Electrochemicals Blog – EPI – Electrochemical Products Inc.

April 24th, 2012

Today I leave to attend the NASF Washington DC forum, which I have been going to for 14 years, including being in Washington DC when when 9/11 happen. We will learn aobut the latest regulatory issues facing metal finishing industry and then visit the Congressional offices at the Capitol. If schedule permits I should get to meet Congressman Paul Ryan on Thursday.

EPi is also exicited about Sur/Fin 2012 in Las Vegas, NV . We are sponsoring Rick Dale from his restoration company as a keynote speaker. Rick Dale will be coming to our booth 721. EPi will be annoucing new exciting products and also have the EPi wheel of luck in the booth. Visit our web site www.epi.com to learn more.

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December 27th, 2011

By Eric Olander

Last week Kenji Nakayashiki Deputy Manager Marketing Division of Audec Co. Ltd  came to meet Eric Olander President of EPi and to learn about black oxide processes for steel and black oxide. Kenji learned about room temperature blackening Insta Blak 333 and Ultra Blak 400 premium grade hot black oxide process. The Ultra Blak 400 process blackend a  wide range of steel alloys and Kenhji said it does not fume like the local formulations. A demonstration on blackening stainless steel with Ultra Blak 407 with no hexvalent chrome was conductied as well. EPi is in the process of developing a new black oxide sfor stainless steel withotu chrome adn molybdenum in the lab right now.

Audec has been distributing EPi black oxide chemistry for over 12 years now. We are  excited about growing our business in Japan.

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August 22nd, 2011

By Eric Olander

Left to right Andrey  Sklyarenko Executive Director- Sonis, Bulat Bayzuldin Owner - Sonis,Eric Olander- Preisdent EPi and John Cheng  EPi  AsiaMarket Development Manager . Bulat Bayzuldin introduced Andrey Sklyarenko the new executive director of Sonis Co. Moscow, Russia to the EPI team last week plus to learn more about EPi's alkaline non cyanide copper for plating directly to zinc diecast E-Brite Ultra CU . EPi has had great success plating zinc diecast with E-Brite Ultra CU all over the world.  Sonis is selling E-Brite Ultra CU to Russian platers to eliminate cyanide from their metal finishing facilities. They achieve success by vibratory finishing the zinc diecast parts prior to plating them in the E-Brite Ultra CU process. Sonis also successfully sells Insta Blak 333 room temperature black oxide finish for steel and iron substrates. EPi sells its specialty chemicals all over the world approximately 30% of our business is outside the USA.

Posted in Black Oxide, Copper Plating, Eric Olander Happenings | No Comments »

May 27th, 2011

By Eric Olander

We are all excited her at EPi we sold our first app today on the the Droid phone to G. Gilliam. ( See App button below) EPi has been working tirelessly for the last three months working on an iPhone app first and then the Driod version. Apple is still reviewing our application and we hope to have it available by Sur/Fin 2011 time. It was interesting we completed the process for Driod and we received approval in less than 24 hours! Apple seems to prefer Apps more for entertainment value than a technical or business productivity tool. We will get their approval eventually it takes longer. I find this intersting as what happened to us in getting the App approved  seems to follow how a PC versus an IMac works and thinks. PC updates happen automatically while an Imac the administrator has to approve the  update. Apple has more quality control in what happens and protects its brand. Things take a little longer, but things are under control.

EPi's Hull Cell ruler offers the following.

The Hull Cell ruler is utilized to measure the current density of all electroplating processes including copper, nickel and zinc. The Hull Cell ruler is an excellent choice to determine the acceptable plating current density of any plating bath. For example, if there is an unacceptable dull deposit on the work coming out of the tank, by running the Hull Cell, you can see if there is a correlation of the quality of the work being plated to the quality of the Hull Cell results. Therefore, it is an effective method for trouble shooting electroplating processes.

