Topic: Phosphating 101 -

[jwc66k]

Im tring to do some trouble shooting has anyone come across a situation while doing phosphating I have had a white flakey material condensing and suspended in the hot water/phosphate solution ? This seems to happen towards the end of my phosphating process.

Probably too strong a phosphoric acid mix or a temperature drop. I assume the items were bead blasted first, and then untouched by human hands (use gloves for handling) or not subjected to other "treatments".
I use a "metal black" solution from Eastwood to get a dark shade on hardware prior to the phosphoric bath.
Jim

[Bossbill]

Happens to me all the time. I'm very careful about mix ratios and cleanliness.
It doesn't appear to do anything, but I do a post clean of the bolts in straight alcohol.
Then into WD.

[preaction]

Jim, Bill thanks for the replys I  have been carefull with keeping clean and acid amounts with very good results but I didnt remember anyone mentioning the white flakes before Im trying some larger parts this week including some leaf springs and wanted to give it my best effort.

[jwc66k]

It's been a while since I did a batch, but the "cooking" time in the phosphoric bath is also critical. If I left parts in for a full ten minutes they got "white crystals" on them. For that reason, I usually do a test bolt for the full time to see what happens.
Jim

[preaction]

I wanted to share the results of some phosphating I finished today the springs were glass beaded and cleaned of and remaining media I kept the solution temp at 200* thinking the mass of the parts may have brought down the temp and it worked out great Im very happy with the color and finish. The sheet metal and 2 bends was 175 I was able to weld it myself the the crab pot heater was 80 delivered and I used about 7 dollars in LPG it was an interesting challenge. I tested oil on a small part and I feel good the color will become very uinform.

[J_Speegle]

I wanted to share the results of some phosphating I finished today the springs were glass beaded and cleaned of and remaining media I kept the solution temp at 200* thinking the mass of the parts may have brought down the temp and it worked out great Im very happy with the color and finish. The sheet metal and 2 bends was 175 I was able to weld it myself the the crab pot heater was 80 delivered and I used about 7 dollars in LPG it was an interesting challenge. I tested oil on a small part and I feel good the color will become very uinform.

Very nice - Thanks for sharing 

[jwc66k]

I like it.
Jim

[dkknab]

Just wanted to share the info Bob got me.  I think this applies here.

Here is the link for the website for Palmetto Enterprises

https://www.palmettoenterprisesparkerizing.com/

And here is the link for the pdf for the zinc phosphating process they posted

https://www.palmettoenterprisesparkerizing.com/_files/ugd/6623bf_da755b3fa0ce4cfcbaacd4ca73ad99bc.pdf