Thanks Max! Good tip on the paper towels! I can see that you would wear out the "bandage" pretty quickly.
I've got 9 turnouts total... 6 #5's and 3 #10's... The #5's had frogs that were filed and the #10's had some work done to the points.
I only spent a couple minutes on each one... Just enough to get the copper covered.
Yeah, I figure I'll have to hit them with another treatment at some point. But I'm curious how long this will last as it is.
I don't use a Bright Boy due to the abrasive nature of the thing.
I pretty much either use 91% alcohol or mineral spirits and a rag.
One thing I did notice is that the wetter the bandage the faster the thing plated, so I found myself going back and reloading the precious juice quite frequently.
Hopefully this thread is saved somewhere on this site for future reference...
Yes! The more you keep the swab loaded the faster it can plate.
Understand how this works. You are taking nickel in solution and depositing it on the surface, so the more nickel you have available on the swab, the faster it can cover the surface you are trying to plate. As long as it's not dripping off, wasting and making a mess, it's good
to keep the swab replenished often.
It's very important to never accidentally touch the metal wand to the surface you are trying to plate, so I usually wrap the paper towl strip around a few times, then fold it over the nose of the wand, and then wrap some more and then put on the rubber band.
IMPORTANT: (and I hope you did this).
Always pour some of their solution into a clean dish (glass or ceramic or plastic) and only dip the wand in there, NEVER into the bottle,
and NEVER pour the partly-used solution from the dish back into the bottle. I keep the partly used solution by pouring it into a separate
containiner with a screw cap. Then I can pour it out of there back into a dish and use it another time if I want to.
As long as it still plates when I use it, it is worth keeping. But when it starts to just not work much anymore, it's time to dump
that out and pour fresh stuff into the dish. You can only plate as much nickel as there is contained in that solution.
-----------------
Something else you can do. You can "dip" plate stuff with that kit too. Clip the negative clip lead to your piece, dunk it in
a dish of solution, and then dunk the wand in a few inches away. Your work piece will start bubbling and plating right up.
It does a great job. Very handy for small loose pieces if you need to plate the whole piece. I replated my
soldering iron tip that way. I clipped the negative lead to the soldering iron tip, and just dunked it into the bath,
and then put the wand in a few inches away.