All rulers, including Hull Cell rulers, get lost in desk drawers and other places. Now, with EPi’s Hull Cell Ruler you do not need a physical ruler - just your Android phones. EPi’s Hull Cell Ruler App works on the Android based on the existing Hull Cell ruler scale. You will notice a Hull Cell ruler is longer than the Android screen. The EPi App addresses the size with a scrolling screen that moves left to right and vice versa. 267 ml (on the top) and 1000 ml (on the bottom). Hull Cell panels can be measured with this ruler. The following Hull Cell parameters for cathode/anode material, type of agitation, temperature, amperage, and time for both rack and barrel applications are available.

Type of Plating Processes

* Cyanide Copper
* Alkaline Non Cyanide Copper
* Acid Copper
* Nickel
* Chrome
* Zinc
* Tin
* Cadmium
* Silver
* Brass
* Bronze

Imagine if you can sell 10,000 apps for 0.99 thatis almost $10,000. Maybe I just get into the  App business?

To purchase the App go to this link https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zsl.Epi

Stay tune to when it is available on the Iphone and Ipad!!

Posted in Electroplating, Eric Olander Happenings | No Comments »

May 3rd, 2011

By Eric Olander

April 16th Charlie Cook gave one of the best presentations on politics in the USA today at the Ritz  Carlton in Pentagon City, VA. Charlie's presentation was based on a independents view point. In the USA it is the independents that vote a person into office as the tried and true Democrats and Republicans are about 30-35% of all voters. The remaining voters are independents and they truly sway American politics by voting their minds.

Charlie stated that if unemployment stays high it will be a challenge for President Obama to stay in office. If it stays above 8.5% it will be difficult for Obama. If  unemployment is 8.0% Obama will be re-elected.  Unless the Republicans blow up Charlie says they will take over the Senate in 2012 and control the house as well.

Do you have a few moments ot listen to a small portion of his talk go to

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May 2nd, 2011

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April 15th, 2011

By Eric Olander

Tomorrow I wil get up at 3 am to go on a Stars and Stripes Honor Flight to Washington DC with George Sirotkin who is 92 years old , fought in the Pacific with the Navy. To learn more go to www.starsandstripeshonorflight.org  We will be spending the entire day in DC going to momumnets especially the World War 2 momument www.wwiimemorial.com . There will be 200 WW2 vets plus 200 guardians on a Delta airlines 747 flying into Dulles Airport.

Every day 900 WW2 vets pass away.  Over 4 million vets fought in WW2 with over 400,000 giving their lives so we can have our freedoms today! I so looking forward to tomorrow!

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April 8th, 2011

By Eric Olander

April 12th I leave for Washington DC to participate in the National Association of Surface Finishers ( NASF) www.nasf.org Washington DC forum at the Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington VA.

The 2011 Washington Forum will feature timely updates on major trends impacting the surface technology community and the manufacturing base in North America and globally. Attendees will gain new strategic insights on the regulatory, technical and political factors affecting their operations while exchanging with prominent thought leaders and top experts in the field.

This year Chris Wagner  from Kohler Co. will be joining Eric in learning the latest political challenges. On Thursday April 14th Chris Wagner and Eric Olander will be heading for a day out on the hill. So far appointments have been made in the following office Senator Johnson and Kohl and Congressional offices of Ryan, Petri, Baldwin, and Sesenbrenner. Interesting fact, in creating the  appointments some offices are commenting that there probably will not be any meetings on April 14th as the US government will be shut down since the Congress can not agree on the funding of the government. Stay tune to my tweets ericolander!

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March 16th, 2011

By Eric Olander

Today a new video of Eric Olander President of EPi of New Berlin , WI has been posted on you tube discussing why Eric exhibits at Sur/Fin  http://nasfsurfin.com/index.php

Please note there may be more than one video about Sur/Fin so you  will need to go the process of seeing others. Do you need a pass to Sur/Fin? If so email dinaz@epi.com adnshe will be happy to get you a free pass. More info on Sur/Fin will be coming stay  tune!

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March 14th, 2011

By Eric Olander

EPi is excited to annouce its new ecommerce platform is now available on smart phones such as Iphone and Droids. EPi's e-commerce site is https://ecommerce.epi.com/ . Save this web address on the favorite section of your phone. We are working towards having more information available on the ecommerce site such as technical data sheets and material safety data sheets. EPI is making it easier to do business!  SIMPLY SUPERIOR!

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