What a Bath is
A Bath is a live record of the chemistry currently in a physical tank. The tank is permanent (stainless vessel with a QR); the bath is the liquid + its properties and has a limited life (typically weeks-to-months depending on throughput).
Menu: Plating → Operations → Baths.
Box ① + New to create. Box ② column header with filters. Box ③ a bath to open.
Creating a new bath
Click + New. Fill:
| Field | Example | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Name | EN-BATH-A (EN-MID) |
Unique identifier |
| Tank | TK-EN-01 |
Which physical tank holds it |
| Process | Electroless Nickel | What family |
| Volume | 1000 L | For replenishment calcs |
| Charged At | Now | Baseline date for age tracking |
| Parameters | pH, Temp, Ni, H2PO2 (hypophos), etc. | Which readings get logged |
| State | operational |
Becomes out_of_spec on fail |
Save. The bath is now live and can receive chemistry logs.
Throughput tracking
The system tracks, against this bath:
- Parts processed (cumulative).
- Amp-hours (if electric bath).
- Surface area plated (cumulative in²).
- Age (days since charged).
These drive life-cycle decisions — "replenish at 100 amp-hours", "full dump at 6 months", etc. Alerts fire when thresholds are hit.
Replenishment
When a chemistry log shows a parameter trending toward the lower spec, do a Replenishment:
- Open the bath → Replenishments tab.
- Click + New Replenishment.
- Record which chemical, volume added, reason.
- Save.
- Take a fresh chemistry log immediately — verify the parameter is back in spec.
History is preserved so you can see "this bath has been replenished 7 times since charge, mostly Ni-sulfate".
Dump + decant
When the bath can no longer hold spec (contamination buildup, exhausted additives):
- Open the bath → Actions menu → Dump / Decant.
- Choose: Dump (whole bath disposed as waste) or Decant (keep supernatant, discard sludge).
- Record disposition: which waste manifest, volume disposed.
- Bath state flips to
decommissioned. - Create a fresh bath record for the newly-charged tank.
Out-of-spec state
When a chemistry log fails, the bath auto-flips to out_of_spec. In this state:
- Tablet Station Baths panel shows it red.
- Operators can't start new plating runs on it.
- Work orders already mid-run are flagged for review.
Clear the OOS state by running a replenishment and logging a clean reading. The state auto-returns to operational on the next passing log.
What can go wrong
Bath won't accept chemistry logs
Bath state is decommissioned — the system blocks further logs. Create a fresh bath record.
Throughput numbers look wrong
Check that the plating WO is correctly linked to this bath. If the bath link is missing, throughput doesn't accumulate.
Can't find a bath in the dropdown
Probably archived. Check the Archived filter. Un-archive if needed.