Gold Plating Application

Gold plating is a unique surface with interesting yellow color. Beside the good color gold also have good properties to cover metal surface because it stand to corrosive weather and will not oxidized by water, other good properties of gold metal have electrical conductivity stays uniform over long periods resistance, good solderability, and when alloyed with cobalt, it has very good wear resistance. Gold is commonly used in electrical switch contacts, connectors pins and barrels, and other applications where intermittent electrical contact occurs.

Gold plating specification:

• Type 1, with 99.7 % gold minimum, hardness grade A, B or C. Gold plating used for general purpose, high reliability electrical contacts, solderability, and wire wrap connection.
• Type II, 99.0 % gold minimum; hardness grade B, C or D, A general purpose, wear resistant gold. But this equipment will not withstand to high temperature applications because the hardening agent in the gold plating will oxidize.
• Type III, with 99.9 % gold minimum; hardness grade A only. Gold plating for semiconductor components nuclear engineering, thermo-compression bonding, and high temperature application.

Gold plating and Gold electroplating purity and coating thickness.

Any deposit of impurities can make difficult to solder, and for this reason high purity gold plating is preferred. Soldering requirements are best achieved when gold electroplating coating range between 0.00005 and 0.0001 inch (50 and 100 micro inches) thickness.

Gold Plating and Gold Electroplating hardness grades:

1. 90 knoop, maximum
2. 91 – 129 knoop, inclusive
3. 130 – 200 knoop, inclusive
4. 201 knoop, minimum
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