Two modular versions of portable plating tanks were designed and installed at a plating research center. These units were made portable so that they could be moved to different rooms and production plants for testing. Each unit consisted of pre-plumbed pumps, heaters and controls, cartridge filters, rectifiers, and anodes/cathodes for various processes performed. The tanks were mounted on stainless steel frames with SS castors and were made from polypropylene. Each had integral overflow baffles and agitation spargers installed. Special parts drainage and storage areas were also designed into the unit structure.

Other portable equipment custom concepts include :

• Roll-up chemical / brightener feeders with permanently mounted LMI pumps, amp-minute / Ph controllers, and 5-55 gallon drum. One 110 V plug with shunt wires or a Ph probe for simple hookup.
  
• Roll-up anode cleaning carts to separate anodes, fines, and rinsing water.
  
• Roll-up 50-100 gallon tanks for continuous and batch solution filtering, dummying, and carbon treatment.

Portable "PLATING - VAC"

How many $100 shop vacs do you burn-up in a year ? In most plating shops the answer is quite high. While cheap shop vacs provide great portability (when empty) and quick effective vacuuming, their electric motors burn-up quickly and the "true" cost, including disposal, is higher than most companies realize.

In order to provide a "corrosion free" alternative for platers, we have designed a compressed air operated vacuum permanently mounted onto a 55-gallon portable 1" thick polypropylene tank. The "Plating-Vac" is maintenance free while handling a wide variety of plating chemicals, including chlorides and heated caustics. Solutions are quickly sucked into the vac tank, through the removable access port, and then through a 75 mesh bag filter. The filter catches larger particles like metal anodes, nuts, & bolts and is easily removed for reclaim or disposal of its contents. Solution depth is visible from the outside of the tank due to the translucent PP. Once the tank is full, solution may be quickly pumped (by the attached Graco Husky 515 air diaphragm pump) or gravity drained to a treatment or recovery tank.

Note ; While a Venturi vacuum is effective in removing the bottom ½" of a tanks solution, it is our opinion that an electric shop vac provides superior suction in this realm.
Above the ½" level, we feel the Venturi vacuum provides greater efficiencies in solution removal.

Portable Ion Exchange Resin Column

This portable resin unit, with all powder coated SS frame and CPVC/PVC components, was designed for operation in a harsh chloride environment. The unit was designed for frequent replacement of ion exchange resins to reduce precious metal liability in a captive plating shop. Resins, in (3) 1/3 cubic ft. canisters per chamber, can be easily removed & replaced with new resins when metal breakthrough occurs. Operation of the unit was performed for both a large sump continuous recovery set-up and for a small tank on-line batch.