FAA Advisory Circular 43.13-1B
Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices
Aircraft Inspection and Repair
AC 43.13-1B | 4. Metal Structure, Welding, and Brazing | 4. Metal Repair Procedures | 4-62. Selective Plating in Aircraft Maintenance
AC 43.13-1B
9/8/98
that have been previously used with reverse alloys. Do not mix solutions from different
current (because of solution contamination). suppliers. This could result in contamination.
d. Equipment. The power source should
operate on either 110 or 220-volt alternating
current (AC), 60 Hertz, single-phase input. It
should have a capability to produce direct cur
rent (DC) having smooth characteristics with
controlled ripple and be able to output a cur
rent of at least 25 amperes at 0 to 25 volts.
Minimum instrumentation of the power source
should include a voltmeter, ammeter, and am-
pere-hour meter.
(1) The ammeter should provide a full-
scale reading equal to the maximum capacity
of the power source, and with an accuracy of
±5 percent of the current being measured.
(2) The voltmeter should have sufficient
capacity to provide a full-scale reading equal
to the maximum capacity of the power source
and an accuracy of ±1.0 volt.
(3) An ampere-hour meter should be
readable to 0.001 ampere-hour and have an ac
curacy of ±0.01 ampere-hour.
(4) The stylus should be designed for
rapid cooling and to hold anodes of various
sizes and configurations. For safety, the anode
holder should be insulated.
(5) The containers for holding and
catching runoff solutions should be designed to
the proper configuration and be inert to the
specific solution.
(6) The mechanical cleaning equipment
and materials should be designed and selected
to prevent contamination of the parts to be
cleaned.
e. Materials. The anodes should be of
high-purity dense graphite or platinum-iridium
f. Detail Requirements. On large parts,
no area greater than approximately 10 percent
of the total area of the part should be plated by
this selective plating process. Small parts may
be partially or completely plated. Special
cases exceeding these limitations should be
coordinated with the manufacturer of the plat
ing equipment being used and their recom
mendations should be followed.
g. Anode Selection. As a general guide,
the contact area of the anode should be ap
proximately one-third the size of the area to be
plated. When selecting the anode, the configu
ration of the part will dictate the shape of the
anode.
h. Required Ampere-Hour Calculation.
The selected plating solution has a factor
which is equal to the ampere-hours required to
deposit 0.0001 inch on 1 square inch of sur
face. Determine the thickness of plating de
sired on a certain area, and multiply the solu
tion factor times the plating thickness times the
area in square inches to determine the am
pere-hours required. This factor may vary be
cause of temperature, current density, etc.
i. Cleaning. Remove corrosion, scale,
oxide, and unacceptable plating prior to proc
essing. Use a suitable solvent or cleaner to
remove grease or oil.
j. Plating on Aluminum and Aluminum
Base Alloys.
(1) Electroclean the area using direct
current until water does not break on the sur
face. This electroclean process should be ac
complished at 10 to 15 volts, using the appro
priate electroclean solution.
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