In the electronic connector industry, in order to make the product solderable and to maximize corrosion protection, we usually plate the surface of the connector terminals. The plating we know is usually gold-plated, tin-plated, nickel-plated. How should the coating of the product be chosen? Here is a simple comparison of gold plating and nickel plating:
1. Gold's solderability, electrical conductivity and stability are the best among metals. It is widely used in PCB boards. Nickel has good stability and good temperature resistance, but weldability deviation. It is only rare to hear nickel plating on the gold finger of the PCB board.
2. There is very little connector for plating a certain type of plating. Generally, a layer of gold is plated after nickel plating. Gold's electroplating conductivity and weldability are better than nickel, but the cost is high. The cost of nickel is low, and it is usually used to fill the substrate with a lower plating layer and the subsequent ability of the subsequent plating.
3. The gold plating layer has relatively stable physical properties and excellent electrical conductivity, but the material is relatively expensive and is generally plated on the contact layer of the terminal.
4. Nickel itself is not very good in electroplating. Generally, nickel is not directly used for welding. If there is so-called solderable nickel, it is actually a layer of flux after nickel plating.