Make sure the steel that you are trying to plate is utterly clean and free of oxide by scrubbing with pumice powder rinsing dipping in muriatic acid rinsing then make sure the current is on before you start immersing it and maybe consider a very dilute solution as a strike then a more concentrated one for the bulk of the plating.
Copper plating steel with muriatic acid.
Stir the solution during the plating process to get an even coat.
Copper is often associated with noble metals for its resistance to non oxidizing acids like muriatic hydrochloric acid.
Acid copper baths are simple formulations containing copper ions additives and either sulfate or fluoborate ions along with the corresponding acids.
This took about 1 minute 45 seconds for me.
Heat the mixture in the microwave until it steams gently.
Once everything is connected you can place both metal pieces into the bath.
The copper piece doesn t have to be fully submerged but the piece you are plating does.
60 000 q a topics education aloha fun topic 12080 effects of vinegar or muriatic acid on steel and on copper and zinc plating.
Can i use copper plating to keep steel parts from rusting.
I plan to paint again.
I took about three cleanings and dippings to get the copper to coat the entire part.
The muriatic in the copper did eat off all the rust in the pits and put copper onto the steel.
To prep the steel pieces i torched them hot and scrubbed off the ash with a steel brush which also got rid of some rust.
And that will be the best you can do from a copper sulphate solution.
This should leave a nice copper coating.
This is for a couple.
Because of their acidity they cannot be plated directly onto active metals such as zinc die castings and steel for they will produce non adhering immersion deposits.
My most recent project is a table set which consists of square steel tubing and ornaments which have been roughly plated with either copper or bronze.
Copper is a not a noble metal per se like mercury sliver or gold though it displays some of their properties in that copper will resist the degenerative reactions of muriatic acid in the absence of a catalyst.
Submerge both metals into the diluted muriatic acid bath.