One summer, I worked on a project to electroplate iron for can stock.  Iron can be electroplated from a hydrochloric acid based solution which should be compatible with a printed circuit board.  A couple of issues we didn't resolve were pinholes and the fact that the iron was magnetic after plating.  The metallurgists also didn't investigate the use of brighteners or grain refiners.

You stated that the design is currently using a stainless steel vane.  Stainless steels are alloys of iron, chromium, nickel, and sometimes vanadium with varying amounts of carbon.  I'm not aware of electroplated stainless steel.  Even "solder plating" doesn't deposit a true alloy.  It deposits grains of tin and lead in the correct proportions to form an alloy.  The alloy is formed when the plated material is reflowed.

If the design can function with pure iron, you might have a path to go forward.  If the design requires the use of an iron alloy to prevent corrosion, you might be out of luck.  One additional thought is that pure nickel is magnetic.  Would nickel work in place of stainless steel in the design?  Electroless nickel isn't magnetic because of the codeposited phosphourus , but electrodeposited nickel should have magnetic properties.

Don Vischulis

-----Original Message-----
>From: John Parsons <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Jul 14, 2006 11:03 AM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [TN] Ferrous Plating of PCB
>
>Happy Friday!
>
>
>
>I have a customer designing a product which incorporates an interrupt switch
>composed of a Hall IC, magnet and ferrous vane.  Currently the vane is made
>of laser or water jet cut ferrous stainless.  They would like to reduce the
>cost and lead time of producing the vane and are asking if a ferrous
>material can be plated to a PCB.
>
>
>
>Does anyone in the group have any thoughts or experience that they can
>share?
>
>
>
>Regards
>
>John Parsons
>
>
>
>
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Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives
Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815
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