I have a project that’s been eating my lunch for few weeks now. I’m trying to selective plate an area of aluminum (7075 alloy) using the EN process. I’m having to sand out a sandblasted surface to a slick finish. I can make the process work about 20% of the time. Biggest problem is poor adhesion of the nickel. I’m using the zincate of course, and Caswell suggested I use the De-Ox/De-smut as well. I get 0% results when using the de-ox before zincate. The zincate directions as I understand them are contradictory. I’ve found that if I let the zincate drip dry, the EN won’t adhere. Tape pulls it right off. So, after the second fresh bath I zincate for 15-30 seconds, rinse with distilled water then straight to the EN bath. Then cross my fingers. Two parts out of ten are perfect. The directions also state that as the zincate depletes more outgassing happens. I’ve read on this forum that I should see violent outgassing immediately. I see only a few bubbles, but I get a mostly uniform, dark, dull grey look after zincate-ing for the aforementioned time. What should I be looking for? I’d greatly appreciate specifics. I goin’ broke buyin’ chems and I’m about to be bald from pulling my hair out. BTW-when the plating fails, I get to do it all again. I’m removing the failed plating with duct tape, and the stubborn patches with a Roloc Scotchbrite pad, then sanding 220, 600, 1200 then cleaning, zincate, EN. I can see two distinct layers while removing the failed EN. First the nikel, then a darker layer. Once I get it looking white I begin sanding to remove scratches.