APRIL 2008 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

FINE TUNE CLEANING & RINSING WITH ULTRASONIC RETROFITS

CONTENTS

By: Cheryl Larkin assemblies prior to sonics are used to meet

FINE TUNE 1 other finishing opera- the challenge of remov-
CLEANING
The same characteris-
tics of ultrasonics that tions, and cleaning of ing small particles from
make them an impor- valve bodies, transmis- inaccessible areas, as a
INDUSTRY 2 tant component on a sion parts and sub- major manufacturer
EVENTS new cleaning or pre- assemblies, medical recently discovered
treatment line also devices and injection when looking to reduce
make them a valuable molds. rejects on a research
NEWS & 3 retrofit on an existing Sometimes ultrasonics and development pre-
NOTES
process line… will speed up a clean- treatment line about to
Ultrasonics can opti- ing operation that go into production.
FINISHING 4 mize the removal of would otherwise take
Identifying the
SPOTLIGHT some types of soils much longer. For ex- Cleaning Problem
from certain parts, such ample, carbonization
The pretreatment line
as buffing compound can be removed from
FROM THE 6 in question has been
from crevices and tiny injection molds in min-
FORUM cleaning small screw
particles from metal- utes instead of hours
machine type parts,
working operations. with the right combina-
about one-fourth inch
THE LAST 15 Other excellent applica- tion of ultrasonics,
in diameter, which will
WORD tions include precision heat, and cleaning so-
become part of gas as-
cleaning of small ob- lution.
sembly valves. The
jects and electronics In other cases, ultra- parts have a drilled
Continued on page 8...
Inside This Issue:

From the Forum: The Future of Finishing

Finishing (page 15)

Spotlight: Hex Chrome on

Hard Steel
Interview with Dr. Art
(page 6)
Kushner of Kushner’s Elec-
troplating School (page 4)
Page 2
FINISHING TALK

INDUSTRY EVENTS 2008

April 9-10: April 21-24: May 13-16:

Powder Coating School NA 2008 ET 2008
I-X Center Orlando, FL
Denver, CO
Cleveland, OH www.et08.org
surfacefinishingacademy.com www.nashow.com
May 14-16:
April 20-23: April 22-24:
Electrocoat 2008
NASF Washington Forum
SSCT Annual Tech. Conference Indianapolis, IN
Washington, DC
San Destin, FL www.electrocoat.org
www.nasf.org
dr@mccanda.com June 3-5:
April 28-29; May 1-2
MacDermid Electroless Nickel School American Coatings Show
April 21-23: Irvine, CA; Dallas, TX Charlotte, NC
Coatings for Plastic Symposium lriley@macdermid.com american-coatings-show.com
Chicago, IL May 4-7:
Have an upcoming event? Tell
(888) 530-6714 RadTech 2008
us about it at:
Chicago, IL
www.coatingsforplastics.com www.finishingtalk.com!
www.radtech2008.com

