1. Water electroplating: generally applicable to ABS material, ABS + PC material products. The main process is to put the product to be electroplated into the chemical plating solution for electroplating. According to the different needs of customers, it can be plated into different colors, such as high gloss silver, sub silver, gray silver, gun color, gold, black chrome, semi gloss chrome. Because the conductivity of electroplated products is significantly enhanced, there are two methods for some parts to be insulated
First, in the need to insulate the parts coated with insulating oil, the parts in electroplating will not be electroplated to, so as to achieve the insulation effect! Of course, the part coated with insulating oil will turn black, so it is not suitable for appearance.
Second, the parts to be electroplated are pasted with special adhesive tape to protect them and achieve the same insulation effect.
2. Vacuum ion plating, also known as vacuum coating: generally applicable to a wide range, such as ABS material, ABS + PC material, PC material products. At the same time, because of its complex process, high requirements of environment and equipment, the unit price is more expensive than that of water electroplating. This paper briefly introduces its technological process: product surface cleaning, de electrostatic -- > spray primer -- > baking primer -- > vacuum coating -- > spray topcoat -- > baking topcoat -- > packaging. Vacuum plating can be divided into general vacuum plating, UV vacuum plating and special vacuum plating; The process includes evaporation, splashing, gun color, etc.
3. The difference between the two processes: because the process is relatively simple, the requirements from equipment to environment are not as harsh as vacuum ion plating, so it is widely used.
There is a weakness in water electroplating, which can only be plated with ABS and ABS + PC materials (the plating effect of this material is not very ideal). The temperature resistance of ABS is only 80 ℃, which limits its application. And the vacuum electroplating can reach about 200 ℃, which can be used in high temperature parts. For example, PC material is used for air nozzle and air nozzle ring, and these parts are required to withstand the high temperature of 130 ℃. In addition, the general requirements of high temperature parts, do vacuum plating should be sprayed in the last layer of UV oil, so that the surface of the product is glossy, high temperature resistance, while ensuring adhesion.
4. The advantages and disadvantages of the two processes are as follows
A. In short, if the vacuum plating can not pass the UV oil, the adhesion is very poor, and the water plating is obviously better than the vacuum plating. Therefore, in order to ensure the adhesion of vacuum plating, special spraying treatment is needed, and the cost is higher.
B. The color of water plating is monotonous. Generally, there are only seven colors such as sub silver, gray silver, gun color, gold, black chrome, semi gloss chrome, etc. However, vacuum plating can solve the problem of seven colors.
C. The general coating material of water electroplating is "hexavalent chromium", which is a non environmental protection material. For "hexavalent chromium", there are the following requirements: EU: 76 / 769 / EEC: Prohibition of use; 94/62/EC：<100ppm；  RoHS: < 1000ppm so strict requirements, some domestic manufacturers have begun to try to use "trivalent chromium" instead of "hexavalent chromium"; The coating materials used in vacuum plating are wide and easy to meet the requirements of environmental protection.