Because the price of gold is high, many companies offer
gold plating services such as
selective spot plating and selective stripe plating to ensure that their clients aren't overpaying for wasted metal. Reel-to-reel plating is an option that involves tin reflow, selective spot plating,
selective stripe plating, additive masking plating, two-sided square pin plating and wide stock plating. The best plating companies provide plating services that utilize several different metals, including gold, palladium, silver, tin, nickel and copper.
The main benefit to plating components in gold is that gold is a great conductor. Gold plated electrical components can conduct currents for long durations and not fail or corrode. Gold plating will also never form surface oxides and won't easily break down. However, gold is easily the most expensive metal one can use for plating.
Palladium, on the other hand, is much more affordable than gold. Palladium is often alloyed with nickel, which helps drive costs down even further. Palladium is an excellent metal for resisting corrosion.
When precious metal plating is conducted inefficiently, it can become expensive. One way to reduce expenses is to opt for silver, a cost-effective metal that provides many of the same plating benefits as gold and palladium. Silver plating will resist corrosion and has a higher conductivity rating than gold. Silver is also easier to solder than other precious metals.
Tin is often used to improve the soldering capability of basic materials and parts. Tin is also used to give materials additional corrosion resistance.
When a customer is looking to give their components and parts an undercoat, they'll want to use nickel and copper plating. Nickel can help create a barrier between the base components and the precious plating metal. Nickel is also excellent for resisting corrosion and preventing wear. Copper plating also acts as a barrier between material and a more expensive plating metal, with the added benefits of conducting heat and providing malleability.
With all of the different precious metals used in electroplating, it’s important to choose a metal that will fulfill your plating needs while receiving the lowest cost to you.
If you’ve used electroplating services, which metal did you choose and why?