We snaffled the tanks from the closed factory, and one is going to Arthur G and the other is coming home with me for some experimentation on the subject.
Both have a row of fixed bars across the top connected to a huge chunk of copper bus-bar on the side, this was the power supply to the copper anodes which were suspended in the copper sulphate solution. The PCB's were suspended on a moving frame between the anodes and they were gently agitated backwards and forwards while the plating went on.
If a large enough piece of steel or whatever was laid in the bottom of the tank and also around the edges, the whole area of the tank should be available for working items.
I want to try graphite anodes, as they are highly recommended for keeping the electrolyte clear and for being non-toxic themselves. Anyone know a source of graphite over here? It is used a lot in big steel reduction furnaces, but doesn't seem to be used a lot in other applications where we could nab a bar or two.
There was a small bonus in the form of a smaller caustic tank which I loaded on, that may well be useful for small items where the big tank would be unnecessarily big to use.
I have to go to Chester tomorrow on a service call, so Arthur will have his tank rather earlier than expected!
Peter
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