Can galvanized conduit be chrome plated?

Answer 1

Simply put, no. The long answer: The process of chrome plating involves the chromium actually bonding to the metal substrate through an entergetic reaction. Galvanizing metal introduces a layer of zinc oxide into the mix which would contaminate the plating process. The chrome would actually split bond to the zinc and possibly somewhat to the substrate. This would cause the zinc to lose its bond with the metal substrate. If it all stayed intact the part would, at first, appear to be chrome plated, but due to the zinc oxide contamination it will flake off easily. I hope this is a sufficient answer to your query.

Answer 2

Heavy wall threaded conduit comes in steel or aluminium. The aluminium conduit is NOT galvanized because you can not galvanize aluminium. Steel conduit used to come in two types: ENAMEL and GALVANIZED. The ENAMEL was not approved for outdoor or wet locations and is not currently generally commercially available but is still found in many existing buildings. It is NOT galvanized. The GALVANIZED type is approved for all locations.

Answer 3

Galvanized conduit cannot be chrome plated directly. The existing zinc coating would need to be removed before the conduit can undergo the chrome plating process.