Electrochemicals Blog – EPI – Electrochemical Products Inc.

April 29th, 2008

By Eric Olander

Goodrich Corporation's Advanced Sensors Technical Center sent EPI's lab in New Berlin, WI samples of Kovar parts for blackening. Their challenge was that the traditional stainless steel blackening of 416 series was more grey than black. Kovar contains a high amount of nickel 29% and cobalt 17% metals. Larry Abbott tried our Ultra Blak 465, hot black oxide process for nickel. Attached is an SME picture taken at 10,000x magnification. Goodrich likes the uniform black color because it was black with no grey which works better for their light sensor applications.

Posted in Black Oxide | No Comments »

April 25th, 2008

By Eric Olander

This week I attended the NASF's Washington DC forum April 22-24, 2008. There was an excellent line up of speakers that talked about the present and future issues; Competing against China, Fume Suppressants and alternatives to PFOS surfactants systems, REACH, Homeland Security, Nanotechnology, Patent Reform, Fred Barnes from Fox News, Climate Change Policy,Global Metals Outlook, Energy Policy,  EU nickel regulation, and an update from NAM. The last day I went to Capitol Hill to visit my WI Senators and Congress members. I actually  meet with Congressman Kind, see the picture in this blog. Congressman Kind is working  hard for manufacturing and trying to hold down health care costs. We had an excellent discussion on the issues and I also informed him of Richard C. Longworth's book "Caught in the Middle" which  I blogged out before.  I have been going to DC for 10 years now. I was there when 9/11 happen and going there helps me keep in touch with the aides of the Senator and Congress members. The aides are the ones that handle the issues for the Representatives.

Posted in Eric Olander Happenings | No Comments »

April 3rd, 2008

By Eric Olander

I participated in the annual NASF Milwaukee Branch Five Minute Supplier showdown held on April 1st,2008 This quick five minute presentation was about the Diphenyl Carbazide(DC) , indicating hexavalent chrome after ASTM B-117 salt spray testing, controversy that Tom Rochester discussed in the October 2007 issue of Plating Surface Finishing magazine. Tom discovered that you take a trivalent chromate and test it with DC prior to salt spray and it tests negative for hex chrome. After ASTM B-117 salt spray the test  was positive.

EPi we used the test method ISO 3613:2000(E) section 5.6 using a spectrophotometer both prior and after salt spray with negative results in both tests. We also tested our E-Chrome Ultra Blue and E-Chrome Ultra Yellow using Tom Rochester method after salt spray. We found out that our trivalent chromates do not test positive using the DC method.

Eric also talked briefly on a new trivalent yellow E-Ultra Yellow 300 that will be coming out this summer . Eric will be giving a more detail about this presentation on June 17th,2008 at Sur/Fin's technical conference Automotive Symposium Track II at 2-5 PM in Indianapolis, IN at the Indy Convention center.

Posted in Eric Olander Happenings, Metal Finishing, Trivalent Chromates | No Comments »