Plating Lines Using ROTOCON Rotary Electrical Ground Clamp Increase Output

An American-based international corporation relied on the engineering strengths and high-performance ROTOCON rotary electrical ground clamp of Meridian Laboratory for their high-current rotary plating line.  By partnering with Meridian Laboratory they were able to plate at new levels, oftentimes with 100% duty cycles for many days straight.  Since initial install they have added two more lines to expand their output, performance, and consistency.

Challenge

An American-based international corporation relied on the engineering strengths and high-performance ROTOCON rotary electrical ground clamp of Meridian Laboratory for their high-current rotary plating line.  By partnering with Meridian Laboratory they were able to plate at new levels, oftentimes with 100% duty cycles for many days straight.  Since initial install they have added two more lines to expand their output, performance, and consistency.

Conventional plating relies on low voltage, high-current DC power to chemically coat metals with a thin layer of another, such as gold or silver.  An improvement over conventional electroplating is to rotate the work pieces while in process to more consistently cover the pieces.  Meridian Laboratory has had a long history of supplying standard single contact, rotary electrical ground clamps for rotational plating applications up to 3,000A.  An end user of electroplating equipment was in the process of developing a new production line with potential amperages up to 6,000A continuous.

Solution

From over 20 years of using Meridian Laboratory on other plating and welding lines, the user knew to trust the performance and longevity of their ROTOCON rotary electrical ground clamp.  Faced with this new challenge of 6,000A draw they worked with Meridian Laboratory’s engineers to design a new custom rotary electrical ground that met the current draw demands, and vigorous environmental temperatures faced during the plating process.  Meridian Laboratory was able to design and integrate a special water-cooling jacket to ensure maximum longevity of the rotary electrical ground.  To further ensure and monitor the continuous proper operation of the rotary ground, a closed loop thermal monitoring system was integrated to ensure line shut off, in the event the rotary ground was approaching over temperature.  Meridian Laboratory was able to assist in all forms of the project, starting from initial design to installation and usage.  The result was three new plating lines capable of 6,000A draw and greatly increased the output and quality of their plating operations.

“Our plating process has never been as consistent and accurate since we’ve converted to ROTOCON rotary grounds…we can’t believe how long we operated prior to using them.” – Satisfied Customer

Key Statistics

• Rotary plating slip ring rated to 6,000A continuous
• Included water-cooling and closed loop temperature monitoring system to ensure long life and safety stops
• Extremely low contact resistance did not change over time, rotation, or duty cycle