Gold Plating Pen, 24K

The 24K gold plating pen deposits pure 24-karat gold exactly where you touch it. The gold solution is sealed inside the pen and feeds through the tip, so there is no tank to fill, no bath to maintain and nothing to mix. Connect the part to the negative lead of the power supply, the pen to the positive lead, and stroke the tip across the surface at 6 to 8V DC.

For electrical contact work (connector pins, edge connectors, PCB gold fingers, switch contacts) pure gold gives the highest conductivity and corrosion resistance available, which is why this pen is a staple of aerospace MRO and electronics repair shops. The same pen handles prototype contacts, lab samples and touch-up on gold-plated parts where a full tank dip is impractical or would plate areas you need to keep bare.

Each pen holds 10 ml of concentrated solution and plates roughly 300 square inches. Pens are disposable and non-refillable, which keeps the solution free of contamination from one job to the next.

The pen plates onto gold, nickel or silver. Prepare the surface with the Absorbent / Degreaser pen (PL-1002) first. On copper, plate a nickel underlayer with the Nickel Plating Pen (PL-1006) before gold. For thicker deposits, use the Gold 24K Heavy Duty Pen (PL-1016).

All Micro-Metallizer gold pens plate the same way, at the same voltage, onto the same surfaces. Pick by what the part does.

Typical gold deposit on a 1 in × 1 in copper surface, from the Micro-Metallizer catalog.

A gold plating pen runs on the Micro-Metallizer power supply ($220) and connector cables ($20), or on your own variable DC supply up to 12V at 0.1A. You also need the Absorbent / Degreaser pen ($65) for surface prep.

Bought separately, the 24K gold pen, degreaser, power supply and cables come to $450. The Contact Repair Kit (PL-1000C) is $400 and also includes the nickel pen, so for a first setup the kit is the better buy.