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Spartanburg, SC The Dürr
Group has received a major or-
der from the BMW Group for its
U.S. plant in Spartanburg, SC,
worth more than €100 million.
BMW’s production capacity at
the plant will be increased from
160,000 to 240,000 units by
2012. The required expansion of
the paint shop will be realized
largely by Dürr. While produc-
tion is supposed to begin in the
first two areas in mid-2009, the
sealing line’s startup is planned
for mid-2010. Capacity is to in-
crease from 27 units per hour
now to 46 as a result of expand-
ing the paint shop. For more
information, visit www.durr.com
or www.bmwgroup.com.
Fridley, MN DuPont Coating
Solutions has formally certified
Nor-Ell Inc. of Fridley, MN, as a
Certified Star CoaterSM. As a
member of the DuPont Star
Coater program, Nor-Ell submit-
ted a request for DuPont to au-
dit its operations in an effort to
qualify for certified status. For a
Star Coater member to qualify
as certified, an independent in-
dustry consultant examines 10
different areas that cover the
operations of the business.
These areas include safety, cus-
tomer satisfaction and quality
and consistency. For more info
visit:www.dupontpowder.com or
www.starcoater.com.
DEARBORN, MI The Society
of Manufacturing Engineers
(SME) will host the NanoManu-
facturing and the co-located Mi-
croManufacturing Conference
and Exhibits, April 22-23, 2008,
at the Sheraton Hotel in Fram-
ingham, Massachusetts. This
event will not only bring to-
gether two emerging manufac-
turing technologies, but also 13
of Greater Boston’s brightest
engineering and science univer-
sity students. Their participation
will mark the launch of the con-
ference’s Bright Minds Nano
Program, a mentoring program
which provides full conference
passes to students from Boston
University, MIT, Northeastern
University and other schools.
For more information or to reg-
ister, please visit www.sme.org/
nanomanufacturing or
www.sme.org/micro.
Washington, DC The EPA has
released its National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pol-
lutants: Paint Stripping and Mis-
cellaneous Surface Coating Op-
erations at Area Sources final
Page 3
NEWS & NOTES
rule. This action promulgates
national emission standards for
hazardous air pollutants
(NESHAP) for area sources en-
gaged in paint stripping, surface
coating of motor vehicles and
mobile equipment, and miscella-
neous surface coating opera-
tions. EPA has listed "Paint
Stripping," "Plastic Parts and
Products (Surface Coating),"'
and "Autobody Refinishing Paint
Shops"' as area sources of haz-
ardous air pollutants (HAP) that
contribute to the risk to public
health in urban areas under the
Integrated Urban Air Toxics
Strategy. This final rule includes
emissions standards that reflect
the generally available control
technology or management
practices in each of these area
source categories. For more
information, pleas e visit
http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr.
Page 4
FINISHING SPOTLIGHT:
T his month, Finishing Talk
interviewed consultant, educator,
and director of the Kushner Elec-
troplating School based in
Sunnyvale, CA. Dr. Art Kushner
earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry
from Penn State University, and
has been training individuals in
the electroplating business for
over 25 years. In addition to the
Electroplating School, Dr.
Kushner has served as President
and Education Chairperson of
