Lab Facilities

Technical Service and Quality Control for your Metal Plating and Finishing Jobs

EPI’s staff of degreed chemists, chemical engineers and technicians offers you outstanding technical service and support. While many other firms take weeks to deliver lab results, EPI can get you results within 48 hours or sooner. Count on EPI for the knowledge base to solve your toughest production challenges. The well staffed and equipped lab insures that all EPI products pass the stringent quality specified for in our ISO 9002 quality program.

Research and Development

Our outstanding laboratory has enabled us to develop such innovative products as E-Brite™ Ultra Cu alkaline non-cyanide copper plating, E-Brite™ 50/50 alkaline non-cyanide silver plating, E-Brite™ Ultra Cu Mg immersion alkaline copper plating process for magnesium, as well as improvements in blackening processes, nickel and zinc plating, chromating, and unique float oil alkaline soak cleaners and sprat cleaners to be used with oil skimmers and separators. EPI’s staff of dedicated professionals continue to persue new and innovative solutions for metal plating and finishing.

Lab Equipment

The EPI lab is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art instruments:

HPLC/Ion Chromatography – This high performance/high pressure liquid chromatography instrument is used to analyze and maintain our customers’ plating and metal finishing solutions. It measures the concentration of the E-Brite™ plating brighteners and addition agents. Also used for research.

FTIR – Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometer — used for quality control of all incoming raw materials as well as for the quality control of EPI products. TOC – Total Organic Carbon Analyzer – Used to determine the total concentration of all organic compounds in a plating bath. In combination with other instruments, (such as HPLC/IC), it is helpful in measuring the concentration of not only the desirable addition agents, but also the undesirable breakdown products and organic contaminants dragged into a bath. Also used for research.

AA – Atomic absorption spectrophotometer used to measure the concentration of metallic elements in plating baths as well as in EPI finished products and all raw materials. A very useful tool for quality control.

CVS – Cyclic voltammetric stripping instrument used for control of E-Brite™ acid copper and E-Brite™ bright nickel plating bath additives and brighteners. Also used for research.

Density/Specific Gravity Meter – Used for quality control in determining the specific gravity of liquid raw materials as well as EPI finished liquid products.

Kocour Thickness Tester – This is used for determining the thickness of plated deposits and also for measuring electrochemical potential differences (step test) with duplex nickel plating.

XRF – X-Ray fluorescence nondestructive thickness tester used to measure plating thickness.