Tin plating on a piece allows good formability and solderability, as well as corrosion resistance of the piece.
It is also widely used in the electrical and electronics industry because of its low overstrength.
A copper or nickel interlayer (3-6µm) is used under the tin coating to prevent the base material from mixing with the coating.
Pinnoitus Helin Oy’s tin plating
- Type of bath: acidic, glossy
- Maximum piece dimensions: 2700x900x250
- Tin plating by drum and suspension methods
- Pre-treatments: copper, aluminium and steel and their alloys
Tin plating and standards:
- Electroplated coatings of tin – Specification and test methods (ISO 2093:1986)
The use of tin is limited in some applications by the whiskers phenomenon, where thin tin crystals grow from the coating.
These “whiskers” can be up to 10 mm long and 2-3 µm thick.
As tin crystals can easily carry current, they increase the risk of short circuits in electronic components.
With a pure tin coating, this problem is always possible.
However, it can be reduced by taking care of the thickness of the copper or nickel interlayers.
Tin can also be fused after plating.
Some types of baths are also reported to have the ability to reduce the whiskers phenomenon.
Tin is normally very solderable, but if there are any problems with the soldering properties, it is first necessary to check the adhesion of the substrate, the intermediate coating and the tin.
If the bonds between the different metals are not strong, solderability may be impossible because the tin will run off.
Naturally, long storage times or poor climatic conditions make soft soldering difficult.
For this reason, tin plating can also be passivated.
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