the Santa Clara Valley Branch of
the American Electroplaters and
Surface Finishers Society (AESF).
FTalk: How long have you been
involved in the finishing industry,
and what initially attracted you
to this sector?
AK: I have been around the
electroplating industry since I
was 7-8 years old. The Kushner
Electroplating School (KES) was
founded by my dad in 1947. He
had worked in electroplating in
the 1930's, and after working on
the Manhattan Project decided to
get into consulting and training
after WW2. He often stated that
he wanted to play a part in
bringing the electroplating indus-
try into the 20th century. I
started out by stuffing enve-
lopes, then was promoted to
working in his lab, and later
worked on some of his research
projects.
I was not initially attracted to
this industry, and in fact I was
heard to say a number of times
when I went off to college that I
did not want to have anything to
do with the industry. Well, as
life teaches you do not make
statements like that because
they well come back and bite
you! I trained as a chemist,
and received a Ph.D. in Physical
Organic Chemistry. I did the col-
lege professor bit for a while,
and worked for private industry
in various chemical related in-
dustries, but continued to work
with my dad on special projects.
When my father died in 1978, I
took over the business and oper-
ated it on a part time basis. In
1993 my wife, Bobby, and I ex-
panded the business and started
offering seminars as well as con-
sulting on a full time basis.
FTalk: How old is the Kushner
Electroplating School, and how
has it changed since its early
days?
AK: This year the business will
be 61 years old. The basic prin-
ciples of electroplating have not
changed. Faraday's Law has not
bee repealed by Congress, thank
goodness! Some of the things
that have changed are: A much
better understanding of the basic
principles of electroplating: the
way plating is performed (better
chemistries, better control, etc.);
environmental concerns (you
can't dump your plating waste in
the city sewer, etc.). In addition
the method of business has
changed: Use to be phone calls,
mail and paper checks. Now it is
e-mail, credit card, electronic
transfer of funds.
FTalk: What courses do you cur-
rently offer through the school?
FINISHING TALK
DR. ART KUSHNER
AK: We offer a wide range of
programs:
Electroplating Know How II
A 20 volume comprehensive cor-
respondence program (distance
learning)
Electroplating Know How
Custom Programs Custom
training programs using selected
volumes from the comprehensive
program (correspondence)
Electroplating Know How
Basics Two day basic principles
seminars at various locations
On-site Training Programs
that can be as general or de-
tailed depending what a com-
pany requires.
FTalk: Who organized/compiled
the 20 volume correspondence
course? How long did it take to
do so?
AK: Our original was written in
1947-48, and consisted of ten
volumes. The original program
took approximately one
year. The 20 volume program
was written over a three year
period, 1973-1975. Both were
written by my father. Since that
time, a good portion of the 20
volume program has been ed-
ited, updated, and rewritten by
me.
FTalk: In addition to being the
director of the Kushner Electro-
plating School, you also offer
consulting services for metal fin-
ishing businesses. In your ex-
perience, what has been the
most challenging part of this job,
and what was the most difficult
problem you had to solve?

