Seen and Solved by Hubbard-Hall

How can metal finishers increase production, reduce labor demands and get more from their plating operations?

In this episode of Seen & Solved, metal finishing equipment expert Ben Zweiban explores how modern equipment, automation and process improvements can help manufacturers overcome some of the industry's biggest challenges—from aging plating lines and workforce shortages to rising costs, backlogs and rejects.

Ben, a Certified Electro-Finisher, brings experience across zinc plating, nickel, chrome, pretreatment and aerospace finishing. He explains how understanding both the equipment and chemistry behind a finishing operation can uncover opportunities that aren't always obvious when you're focused on keeping production moving.

You'll learn:

·       How plating line automation can reduce manual labor and operator demands

·       When aging equipment may be limiting production capacity

·       How relatively simple equipment upgrades can improve an existing finishing line

·       Why equipment and chemistry need to work together for consistent results

·       How filtration, agitation and process controls can help reduce defects and rework

·       Ways manufacturers can increase throughput without necessarily increasing theirfootprint

·       How automation can range from simple tank controls to fully automated turnkey plating lines

Ben shares a powerful example of a manufacturer operating equipment more than 70 years old. By evaluating theexisting process and available footprint, the team identified an opportunity for a new plating line capable of potentially increasing annual production by 5X—helping the manufacturer address significant backlogs and bring morefinishing work in-house.

He also discusses a zinc plating operation where the problem wasn't chemistry at all. Adding the right filtration and air agitation helped control iron, improve the zinc line and significantly reduce rejects—demonstrating why troubleshooting the entire process matters.

From a simple automated rinse-tank control to a 100-foot turnkey plating line, the right equipment investment canreduce repetitive labor, improve process control and create capacity for future growth.

If you're dealing with aging plating equipment, labor shortages, production backlogs, capacity constraints, high reject rates or inefficient manual processes, this episode offers practical insight into where equipment and automation can make a measurable difference.

How can metal finishers extend acid pickle bath life, improve cleaning performance and reduce the cost of frequent bath changes?

In this episode of Seen & Solved, metal finishing expert Mike Lindemann shares practical insight into one of the most important—and often overlooked—steps in surface finishing: acid pickling.

Mike explains how iron buildup, carbon scale, oil contamination and difficult surface conditions can impactpickling performance, bath life and downstream finishing. He also discusses how the right combination of chemistry, equipment and process control can help manufacturers get parts clean and properly activated before plating, black oxide, painting or other finishing operations.

You'll learn:

·      Why iron buildup shortens acid pickle bath life

·      How oil contamination can travel through pretreatment and create problems downstream

·      Why carbon scale and oxidation can be difficult to remove within fixed processing times

·      How acid additives can improve cleaning while helping control fumes and contamination

·      How inhibitors can reduce unnecessary attack on the base metal and extend bath life

·      Why pickling performance can directly affect zinc plating and black oxide quality

·      How chemistry and equipment work together to optimize a metal finishing process

Mike also highlights Ambienol® C, a concentrated detergent acid additive with a built-in inhibitor. Used at low concentrations, it helps emulsify oils, improve carbon scale removal, reduce acid fumes and minimize iron buildup—helping extend acid bath life while improving overall pickling performance.

He also shares a real-world example from a rack zinc plating line where short pretreatment and pickling cycles created cleaning challenges—and explains how modifying the acid pickle helped prevent oil carryover and improve the process.

If you're dealing with frequent acid bath changes, high iron levels, difficult scale, oil contamination, uneven black oxide, plating rejects or limited pretreatment time, this episode offers practical ways to evaluate what may be happening in your process.

What is mass finishing, and how do media, chemistry, and process control affect part quality? In this episode of Seen & Solved, Dave Govoni, Senior Chemist at Hubbard-Hall, explains how manufacturers improve deburring, polishing, burnishing, and surface preparation through better massfinishing processes.

Mass finishing plays a critical role in producing consistentsurface finishes and preparing parts for plating, coating, painting, and assembly. But media selection, finishing compounds, equipment setup, water quality, and process control all influence the final result.

In this episode, Dave shares practical lessons from decadesof helping manufacturers optimize vibratory and centrifugal finishing operations.

You'll learn:

• What mass finishing is and when to use it
• How to choose the right media for different metals and part geometries
• The differences between vibratory and centrifugal finishing equipment
• How finishing compounds improve cleaning and finish quality
• Why flow rates, concentration, and water quality matter
• Common causes of staining, sludge, foam, and inconsistent finishes
• Practical troubleshooting techniques to reduce rework and improve consistency

Dave also shares a fascinating case study from the U.S. Mint, where specially formulated chemistry helped remove oxide from coin blanks before the surface could become permanently burnished.

