for technicians and hobbyists without much space on their workbench. It has all the features of an exceptionally accurate power source, in a lightweight case barely as big as a multimeter weighing only 400 gms. Digital controls and a large LCD display provide accurate control. The supply can be operated in constant current or constant voltage modes, up to a maximum of 50W. It is short circuit protected with banana plug sockets for power output, and it conveniently provides two 2A USB charging outlets too.
The maximum current output is 3.75 ampere continuous.

 

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.

 

15 Amp Power Supply

This is a switch mode laboratory type power supply. Its compact size, lightweight, high current, high efficiency, variable output and fan cooling make this the ideal power supply for your bench. They are protected against thermal overload and short circuit and will display a warning LED in the event of a fault condition. The current and voltage are displayed on separate backlit analogue meters. Please note; whilst this unit is a reliable power source, it is not ideal for the novice plater. It is only Volt controllable, which is problematic for Electroplating. All of our other power supplies- the compact 3.75 Amp, the slimline 5 Amp and the premium 40 Amp power supplies are dual controllable. (i.e. both a constant Voltage (volts) or constant Current (amps)) which allows total control of critical ampere delivery which is a must for electroplating and is not a feature of this 15 Amp power supply. 
The maximum current output is 18 ampere, 15 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.