Since I had "Yellow Fever" at one time I know how creative the Cub Cadet guys can be.
I comment that one reason you don't see the "chlorides" used often in plating (not even table salt) is that during the plating process chlorine gas will be created along with the hydrogen bubbles. This is just something I read, nothing I know from experience or knowledge of chemistry. Epsom salt would be a suitable replacement for table salt for instance (sodium, instead of sodium chloride).
Anyway, you can see that formulas for the electrolyte bath vary wildly. I prefer the formulas that contain zinc sulfate (charges the solution with zinc ions so plating is MUCH faster), epsom salt to avoid chlorides. Vinegar and Boric acid? I don't know which is better ... Vinegar is easier to add as boric acid is a powder and doesn't like to dissolve. So basically .... lots of options, all of them seem to work.
Plate times for the cub cadet guy seemed very long. I'll typically plate for about 7 minutes, remove, brush, repeat ...three times. Although I'm assuming the zinc sulfate and multiple anodes I used would decrease plating time.
LOTS of ways to skin this cat.
The muriatic acid is pretty impressive, it will remove all the rust from a part in perhaps 30 minutes. It will remove all the corrosion deposits etc ...but, it's not going to replace any metal, so it there are pits, there will be pits. For a clean, bead blasted part ...just dip it in the acid for a few seconds, rinse in water or denatured alcohol and put it in the plating solution.
This is all really much easier than most people imagine. Many people replace the original hardware just because it has lost it's Zinc plating, not because the fastener doesn't work anymore. And although many places claim their hardware has the right markings, I've never seen repro hardware that actually has the exact same markings original hardware ...close sometimes, but not the same.
I'll try to get some pics of my simple setup today.
If anyone else has any zinc, or home plating pages they have found, please post them. Each one adds a bit of info and new ways to do things.
JohnnyB
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