anodizing

[Gooch]

i have read a little bit about anodizing and i have a electronic background.that said i am having a problem.i have a tsp copy its not real tsp but it does conduct electricity which i beleive is all its meant too do?i could be wrong. and i have distilled water.i used alot of the tsp which as i read again said teasp not tablsp.i have a powersupply that has a multiple dc outputs all variable it has a 1 amp 0-40 dv it has a 135ma 0-400 dc and it has a 0- -100
so i try the 0-40 i got bubbleing action but no color change so i try the 0-400 and when i got too 100 it popped its failsafe(could this be due too the density of tsp i used?)also i didnt have a great peice of stainless steal first i tried sink stopper then i tried a knife blade. i also read somewhere about etching solution how do i use this and do i need a specific type.then since my dc power supply kept gettng shorted i went too radio shack and got a 240v 6a rectifier but i didnt have a variable so i tried a potentiometer which i had no luck with, so i tried right from the rectifier too the titanium and ss in fresh distilled no etching solution and i still got nuthing but bubbling.



i appologise for the long post but i figured the more info i give u the better u may be able to help

also i am getting a variac well i am gonna use a light dimmer which is a form of variac ;-) and if i get any info on the etching solution

thank you in advance for your help

[Bob Warner]

Welcome to the CKD.

Make sure the cathode (large piece inside the jar) is stainless steel. Make sure your part and the hook that holds it are made of titanium. You are working with low ampherage. My anodizer is 6 amps and the color come quickly.

Personally, I doubt if you have too much TSP.

[Gooch]

well 6 amps isnt really low 6amps will kill u rather quickly. low is 135 ma. ok so now we know that i need the 6amp that is fine but i used the 6amp 240vold rectifier and still got nothing?is 240 too high? i know i saw some ppls post say 10v-60v dc and it happens i a matter of seconds i left mine in till the water was booiling and nothing happend.
also i did not use acetone too clean it i polished it real quick and wiped it off with degreaser could this have caused my issues.

issues being lots of bubbling no color changes

on a seperate not i am going too get a varic tommorow too test lower voltages just was curious about etching solution? do i put it in the distilled water or is that used too clean it?

[Bob Warner]

Thanks for the lesson in ampherage (I really thought 1 amp was lower than 6 amps).

Good luck with your problem.

[Gooch]

i wasnt trying too be condesending amps are what kill ppl volts just sting technically u can kill someone with 200ma (miliamps)


on another note do u know anything about etching solution?

[Ray Rogers]

I agree with Bob - I don't think your etching solution is the big part of your problem.

Under no circumstances - and especially right at first when you're trying to get set up - should you use more than 50 dcv. The big clue I get from what you wrote is all that bubbling. The solution only bubbles violently (in my experience) under two conditions. One is when you use excessively high voltage and even then you shouldn't blow a fuse or your fail safe - but you did. So, that makes me think you may have condition two, which is that you have something beside titanium attached to your anode.

You said something I didn't understand about a knife blade. There should be no knife blade anywhere near the anodizing equipment. Even a titanium folder handle slab with a tiny stainless screw attached to it will cause that bubbling and will not anodize correctly.

So, I repeat what Bob said: make sure your cathode is a nice THIN piece of stainless foil. Then, make sure there is NOTHING but titanium that can conduct electricity attached to the anode. Finally - and I bet you know this one - never let the cathode and the anode come in contact while the power is on.

As for the wetting solution, I use a product called Not TSP. I've also used, Windex and Coca Cola. Most any soapy water will work. Almost anything will work but most don't work as well as TSP or a similar product. Conclusion: the wetting solution probably isn't your biggest problem...

[Gooch]

ok great i was using the knife blade as my cathode not knowing where too get a piece of ss foil and i know the blade is stainless
and what was happening was when i was connected too the 0-400 vdc 130ma when i put the titanium in the water it loaded it down severaly but i see my setup was flawed too begin with cuz i didnt have a small piece of stainless steel i just tried too use what i had so i think i will try too use a smaller piece of stainless steel and make my cathode submerged i only submerged the piece itself u have cleared up several things and give me new hope for tommorow hopefully ;-)

o yea and i figured using a 2 bucket method was prolly the most safe route

[Don Robinson]

Sounds to me like you're not getting a DC current, or you're getting too much voltage thru your rectifier. Most people use a variac to control the voltage, and run the output thru a rectifier to convert the voltage to DC.

[Gooch]

i would like too thank everyone who helped me /me looks at bob
8o
i found that my problem was what some companies called ti it obviously wasnt ti. i had ordered pure titanium because i am custom making folders so i decided too make a hook out of the "pure" ti so i am trying too anaodize a liner that a comapny says it ti and the hook changed colors but the liner didnt i beleive this was also causing my shorts but everything is working perfectly and i am currenly trying too set my color spectrum

again ty bob and everyone else who added thier 2 cents