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
AK: The most challenging part
of my job is to prepare training
programs/ seminars that teach/
educate and are enjoy-
able. Anybody who has ever
taken a class or seminar remem-
bers speakers/trainers/professors
that put you to sleep. The trick
is to pass on information and
make it a pleasant experience.
Consulting can be difficult at
times because your client is not
really giving you the complete
"skinny". Trying to get the real
facts on a consulting gig can be
very difficult at times. Strangely
enough, what I find most frus-
trating when consulting is that
the customer is paying you to
help solve a problem, but at the
end of the day is not willing to
follow your suggestions and rec-
ommendations.
FTalk: Do you have any plans
for expanding the school to en-
compass more programs,
courses, or subjects in the fu-
ture?
AK: I am hoping to prepare a
few programs that will be avail-
able on the internet. People to-
day are short of time and have a
much shorter attention span
than individuals growing up in
the 50's and 60's. They do not
like long seminars or reading
manuals. Use of the internet for
training is a good solution for
this problem.
FTalk: Have you seen an overall
increase or decrease in interest
in the study of Electroplating
since you took over as director
of the school?
AK: There definitely is a down-
ward trend in interest in the
study of electroplating. Electro-
plating is not a "cool" profession
in most people’s eyes. Electro-
plating can not compete with
computers, software, and multi-
million dollar business deals. In
addition, much of our industry is
moving and has moved off
shore. The companies that re-
main in North America are
stronger because they have
made commitments to better
technology and improving envi-
ronmental operating conditions;
but many smaller shops could
not, or chose not to, and they
have disappeared. In short, elec-
troplating in North America is not
a growth industry.
FTalk: What is the percentage
(estimate) of youth that are
showing interest in the area of
electroplating, from your obser-
vation?
AK: I can't really give you an
estimate but I suspect that indi-
viduals interesting electroplating
Your Total Finishing Resource.
1715 E. Conover Blvd. Conover, NC 28613
Page 5
as a career is probably less than
0.001%.
FTalk: Is the Kushner Electro-
plating School currently, or plan-
ning on, making an effort to pro-
mote metal finishing education
and careers to college and high
school aged students?
AK: No, we are not. Perhaps as
part of a consortium or partner-
ship we would get involved, but
not by ourselves. ~FT~
If you would like more informa-
tion on the Kushner Electroplat-
ing School, upcoming classes
and workshops, or would like to
know more about Dr. Kushner,
please visit his website at
www.platingschool.com.
He may also be reached by
phone at (408) 749-8652, or by
email at info@platingschool.com.
T: (800) 438-6880
T: (828) 464-1376
F: (828) 464-7094
www.jacksonlea.com
 Page 6
FROM THE FORUM: HEX CHROME ON HARD STEEL
Posted on December 3, 2007
In this month’s column, Finishing Talk forum mem-
bers Overchrome, Labrat, and thechuz discuss
problems and solutions surrounding adhesion when
chrome plating hard steel. Feel free to add your
thoughts to their ongoing discussion by visiting the
forums at www.FinishingTalk.com/electroplating
and then clicking on the thread entitled “Hex
Chrome Hard Steel”. For more ‘From the Forum’
discussions, check out our monthly internet televi-
sion show, Finishing Talk Live, where hosts Paul
Fisher and Paul Skelton bring the boards to life!
www.finishingtalklive.com
Overchrome:
I have a project to add a layer of chrome, about 1-
2 mils thick, to a piece of OD round stock. The
piece is made from hardened heat treated 1045
steel. My concern is with adhesion. From past ex-
perience I know that the harder the piece being
plated, the harder to get the chrome to adhere. As
of now, I run my tanks around 130 degrees and
use a reverse etch of about 30 seconds to 2 min-
utes to do my plating. This is done in a separate
tank that has the same make-up as my plating
tank.
How hard can stock be before you cannot get it to
adhere?
Is there a different process that I should use to
plate this type of steel?
Would using a different chemical to etch help?
Labrat:
This is normally the process used for hard chrome
plating on steel. However, if you have adhesion
problems, you could try a more aggressive ap-
proach - soak clean (high alkaline) - electroclean
(high alkaline) - electrolytic hydrochloric acid prep
(reverse current/direct current/reverse current),
rinse well, reverse current chrome etch, chrome
plate. Another option (if permitted for appearance)
is to sandblast after the alkaline cleaning step,
FINISHING TALK
then repeat the entire prep sequence stated
above. Hope this helps.
Overchrome:
I don't have too much trouble doing hard chrome
on most steels. Currently, I prep, scotchbrite, nap-
tha wipe, rinse and repeat, reverse etch in chrome,
and chrome. I also do a water break test. I found
this process works well, except for really hardened
steel. I don't think the problem is in the cleaning, I
believe it is the etching process. I am going to look
into a hydrochloric acid prep process. After sand-
blasting steel, how much prep do you have to do
to it before you can plate over the sandblasted
area? Also, what media should be used? Currently,
I have the ability to blast with a fine glass bead.
Labrat:
The glass bead should work. If the glass beads
seem to break down before producing a noticeable
etch, you may need to use something more ag-
gressive, like aluminum oxide. Make sure the part
is thoroughly cleaned before blasting, blast, then
reverse current chrome / direct chrome plate.
Overchrome:
Well, I attempted a test piece using your advice.
The only step that I changed right now from my
normal process was adding the SANDBLAST. I also
Increased the length of the etch time. It is hard to
believe that just those little added steps allowed
the chrome to adhere. It also turned out a little
brighter. I am not sure exactly why the sandblast
made such a difference, but it did.
Thanks for the advice. I will post back when the
other piece comes out.
thechuz:
If it has been heat treated, you probably have heat
-scale on the component, which can make the ad-
hesion poor/ non existent. An HCL pickle can re-
move this scale most of the time, but there’s po-
tential for hydrogen embrittlement which probably
wouldn’t be an issue for that strength of material.
A sulphuric etch can help allot for the higher ten-
sile materials, and if there is a significant silicon in
the steel (e.g. 300M) a sulphuric/HF etch works a
 Page 7
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