Whether you work in metal finishing, deburring, burnishing,plating, precision machining, aerospace, medical device manufacturing, or automotive manufacturing, this episode offers practical guidance for improving finishing performance, increasing process consistency, and producinghigher-quality parts.

Inconsistent coating performance, plating defects, and costly rework often start long before parts ever reach the plating bath. In this episode of Seen & Solved, experts from Hubbard-Hall and Pavco discuss the upstream causes of rejects in metal finishing operations — and how manufacturers can improve quality and consistency without sacrificing throughput.

Many shops struggle with process drift, contamination, poor rinsing practices, changing oils, bath imbalance, inadequate cleaning, and rushed production speeds that quietly create downstream quality issues. Drawing from decades of field experience, the conversation explores practical ways to troubleshoot plating lines, stabilize production, and reduce scrap across both automated and manual finishing operations.

The conversation covers:

·      Process drift and reject reduction

·      Plating bath troubleshooting

·      Cleaning and pretreatment performance

·      Rinsing, contamination, and bath control

·      Hull cell testing and diagnostics

·      Production speed vs. coating quality

·      Root causes of plating defects and roughness

Jason Potts (Hubbard-Hall) and Shane Moore (Pavco) also share practical examples from the field, including troubleshooting zinc contamination, paraffin wax issues, improper bath temperatures, inadequate activation, and common “quick fixes” that often create even larger downstream problems.

Whether you work in electroplating, decorative plating, retreatment, industrial cleaning, or surface finishing, this episode provides practical insights into improving consistency, stabilizing production, and reducing costly rework without adding unnecessary complexity.

Learn more about Hubbard-Hall’s cleaning, pretreatment, plating, and wastewater chemistry at https://www.hubbardhall.com

When parts aren’t coming out clean, the first instinct is to change the chemistry. In many cases, that’s not where the problem starts.

In this episode of Seen & Solved, Tim Pennington talks with Mike Valenti about what actually drives cleaning performance in a metal finishing operation. It’s a practical look at a common issue across shops – trying to solve systemic problems with chemistry, when the limitation is really equipment, capacity, or how the process is being run.

Mike walks through why most cleaning challenges trace back to equipment, not the cleaner itself, and how factors like throughput, part geometry, and soil loading determine whether a system will hold or break down. From immersion and spray systems to ultrasonics, the conversation covers where each approach works and where it doesn’t.

They also get into what you can see on the floor when things aren’t right: rinse stages that can’t keep up, oil carrying through the line, tanks being changed too frequently, or systems that were sized for a different level of production. As more operations move from solvent to aqueous cleaning, those gaps become harder to ignore, especially with complex parts and tighter performance requirements.

The takeaway is straightforward. Cleaning isn’t a single variable, it’s a system. Spray pressure, coverage, time, temperature, rinsing, and oil removal all have to work together. If the equipment isn’t set up or maintained to support that, no chemistry change will stabilize the process.

Choosing the right aqueous cleaner isn’t always straightforward. Metal type, soil load, equipment, temperature, and wastewater considerations all influence performance—and small missteps in cleaning can lead to bigger problems downstream.

In this episode of Seen and Solved, Dave Govoni, Senior Chemist at Hubbard-Hall, shares practical insight from years of hands-on experience in metal finishing. He walks through how to approach cleaner selection based on real-world conditions, from degreasing and oxide removal to managing sensitive metals like aluminum, copper, and brass.

The conversation covers how pH and temperature impact cleaning performance, why rinsing and bath monitoring are often overlooked, and how surfactants, emulsifiers, and inhibitors work together to deliver consistent results. Dave also highlights common causes of staining, residue, and adhesion failures—and what to look for on the line before those issues show up later in the process.

There’s also a practical discussion on extending bath life, stabilizing performance, and reducing waste treatment impact through better process control and operator awareness.

If you work in metal finishing, surface preparation, powder coating, plating, or industrial manufacturing, this episode offers straightforward guidance you can apply directly to your process.

Paraffin-based rust preventatives are some of the most stubborn soils in metal finishing. When they’re not removed properly, shops pay the price — in labor, solvent cost, safety concerns, and poor adhesion.

