Roll your own Tin/Lead Plating Solution

If your solder plating tank has a volume of 10 gal (40 liters) or less, you might find it beneficial to mix your electrolyte from premixed components. These are mixed in a fixed ratios to make a ready-to-use plating bath. The electrolyte is maintained adding organic additives, 60/40 SolderPlate acid, tin concentrate and lead concentrate as indicated by analysis.

Using Premixed Makeup Solutions
Mix components in the order presented!
Component	Quantity
Deionized water	5.5 parts
60/40 SolderPlate solution (concentrate)	3.1 parts
60/40 SolderPlate acid	1.4 parts
This bath is rated for continuous plating at 10 to 30 Amps per Square Foot (ASF). 20 ASF is the recommended operating point for PCB applications.

If the volume of your tank exceeds 10 gallons, you will probably be better off buying the makeup components in bulk and mixing your bath from scratch. This is especially true if you are setting up a PCB prototyping shop where the cost per board needs to be well controlled.

Bulk Tin/Lead Electrolyte Recipe
Mix components in the order presented!
Component	Concentration by volume
Deionized (or distilled) water	40.0%
60/40 SolderPlate acid	14.0%
60/40 SolderPlate tin concentrate (120 g/l tin metal)*	13.3%
60/40 SolderPlate lead concentrate (450 g/l lead metal)*	2.4%
60/40 SolderPlate PC additive	10.0%
60/40 SolderPlate PC carrier	5.0%
Deionized (or distilled) water	dilute to final volume
This bath is rated for continuous plating at 10 to 30 Amps per Square Foot (ASF). 20 ASF is the recommended operating point for PCB applications.