Replenish Rodium Plating Solution

Jewelry Discussion
1

I Rhodium plate some 20 to 40 rings per day and I would like to
known how to keep the solution working consistently.

I have used a coffee filter to clean the solution and added the
Distlled Water along with the Rhodium replenisher. This works for a
while. Is there a solution that stays consistent? Is there some
other Rodinum that works better?

Thanks Johneric

2

Johneric - thats alot of plating i do only one to five rings a day
average but its been suggested to me and i am using pen plating
soloution to replenish it sounds to me though that you use enough of
this stuff that it may be in your best intrest to mix your own
plating soloution. i know people who have a diamond tool bit company
and they make thier own plating soloutions. i am sure the info is out
there somewhere to make rhodium into a salt for plating.

goo

3 
This works for a while. Is there a solution that stays consistent?
Is there some other Rodinum that works better?

Maybe someone will post some great solution In general, though,
when you rhodium plate (or any plate), you are actually taking metal
out of solution and putting it on your work. We all wish that the
metal in solution was eternal, but it’s not. There’s no free ride,
especially with rhodium. Now a friend who plates a lot keeps his old
solutions that are clean and lets them evaporate till they turn
orangey-brown, and uses them for replenisher. Just one way…

4

Hi all,

In general, though, when you rhodium plate (or any plate), you are
actually taking metal out of solution and putting it on your work.
We all wish that the metal in solution was eternal, but it's not.
There's no free ride, especially with rhodium. Now a friend who
plates a lot keeps his old solutions that are clean and lets them
evaporate till they turn orangey-brown, and uses them for
replenisher. Just one way...

As John wrote, his friend lets his used solutions evaporate until
they turn orangey-brown. As a chemist, that’s really the only way I
can think of (without huge pieces of extortionately expensive
analytical chemistry type equipment to measure things accurately) to
make use of previously used plating solutions. As he says, you are
taking metal atoms out of solution and putting it one your work and
so there is less metal in the solution once it has been used and so
the solution is a much less concentrated metal solution. But, as his
friend does, if you let some of the solvent (the liquid the metal is
dissolved in) evaporate, until it is roughly the same colour as it
is intended, then you will achieve a roughly correct concentration of
metal solution that you can use to add to the plating bath. You just
have less volume, but it’ll make your plating solution go further
than it would otherwise.

Helen Hill
Preston, UK