In this episode of Seen and Solved, a finishing facility was forced to wipe every single part with acetone before cleaning just to remove a tenacious paraffin-based oil. The manual step slowed throughput, increased chemical spend, and exposed employees to unnecessary solvent fumes.

Instead of accepting the process as “the way it’s always been done,” Hubbard-Hall Technical Representative Jason Potts investigated the root cause — identifying the oil as paraffin-based and reformulating the cleaning stage using AquaEase® PL 918, a high-performance alkaline cleaner designed to remove heavy oils at lower operating temperatures.

Within one week:

• Acetone wiping was eliminated

• Labor and solvent costs were reduced

• Line throughput improved

• Adhesion risks were minimized

• Workplace safety improved

If you’re dealing with:

• Paraffin-based rust preventatives

• Adhesion failures in plating or coating

• Excessive manual cleaning steps

• High-temperature alkaline cleaning limits (160°F max systems)

• Slow production throughput in finishing lines

This episode walks through how to identify the chemistry challenge and correct it without adding complexity.

Serving metal finishers, electroplaters, powder coaters, and manufacturers across the U.S., Hubbard-Hall helps facilities improve cleaning performance, surface preparation, and overall finishing efficiency.

In this episode of Seen and Solved, Travis Hilton, Operations Manager at Hubbard-Hall, discusses one of the most critical controls in electronics and specialty metal finishing: achieving and maintaining the proper tin-lead plating ratio.

Tin-lead electroplating is still widely used in aerospace, medical, military, and electronics applications where solderability, ductility, and corrosion resistance are required. Maintaining consistent alloy ratios—such as 60/40 or 90/10 tin-lead—depends on tight control of bath chemistry, current density, temperature, agitation, and preventative maintenance.

This episode covers:- How modern methane sulfonic acid (MSA) tin-leadplating baths are formulated- How tin and lead concentrations are measuredusing titration and atomic absorption (AA)- Why deposit ratios can shift even when solutionchemistry is in control- How current density influences alloy compositionand coating performance- The effect of tin-rich vs. lead-rich deposits onsolderability, ductility, and brittleness- Common issues such as stannic tin formation,organic contamination, and bath instability- Filtration, anode maintenance, and processcontrols to extend bath life- Waste treatment and disposal considerations forlead-bearing plating chemistries

For plating engineers, process managers, and quality teams working with tin-lead electroplating for electronic components, connectors, and wire bonding, this discussion explains how chemistry control and operating discipline directly impact deposit ratio, reliability, and long-term performance.

Wastewater compliance can feel overwhelming for metal finishers, but it doesn’t have to be.

In this episode of Seen & Solved, the conversation focuses on what wastewater inspections really involve, what regulators are looking for, and how facilities can stay prepared year-round. The discussion covers how inspections are conducted, common issues that lead to notices of violation, and why housekeeping, labeling, and recordkeeping play a critical role in maintaining compliance.

The episode also explores how system maintenance impacts performance, including tank cleanliness, sludge buildup, and dwell time, as well as how improper conditions can affect discharge results. Listeners will gain insight into how regulators approach fines and follow-up, what’s expected when corrective action is required, and how wastewater treatment systems are properly sized based on real operational demands.

Additional topics include operator licensing requirements, how they vary by state, and why ongoing education is essential as regulations and technologies continue to evolve. Emerging trends such as PFAS, advances in treatment methods, and the balance between regulatory expectations and economic feasibility are also addressed.

Pretreatment isn’t guesswork—it’s a discipline built on decisions made long before parts reach the finish line.

In this episode of Seen & Solved, Gary Raihl, Business Development Manager at Hubbard-Hall, shares how pretreatment systems should be evaluated from the ground up—looking beyond individual products to the full process. Drawing on decades of experience in powder coating and chemical processing, Gary explains why equipment design, chemistry selection, and operator ownership must all work together to deliver consistent results.

This episode covers:

• Assessing existing pretreatment systems based on stage count, process flow, and equipment condition

• Why tank materials, heat placement, and system design matter more than most realize

• Setting realistic performance goals and approval requirements before changes are made

• Balancing time, temperature, and concentration when real-world constraints exist

• Avoiding common mistakes that shorten equipment life and create downstream issues

• Training operators and using process control logs to maintain consistency and accountability

• Validating performance through testing and documentation—not assumptions

• The communication gaps between equipment, chemistry, and finishing partners that lead to the most expensive failures

Whether you’re bringing a new line online or working to improve control on an existing process, this episode takes a practical look at pretreatment as a system—not a single product choice—and what it takes to build a process that holds up in daily production.