treat. Grit blasting usually does the trick on most

metals, followed by a good strike. Don’t leave a grit
blasted component too long (hours) before plating,
as it is a lot more likely to corrode. Grit (sand) and
Vapor (wet) blasting are very effective at livening
up the surface and removing oxide layers which
can make the component passive.

Overchrome:
Thanks far all the help. The piece I plated came
out exactly like I hoped it would. I also found a
secondary problem that I think was affecting the
process. We rub all our pieces with scotchbrite af-
ter the prep, before we plate, and for some reason
the tech prepping the piece used the wrong
scotchbrite. He used one with aluminum oxide in it.
I think this might have been an issue that caused
some of the pitting.

Join in on this conversation and other finishing

discussions at www.finishingtalk.com. Maybe
your advice, views, or opinions will end up in a
future installment of ‘From the Forum’.
Page 8
FINE TUNE CLEANING & RINSING - CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
orifice which traps both cutting
oil and metal shavings. Because
the parts are subsequently
plated, cleanliness is critical.
The size and projected volume
of the parts make racking im-
practical, so the parts are proc-
essed in both the pretreatment
and plating operations in a mo-
torized barrel loaded one-third
full. Even with the mechanical
action provided by the motor-
ized barrel and a mild alkaline
cleaning solution and multiple
rinses, the cleaning was unsuc-
cessful. A closer look at the
process became necessary
when O-rings farther along in
the production chain failed to
seat correctly on the parts, indi-
cating the continued presence
of oil and/or metal shavings.
In fact, microscopic evaluation
of a sampling of 100 parts
showed that 99 had some re-
maining soil contamination after
barrel processing through the
alkaline clean and multiple rins-
ing steps. So, although in the-
ory, rotation would maximize
part exposure to cleaning and
rinsing agents, the combination
wasn't getting the job done.
Process engineers explored
various alternatives and/or en-
hancements for the process.
These included different clean-
ing chemistries and electro-
cleaning, but neither solved the
problem.
How Ultrasonics Can Help
"Ultrasonics are a good option
to consider in cleaning scenar-
ios such as these, because of
the nature of the cleaning activ-
ity they provide," says Ryne
Johnson of Miraclean, who was
called in to work on the project.
Ultrasonic energy occurs when
sound waves are introduced
into a liquid such as water. The
sound waves create microscopic
bubbles during periods of posi-
tive pressure, which implode
and release a burst of energy
during periods of negative pres-
sure. This process is called cavi-
tation, and in conjunction with
appropriate chemistry and tem-
perature, the energy under-
mines and releases soil barriers.
Parts cleaned in rotating barrel in
mild alkaline cleaning solution
show cutting oil and metal shav-
ings still present on the parts.
One of the most special aspects
of ultrasonics is that the im-
ploding bubbles travel wherever
the solution goes, allowing
cleaning activity even within
complex part geometries. In
this case, the rotating barrel
holding the parts—with its small
perforated openings for solution
to flow through—had to be con-
sidered as well.
In a typical parts-cleaning ap-
plication, ultrasonics are bottom
-mounted and the watts of ul-
trasonics required are deter-
mined by the volume of the
FINISHING TALK
tank, the substrate and geome-
try of the parts, and the nature
of the soil. Stainless steel proc-
ess tanks are indicated, as they
encourage reflection of the
sound waves throughout the
solution, thereby enhancing the
ultrasonic action while at the
same time withstanding it.
When cleaning with ultrasonics,
the frequency of the sound
waves is matched to the appli-
cation. For the most part, lower
frequencies (20-40 kHz) are
safe for most applications and
will produce the most intense
cavitation energies to remove
the most common types of con-
taminants (oil, grease, metal
chips). They are also the most
commonly used frequencies.
Higher frequencies (68-250
kHz) will produce smaller cavi-
tation bubbles with less intense
energies, but more of them.
This can be beneficial in the
removal of smaller particles and
where damage is a concern
(polished surfaces, delicate
parts, soft substrates).
Accomplishing the Retrofit
The pretreatment line originally
consisted of a series of polyeth-
ylene tanks, including a poly-
ethylene cleaning station. Be-
cause space was available for a
new clean station and polyeth-
ylene is not compatible with
ultrasonics, Miraclean recom-
mended adding a new stainless
steel station to the beginning of
the line where the ultrasonic
cleaning activity would take
place. (In other retrofit scenar-
ios, ultrasonics can be added to
existing stainless steel tanks.)
Presented with the new tank

