Electroplating Line Conductor

Ah, the old catch word... "best way". Don't the racks rest on some sort of contact base after being lowered into the vat?

It may depend on how much current is being passed...

Joe

No they're supported by the conveyor as they travel along long tanks. The travel is continuous.

What's the plating and what are they currently doing now with their electrical connection?

What problems are they having that they would like to reduce/remove with a new method?

Jack

They are zinc plating wire grills or racks hanging from a plating rack. There is a bronze? shoe attached to the support rods. I'm told it contacts a copper wire. They are getting sparking/bad connection which leads to quality problem.

Install a couple more shoes spaced along the conveyor but connected in parallel with the first. It's unlikely that all of them will break contact at the same time and so sparking should be eliminated entirely.

If I thought I was qualified I'd have to give you a GA on this one.

How is arcing discouraged in high voltage mechanical switching? Adding capacitance?

Sounds like the same issue?

Electroplating processes are high current but low voltage, normally 36v DC would be upper range.

Depending on the size of the bath, 2000 amps or more could be flowing in the cathode circuit which is where the sparks would be likely happening.

Capacitors would have to be huge to even begin to quench any sparks, and would likely have little effect as the make and break of the circuit would be too rapid. They could make it worse.

Better to stop the sparks happening in the first instance by preventing the circuit from opening.

Check out the pickups on bridge cranes, they have multiple shoes riding on a bus suspended under the bridge and can be modified to accept more shoes, that way when one breaks contact the others pick up the slack, not going to say it will eliminate the sparking but it will encourage constant current to the rack.

That being said the 2000 amp plus currents on a traveling plater rig sounds like lotsa fun when it's over the chrome bath (rather volatile fumes around), I remember putting out a few fires when the timing relays went a little long and the hoists raised the cathode out of the saddles under load. can you say oops!!!!

It is called "Protected Bus Bar System". It consists of copper bus bars protected by PVC specially shaped covering and spring loaded current collectors. You will require small capacity Hoist to lift and carry them to next station. We have mfrs. here who supply complete system. Better contact your local electro plating mfr. who may guide you.

Without seeing the actual conveyor and installed electrical connections, we are just stabbing in the dark.

There have been a few good answers so far such as:

1. Adding more contact shoes.
2. Use a different material.
3. Upgrade the main conductor.
4. look at a bridge crane buss bar.

Take a look at some of these and let us know if anything works.
Good Luck

Thanks everybody. Sounds like they have more of a maintenance/rebuild issue. Maybe add parallel shoes. Thanks.