Unwanted chrome

[adrie.degraaff]

If bought a pre 1930 Ariel with chrome where you wanted nickel, remove the chrome and so getting the under laying nickel.

Take a metal pan or plastik dishwas pan with a metal plate at the bottem, fill with warmwater, in there a few spoons of soda and one drop of dishwassoap.

Now the - minus of a battery charger connected to the pan or metal plate, and the + positif to the dechroming object (not tatching the - plate), after a few minutes the chrome is fading like snow in the sun.

Polish the white powder of and see the nickel.

[admin]

How do get chrome off Adrie ?

I did search on google and couldn't find anyway of doing it at home ...

[adrie.degraaff]

The chrome goes in or on the water.

Under all chrome is the softer nickel.

[Steve.Walko]

John, It’s done by reverse electroplating as Andrie has mentioned. The positive ions of the chromed part flow towards the negative plate. Removing the chrome from the part and placing it onto the negative plate. It’s just the reverse of how the chrome got put on the part.

[nevhunter]

Chrome can be removed simply by immersing the part in dilute hydrochloric acid. The nickel underneath doesn't dissolve. The reason I know this is because I asked a plater to nickel some parts and when I got them home they were chromed instead. I rang him and he told me to dowhat I have said above.
You can use reverse current to get plating off but depending on the current and thickness of the plating it may take some of the parent metal off as well. Nev

[pete.collings]

There are potential problems with acid removal of chrome, it might be easier and quicker for platers, but it can give rise to potential corrosion points in the underlying base metal if the etching solution has penetrated any pores in the plating, that only become apparent after the part has been in use for some time when white or red corrosion surfaces on the plated surface. This problem will be much greater if the etching solution is used to remove all the plating back ti the base metal.
Possible precautions could be to seal the plated surface with a wax type sealant, or just keep the bike for show use only!!

[nevhunter]

You are most likely right there pete as the plating was fresh in my case.
From what I understand, stripping plating off is a pretty specialised job. Probably most platers remove most of it in the "usual"? way bu buffing it. If you are not carefull most of your parts lose definition and look like they belong in a bathroom rather than being machined parts
Doesn't electrolytic removal of metals preferentially require very precisely controlled voltages with low current flows?
Plating scares me. If you get a good plater hang on to him.
Don't forget to heat treat parts that are load carrying after plating (like wheel spokes ) to prevent hydrogen embrittlement. Usually done in hot oil soon after plating is done. It's also needed if journals are resized by chroming. This is often not done and the parts can fail. ( even if they are substantial sized parts. like crankshafts, particularly)
If you don't believe the need to do this, check out Aviation Industry references. Your BCAR should have info on it. Aust CASA does if you can't find info in UK. Nev