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
option, process engineers de-
cided to size the tank to accom-
modate two motorized barrels,
thereby increasing throughput.
The new tank is equipped with
Parts now clean after ultrasonics
retrofitted on the application
(which remained the same other-
wise).
40 kHz of bottom-mounted ul-
trasonics, proven through test-
ing to be able to penetrate the
motorized barrel openings and
cavitate throughout the load.
The motorized barrel speed was
minimized to promote the ultra-
sonic penetration and enhance
the cleaning action. The tank
also is equipped with heat,
which encourages ultrasonic
activity in a temperature range
of 100 to 180ºF (above which
heat reduces cavitation pres-
sure and becomes counterpro-
ductive to ultrasonic activity).
Cleaning time in the new ultra-
sonic scenario remains the
same as before: three minutes
per load—now actually three
minutes per two loads, thereby
doubling production. As before,
the cleaning station is followed
by immersion in multiple rinses
occurring in the original poly-
ethylene tanks. The difference
is that a recent microscopic
evaluation of parts cleaned in
rotating barrels in the new ul-
trasonic tank found that 99 out
of 100 parts were clean and
showed no evidence of cutting
oil or metal shavings. Subse-
Page 9
quent processes also now pro-
ceed without incident.
Ultrasonic Rinsing Takes a
Turn
Ultrasonics are not always nec-
essary in rinse tanks, but they
can be recommended in certain
applications where the geome-
try of the parts or the level of
cleanliness required suggests
that they would be of value (to
meet a clean room or military
specification, for example).
As with cleaning tank ultrason-
ics, rinse tank ultrasonics can
also be retrofitted into existing
applications to improve per-
formance. One such application
is a nickel chrome plating line
at a major manufacturers, de-
signed to plate a bright finish
on parts.
Continued on page 12...
Page 10
AAC RELEASES NEW TECHNICAL BULLETIN FOR ANODIZING INDUSTRY
A nodizing professionals now
have a new reference to turn to
when searching for an answer
to the question ‘which is the
proper adhesive to bond vari-
ous materials to anodized alu-
minum’? The Aluminum Ano-
dizers Council (AAC) has re-
leased a new Technical Bulletin:
“Guide to Selecting the Proper
Adhesive for Anodizing Applica-
tions.” The document explains
which adhesives are better to
use when bonding anodized
aluminum to various substrates.
The publication, released to
AAC members in February, is
another in a series of Technical
Bulletins containing valuable
reference information about
aluminum anodizing. The Tech-
nical Bulletin addresses consid-
erations for choosing an adhe-
sive, identifies characteristics of
each adhesive, and features a
selection guide.
The new Technical Bulletin, ti-
tled, "Guide to Selecting the
Proper Adhesive for Anodizing
Applications," as well as the
Technical Bulletin Compendium
containing the full library of
Technical Bulletins published by
the Aluminum Anodizers Council
over the past 15 years is avail-
able for purchase through AAC.
The Aluminum Anodizers Coun-
FINISHING TALK
cil is the international trade as-
sociation of firms engaged in
aluminum anodizing and whose
mission it is to promote the use
of anodized aluminum world-
wide through technical inter-
change, education, marketing
and other means to meet the
common interests of its mem-
bers.
For more info, contact the
Aluminum Anodizers Council,
1000 N. Rand Road,
Suite 214, Wauconda, IL
60084-3102 USA.
Telephone: 847/526-2010
Fax: 847/526-3993;
mail@anodizing.org;
www.anodizing.org.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
GM SPONSORS 2008 BRIGHT MINDS MENTOR PROGRAM
T he Society of Manufacturing
Engineers (SME) announced
that General Motors will spon-
sor its fifth annual Bright Minds
Mentor Program. As a part of
the program, 50 Orlando School
Districts' high school students
will participate in the custom-
ized program while attending
the SME RAPID 2008 Confer-
ence & Exposition at Disney's
Coronado Springs Resort on
May 21, 2008. Since 2003, the
SME program's ongoing mission
has been to give promising
technology-oriented high school
students opportunities to learn
about additive manufacturing
and rapid development tech-
nologies from industry-expert
mentors.
The Bright Minds Mentor Pro-
gram originated from SME's
Rapid Technologies & Additive
Manufacturing Community in
2003 and is led by a distin-
guished panel of dedicated SME
members and volunteers. One
of these leaders is General Mo-
tors senior researcher, Patrick
Spicer. "We see this as a great
opportunity to get students in-
terested in technical fields that
are crucial to the automotive
industry, such as engineering
and manufacturing," he said.
"That's one of the reasons why
we're glad to be a part of this
program. General Motors is al-
ways looking for talented peo-
ple with strong backgrounds
and expertise in technical
areas."
Page 11
This year's Bright Minds Mentor
Program will kick off with an
overview by industry consultant
and analyst Terry Wohlers of
Wohlers Associates, Inc. Over
the course of the day, these
students will attend conference
sessions, tour exhibits featuring
computer-aided drawing dem-
onstrations, and learn Rapid
Technology's influence on den-
tal and medical applications as
well as aerospace industry ad-
vancements. Several of the top
prototyping equipment manu-
facturers also will loan equip-
ment and provide materials to
the schools for the next school
year.
For more information on Bright
Minds, please visit www.sme.org/
brightminds. For details on SME or
the RAPID show, please visit
www.sme.org/rapid.
Page 12
FINISHING TALK

F I N E T U N E C L E A N I N G & R I N S I N G , CONT FROM PAGE 9...

