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CDP LINES

Selective gold plating

    CDP lines

    Technic's CDP-2000 is a precision electroplating machine designed for high-precision depth-controlled plating of precious metals on individual parts, typically pins and sockets for the electronic connector industry. Since only a small area at the end of the part needs to be plated, considerable savings can be made compared to conventional plating methods.

    Parts that can be processed: 

    • Pin and socket components for electrical connectors

    • Spring plunger contacts

    • Connection terminals

    • or any other cylindrical or spindle-shaped object manufactured as a single component.

    Main design features

    • Conveyor belts available with permanent inserts or removable cartridges depending on volume and flexibility required.

    • Dual processing lanes can be configured with the same component configuration or two different configurations. Common chemical tanks supply the treatment cells in each lane.

    • The plating cells use precision fluid flow and level controls to produce depth repeatability controlled to within 0.5 mm.

    • Menu-driven, computer-reconfigurable anodes offer plating flexibility for a variety of part types, including hard-to-plate parts that require high projection into internal recesses.

    • The contact roller connects the cathode current to the conveyor belt, ensuring silent, low-resistance electrical contact with minimal resistance and no particle generation.

    • The plating cells use a synchronised backup conveyor, which exerts pressure on each part passing through the cells to ensure a reliable cathode electrical connection in the conveyor belt.

    Features and benefits

    • High, medium or low volume production - plated component throughput of 1,000 to 2,000 parts per hour.

    • Rapid return on investment with up to 70 % in gold savings compared with conventional barrel-plated coins.

    • The unique design of the plating and bubbling cell allows precise, repeatable control of plating depth and consistent thickness uniformity from part to part.

    • The plating cell eliminates the "brown circle" at the dividing line between the controlled depth deposit and the base deposit.

    Loading/unloading options

    Parts loading and unloading can be manual or fully automatic, in-line or off-line. Automation is achieved using a variety of technologies, including:

    • Vibratory bowl feeders

    • In-line conveyor

    • Scara robot

    • Cassette to cassette

    Case study on gold savings

    The data presented here is a summary of data from an actual case study demonstrating the gold and dollar savings achievable using CDP-2000 versus barrel plating of connector sockets and pins. The plating thickness profiles used to calculate the savings are averages of a sample of 20 parts taken from a run of 200 parts for both types of parts.

    Gold savings for spindles

    • 50m* global barrel plate

    • 1.2 gm/1000 pieces

    • Selective plate + Au flash remnant

    • 0.54 gm/1000 pieces

    • Gold saving of 0.66 gm/1000 coins, 55%.

    • 660 gm or 21 troy oz of Au for 1 million pins

    • 16,800 $ to 800 $/oz gold troy

    Saving gold for sockets

    • Barrel plate, 50 m overall length* (in mm)

    • 2.16 gm/1000 pieces

    • Selective plate + leftovers

    • 0.69 gm/1000 pieces

    • Gold saving of 1.47 gm/1000 coins, 68%.

    • 1470 gm or 47 troy oz of Au for 1 million pins

    • 37,600 $ to 800 $/oz of gold per tray


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