Make up of silvering solutions
SENSITIZER SOLUTION
Before the application of the silvering solutions, the article must be treated with sensitizer solution. This working solution is made by diluting 40mls of Sensitizer Concentrate to 1 litre with deionized water. The surface of the object to be silver coated must be completely wetted out with sensitizer solution before proceeding to the subsequent – silvering – stage. If there are any ‘water breaks’ the surface must be thoroughly cleaned, re-sensitized and treated until it is completely wetted.
SILVERING SOLUTIONS
The System is supplied as 3 Concentrates, from which 2 Working Solutions, A & B, are prepared.
(i) Silver Concentrate
(ii) Reducer Concentrate
(iii) Buffer Concentrate
WORKING SOLUTION A
Dilute 240 mls of Silver Concentrate to 1 litre with deionized water and add 30 mls Buffer Concentrate.
WORKING SOLUTION B
Dilute 30 mls of Reducer Concentrate to 1 Litre with deionized water.
In making up the diluted working solutions, deionized water of at least 100,000 Ohms resistance should be used. Working solutions should be made up fresh in polythene or glass containers. Stoppered solutions of Silvering and Reducing Solutions may be used the day after make-up, however, Sensitizer Solution must be made up each day.
When spraying, Working Solutions A and B must be supplied by the double headed Spray Gun at equal rates of flow. The temperature of the Spray Room should be maintained between 20-26°C.
It is essential that air supplied to the spray guns is clean and oil-free and within the operating temperature range. This is especially important if the compressor is sited outside the building and drawing air at external ambient temperatures.
CARE OF EQUIPMENT
Spray guns, reservoir bottles and supply tubing should be thoroughly rinsed with deionized water at the end of each working day, all traces of the process solutions being removed, both from the guns themselves and the feed lines. The guns must also be properly dried to avoid corrosion.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Health and Safety Executive Document OC 687/7 describes possible hazards of chemical silvering processes and safe working procedures. This is available on the H&SE website – www.hse.gov.uk
An effective first step in solving any problems is to determine in which part of the process the problem is occurring. Metallizing a clean piece of glass or tile (which has not been basecoated) can help. Always sensitize first. If the glass or tile is metallized without any probems, then the problem most likely lies in the basecoat or topcoat application. If, on the other hand, the glass or tile does not come out perfect after metalliszing, at least some part of the problem lies in the silvering step.
When trying to isolate a problem in either the basecoat, silvering or topcoat step, one should remember that either the chemicals or the technique could be the source. If you are still experiencing problems please do not hesitate to contact us for further technical assistance.
Our chemicals are sourced here, with chemists working to provide the very best in spray-on-chroming. Our chemicals come in concentrated form in containers that have their own measures so no need for all that pouring and measuring, simple squeeze the container to fill up a dispenser attached to the recommended amount and pour.
Our basecoat is of the highest quality with outstanding adhesion, it has excellent flo-out and covers a lot more imperfection.
Our goal is to ensure that our customers will receive technical support when they need it and not when it suits. The majority of feedback we get about other companies is the lack of technical support and customers have told us they just wanted to give up, we are here to make it work and support you through the learning curve.
We’ve been there ourselves and with our technical expertise and knowledge we can help you resolve any issues you encounter.
The most important point is that there is no need to purchase one basecoat and one hardener and thinner, and one topcoat and one hardener and one thinner.
It’s simply the same product? Our topcoat has hardener and thinner but for our basecoat you simply add a colour to the topcoat and so you are spending 50% less. Once you have silvered your part you can either colour the topcoat for a chrome effect finish or gold, brass, copper or almost any colour of the rainbow.
