ELECTROPLATING JOT INTERNATIONAL SURFACE TECHNOLOGY

Specialist Finishing Company Opts for Hexavalent-Chrome-Free Process

The New Generation of Chrome Plating

Solutions
Trivalent chrome processes are the ideal alternative to hexavalent chrome plating and produce coatings
of a similar colour. The specialist finishing company Oberflächentechnik Döbeln has been using trivalent
chrome successfully for more than a year.

T he German specialist finishing com-

pany Oberflächentechnik Döbeln
GmbH has been working successful-
ly with a hexavalent-chrome-free coat-
ing process for over a year. The trivalent
chrome electrolyte (Surtec 883) is used
for chrome plating in shades of white.
For almost 20 years, Oberflächentech-
nik Döbeln GmbH has specialised in
applying metallic coatings using elec-
troplating processes, together with the
accompanying pre-treatment and post-
treatment phases.
The company’s 50 employees elec-
troplate components for a variety of in-
dustries in its six fully automated ma-
chines. Four of these are responsible for
decorative chrome plating, which in-
cludes coating fixtures and fittings for
use in shops, kitchens and bathrooms.
The company has now coated 125,349 Converting the specialist finishing company’s machines.
square metres of substrate using the
new generation trivalent chrome pro-
cess, which is an area equivalent to
around 18 football pitches.

Preventing yellowing
SurTec has many years’ experience of
trivalent chrome electrolytes and is an
approved supplier of trivalent chrome
coatings to Japanese and French OEMs.
An audit of the machines at the Ober-
f lächentechnik Döbeln site was car-
ried out and the company modified
its equipment according to the recom-
mendations in the audit. The conver-
sion costs amounted to around 100,000
euros.
When production with the new
electrolytes began, the managing di-
rectors of Oberflächentechnik Döbeln Example of an electroplated surface.
GmbH set themselves a number of ob-

36 JOT International Surface Technology 1.2016


Service life of a mixed oxide anode during production five days a week and eight hours per
day, depending on the current density.
jectives. The appearance of the coat-
ing had to be similar to that of hexava-
lent chrome and it was essential to pre-
vent yellowing. At the same time, the
machines needed to be 100% available
for seven days a week over three shifts.
Other goals included a maximum cy-
cle time of seven minutes and a coat-
ing thickness between 0.1 and 0.3 µm.
JOT International Surface Technology 1.2016
Close to the colour of hexavalent
chrome
After over a year of production using
the new system, the results are posi-
tive. The colour of the coating is sta-
ble and very close to that of hexavalent
chrome, as shown by colour measure-
ments using a Konica Minolta d 700 af-
ter 13 months of production:
SurTec 883:
L = 82.20 / a = -0.42 / b = 0.06
Hexavalent chrome: L = 80 to 84 /
a = -0.5 to -1 / b = -0.5 to -1.4
A much larger area can now be
electroplated per 10,000 Ah than was
previously the case. The new pro-
cess can coat up to 430 m² compared
with 100 to 200 m² with the old one.
A single-sided coating with mixed ox-
ide is also possible. The company has
achieved its original objectives of sev-
en-day-a-week availability in three-
shift operation, together with current
densities of 3.5 to 5.0 A/dm² and coat-
ing thicknesses between 0.1 µm and 0.3
µm within four minutes. 
Contact:
SurTec International GmbH, Bensheim, Germany,
Tel. +49 6251 869520, mail@surtec.com, www.surtec.com
37