The plating line consists of pretreatment, plate,

and nine post-plating rinses, all heated and
equipped with air spiders to promote solution
movement. To eliminate unacceptable spotting, the
last two rinse tanks are high quality DI water. The
final rinse is followed by a recirculating hot air dry.
Because the parts are now a finished product, they
then move on to inspection and packaging.
Identifying the Problem
The problem that led to the ultrasonic retrofit in
this case was a spot that mysteriously began ap-
pearing after the drying operation.
Orange to brown in color (indicating that it was
errant hexavalent chromium plating solution), the
spot was miniscule in size but very obvious on the
otherwise bright finish. It occurred near a cavity,
but was not visible during any of the nine rinses or
until after the hot air dry, when it was discovered
by product inspectors. A nuisance cosmetic imper-
fection, the spot then required hand-cleaning by
the inspection team, which was time and energy
consuming.
Continued on next page...

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Evaluating Ultrasonics
The spot was traced back to
imperfect rinsing despite the
quantity of rinses, the air agita-
tion and heat in the rinses and
the DI water. Process engineers
determined that the dry cycle
was wicking the errant chrome
out from the cavity.
Miraclean was called in to test
ultrasonics in the rinse cycle. In
a testimony to the power of
imploding bubbles, 25 kHz ul-
trasonics tested as too powerful
for the application, when the
frequency microscopically
opened a gateway in the cavity,
affecting fit in the final part.
The slightly less aggressive 40
kHz effectively removed the
spot in testing without affecting
part fit.
Retrofitting the Ultrasonics
There were two challenges to
retrofitting ultrasonics on this
production line. The first was
that the nine rinse stations
were all constructed of polypro-
pylene, which while an eco-
nomical choice in the world of
multiple rinses, would not sup-
port ultr asonic a ctivity.
(Ultrasonic energy is absorbed
by polypropylene, therefore los-
ing some of the ultrasonic ef-
fectiveness, and ultrasonics will
undermine the welds in a poly-
propylene tank causing tank
failure.)
Miraclean designed a stainless
steel tank insert for the third to
the last rinse station on the line
(the last tap water rinse). Sized
to fit into the existing tank, the
insert is outfitted with electric
heat, a junction box for the
heat and the ultrasonics, and a
remote, cooled NEMA enclosure
to house the ultrasonic genera-
tors and provide a central dis-
connect.
Schematic of stainless
steel insert/rinse tank
ultrasonic retrofit.
The second challenge on this
retrofit was that the parts are
rack mounted for plating on
plastisol coated racks. Even
here, the plastisol will absorb
some of the ultrasonic energy,
potentially minimizing its effec-
tiveness. Plus the critical sur-
faces of the part face a side,
not the bottom, of the tank in
this application. Therefore, to
maximize ultrasonic exposure to
critical part surfaces, the im-
mersible ultrasonic "cans" also
are rack mounted and cover a
side wall in this
application.
Rinse tank times remain the
same as before the addition of
ultrasonics (23 seconds of im-
mersion per rinse). The result
Page 13
of adding ultrasonics to one
rinse station in this process line
is that the spotting problem
that used to affect almost every
part has been eliminated,
thereby saving time and
money.
Variety of Sizes and Con-
figurations
Ultrasonics come in a variety of
sizes and configurations. They
are available as diaphragm-
mounted in a dedicated
stainless steel tank that has
been sized to meet particular
requirements, or as immersible
stainless steel cans in a variety
of sizes to be retrofitted into
existing stainless steel tanks. As
we've seen, they can even be
retrofitted into polypropylene
tanks by thinking outside the
box (or inside the tank) and
employing a stainless steel in-
sert.
Ultrasonics in the right fre-
quency for the job and at the
appropriate watt density, can
make a big and immediate im-
pact on the success of a clean-
ing, pretreatment, or rinsing
project. The potential for retro-
fitting ultrasonics means that
you don't have to wait for a
whole new process line to reap
the rewards. ~
Written by Cheryl Larkin of
Miraclean® Ultrasonic
Cleaning Systems
based in Ashville, NY.
This article was reprinted cour-
tesy of Products Finishing
Magazine.
Page 14
FINISHING TALK

