Non-Electrical Nickel Plating on Aluminum at Micro Plating, Inc

Benefit from Non-Electrical Nickel Plating on Aluminum at Micro Plating, Inc

Considerations to Make When Choosing an Electrically or Non-Electrically Deposited Coating

There is more than one way to protect aluminum substrates. This makes it important to consider your options and determine which will be best. Some considerations to make for any aluminum plating job include the environment it will be exposed to and the intended use of the substrate. Anodizing is a common corrosion protection option for aluminum. This electrical process changes the dimensions of a substrate minimally while improving upon its natural strength and corrosion resistance. However, this process requires electricity and only improves the strength of the underlying aluminum rather than plating it with a coating that has a different makeup. 

These realities of the anodize process understanding aluminum’s limitations are important to keep in mind when determining if a non-electrical solution from Micro Plating will be a better option.

Non-Electrical Plating Allows You to Use Aluminum Without Common Drawbacks

While aluminum’s light weight and affordability make it the right material to use in countless applications, its limited corrosion and wear resistance, as well as its standard lubricity can create challenges. These challenges can easily be resolved by selecting the right non-electrical nickel plating on aluminum. At Micro Plating, we can plate aluminum substrates with a chemically deposited nickel-phosphorus coating. This solution will deposit uniformly and provide your aluminum with a hard, corrosion resistant layer that also offers better lubricity than aluminum. As we will detail below, the level of phosphorus in our solution will determine the hardness of the coating, which makes this option for non-electrical nickel plating on aluminum flexible based on the substrates intended use. 

Different Levels of Phosphorus in our Non-Electrically Plated Nickel Provide Varying Hardness

Not only can you contract Micro Plating to provide solutions that will improve the hardness of your aluminum parts, but with our non-electrical plating process we can do so to varying degrees. These degrees vary based on the level of phosphorus we include in our plating solutions. For example, our high phosphorus electroless nickel solution is made up of 10-12% phosphorus. This is our strongest plating option and may provide greater hardness than your part needs. If that is the case our medium phosphorus nickel provides a reliable alternative. This mid-phosphorus nickel alloy includes roughly 6-9% phosphorus level and 54-65 Rc of hardness as plated. 

Whether you choose a high or medium-phosphorus coating, Micro Plating can further increase its hardness via heat treating. Though the default hardness of our non-electrical plating solutions typically offer aluminum parts with more than enough protection, we want customers to be aware of this value-added offering.

Contact Micro Plating for Help Determining the Right Non-Electrical Plating Solution

If you would like advice before deciding which type of non-electrical nickel plating on aluminum offered by Micro Plating to choose, contact us. Once we understand your goals, we will be able to recommend a nickel plating solution with the right amount of phosphorus to ensure your aluminum has the protection it needs. We charge competitive prices for this work and the chemical nature of providing our nickel-phosphorus deposits allows us to complete jobs with short turnaround times. 

Whether you want to seek our advice or know exactly which non-electrical nickel coating you need on your aluminum substrate, Micro Plating is ready to hear from you, provide you with a quote, and get to work plating your aluminum parts.