5-6

THE LAST WORD
T H E F U T U R E O F F I N I S H I N G - A LOOK AT THE REPORT BY THE NMFRC
F eeling a little shaky about
the finishing industry these
days? Unsure of what the not-so
-booming U.S. economy has in
store for you? Then the National
Metal Finishing Resource Center
just might have some of the an-
swers (and predictions) that you
need. In January of this year,
the NMFRC released the product
of a collaboration between sev-
eral well known industry profes-
sionals, entitled “The Future of
Finishing”. Self-described as
written for anyone who “has a
stake in the Surface Finishing
industry”, this thorough report is
suitable for business owners,
employees of job shop or cap-
tive surface finishing operations,
suppliers and customers, envi-
ronmental regulators and the
general public. It is a far reach-
ing resource that I would sug-
gest taking the time to at least
scan through, as it is packed full
of useful facts and detailed ex-
planations of current and future
trends affecting the surface fin-
ishing industry.
Focusing on three areas impor-
tant to today’s industry – eco-
nomics, environmental regula-
tions, and technology – the re-
port attempts to both educate
the reader on the basics of each
trend, as well as explore the
likely course of events that
could manifest within the indus-
try in response to each one. A
set of two ‘potential futures’ for
the industry is presented early
on: one in which newly intro-
duced technologies would re-
quire a skilled coater to function
properly, and another where
plating technology evolves into
a fully automated, ‘no skills nec-
essary’ process. Since there are
few new technologies boasting
the reliance on skilled operators,
it appears that the latter future
may be the one we are heading
for; the only question is, how
long until plating systems can
effectively run themselves?
Economics
Unfortunately, this is not the
most popular buzzword floating
around the country at present.
The U.S. is currently struggling
amidst the ruins of a declining
manufacturing base, competing
against an unprecedented num-
ber of global competitors, wal-
lowing in its trade deficit, and
simultaneously ignoring scien-
tific research. With all this nega-
tive pressure on the economy as
a whole, it’s no wonder that the
finishing industry is in such a
bind; in addition to the above,
finishers nationwide are at-
tempting to compete with im-
possibly low prices from Asia,
stringent product and materials
regulations from the European
Union, and an endless patch-
work of process regulation from
the EPA and similar government
entities.
Environment
Which brings me to my next
topic. In addition to the run of
the mill environmental concerns
that any surface finisher can no
doubt relay from memory (and
the report also does a terrific
job of giving a concise overview
of existing regulations for those
of you who cannot), there is a
pretty detailed discussion con-
cerning two fairly recent envi-
ronmental concerns that will ef-
fect finishers in years to come.
Page 15
The most notorious, of course,
would be Global Warming, re-
sulting in a rise in energy costs
and potentially slower economic
growth. The other, lesser known
(but quickly becoming a house-
hold name), is the ‘life-cycle
method’. This method is a way
of manufacturing that takes into
consideration the environmental
burdens of producing based on
the energy and materials used,
and wastes created by the proc-
ess.
Technology
Insofar as this trend is con-
cerned, the authors of the re-
port provide the reader with a
comprehensive analysis of the
way that finishers are likely to
optimize existing technologies,
and develop and implement new
technology. These include im-
proving conventional surface
finishing processes in order to
“reduce chemical usage, worker
exposure risk, and waste gen-
eration” while maintaining a
quality finish and productivity,
and the switch from “current
immersion chemistry solutions
to alternative metal deposition
technologies” (such as HVOF or
PVD).
This article only scratches the
surface of the wealth of infor-
mation meticulously condensed
into the report. The insights it
offers into current and future
trends is definitely worth a
glance (or a good, long stare ).
You can download it directly
(and for free) at the NMFRC’s
homepage: www.nmfrc.org.
Take a look, and tell us what
you think at finishingtalk.com!
 PRST/STD
US Postage Paid
Rutherfordton, NC
Permit # 154
PO Box 349
Rutherfordton, NC 28139

April 2008 Please deliver this informative newsletter to the

following valued Finishing Talk reader:
Anna Levitsky, Editor
Phone: 704-995-2263
anna@finishingtalk.com

www.FinishingTalk.com
See what the industry is talking about!