Phoenix Etch 660 is an alkali etch additive for aluminum parts on their way to anodizing. It goes into the caustic etch tank at the front of the aluminum anodizing process — the stage that strips the natural oxide, cuts back extrusion lines and sets the surface profile the anodic layer will follow.
A plain caustic bath keeps dissolving aluminum until it can hold no more. The dissolved metal then drops out as sludge, the etch rate drifts from rack to rack, and parts come out streaked or pitted. This additive changes that balance. It keeps the dissolved aluminum in solution, holds the attack at a controlled rate and leaves the workpiece with a finer, more even surface as it leaves the tank.
It suits mirror-polished and matte stock equally, runs in a single bench tank or a full production line, and is controlled through two numbers a shift operator can check: additive dose and free alkali.
| Item | Range | Optimal condition |
|---|---|---|
| PE660 | 10 – 20 g/L | 15 g/L |
| Free alkali | 30 – 50 g/L | 40 – 45 g/L |
| Temperature | 30 – 60 °C | 40 – 50 °C |
| Time | 30 s – 10 min | 60 s – 2 min |
| Finish coverage | Mirror and matte stock | Both |
Two jobs are done at once inside the etch tank. The first is complexation. Dissolved aluminum is what normally limits bath life: once the caustic can no longer hold it, the metal precipitates and the tank starts to sludge up. Complexation raises that ceiling — even at 140 g/L of aluminum in the bath, the metal stays in solution instead of settling on the bottom, so the tank keeps working long after a plain caustic etch would have been dumped.
The second is rate control. A strong caustic etch attacks aluminum quickly, and a fast attack is what opens pits and produces a coarse, uneven surface. A corrosion inhibitor in the formulation slows the reaction enough for the etch to remove metal evenly across the load rather than biting into the faces that will be visible later. Because this stage sits early in the anodizing aluminum process, the condition of the surface here is carried into every step that follows.
The formulation is built around the two things that destabilise a caustic etch: aluminum load and uncontrolled attack. Complexation lifts the ceiling on dissolved metal, while the inhibitor holds the reaction inside a band an operator can actually steer. Because the additive keeps working across a wide spread of free alkali and temperature, a bath does not have to be pinned to one narrow set point — useful on lines where the mix of work changes through the day.
The surface active agent works on the other side of the interface. It leaves the workpiece with a fine, consistent texture as it comes out of the tank, which makes the surface easier to inspect and gives the next stage a regular profile to build on. Consumption stays low, so topping up is a short, routine task rather than a correction made after results drift.
Consistency between lots matters more here than in most additions, because the etch is the first visible stage of the job. A bath that behaves the same way on Monday and on Friday is what makes a written specification repeatable.
Bath life is where the economics of an etch additive show up. A caustic etch that loads up with aluminum has to be dumped, cleaned and re-made; each of those events costs caustic, water, labour and production time, and each one leaves you with a fresh bath that has to be brought into condition again. Keeping the aluminum dissolved pushes those events further apart and holds the tank in a steady working state instead of a cycle of fresh and tired chemistry.
For a plant running an aluminum anodizing service, the second gain matters as much as the first: an etch that behaves the same way over many cycles produces parts that look the same, which reduces the rejects that only appear after anodizing and colouring. Operators also spend less time on the tank itself — less desludging, less scraping, fewer unplanned stops — and more time on throughput.
None of this depends on running the bath at an extreme. The additive is designed to work inside ordinary caustic etch conditions, so the gain comes from better control rather than from pushing temperature or alkalinity higher. In plants that offer aluminum anodizing as a service, where many parts are etched, rinsed and anodized in large batches, keeping the etch bath stable is essential to holding throughput. Phoenix Etch-660 helps the alkali bath stay effective over many cycles, reducing bottom sediment, making process maintenance easier and supporting consistent quality across the parts that go on to anodized finishes. It also helps cut rejects caused by etch defects that would otherwise carry through the whole anodizing workflow.
Fengfan has been in surface finishing since 1984, when Wuhan Fengfan Electrochemical Technology Co., Ltd. was founded; the trading company that handles export orders is its wholly owned subsidiary. The group's site in Wuhan's Dongxihu district covers about 67 acres with roughly 7,000 m² of floor space, and additive production runs at 3,000–5,000 tonnes a year. In-house R&D and quality control sit behind that output.
The range follows the anodizing line from start to finish — degreasing and dewaxing, chemical polishing, alkali etch additives, electrolytic colouring, sealing — alongside plating chemistry for zinc, copper, nickel, tin and precious metals. Questions about a specific bath are answered against the conditions a customer is actually running rather than from a general data sheet.
For buyers specifying chemicals for aluminium anodizing lines, the practical value is continuity: the etch additive, the colouring salt and the sealer come from the same supplier, so the stages are chosen to sit next to each other rather than being matched up afterwards.
Phoenix Etch-660 is formulated to raise the critical concentration of dissolved aluminum ions the alkali bath can hold, which lowers sediment formation and reduces the risk of precipitation. The product works across a broad range of bath temperatures and free alkali levels, so it fits the conditions found in standard aluminum anodizing operations and industrial installations. It is supplied in 25 kg bags or in bulk, which lets plants slot the additive into existing dosing routines, manage inventory in line with consumption and keep dosing precise in established anodizing processes.
The additive extends bath stability by keeping the etch bath clear and limiting corrosion during alkali etching, which cuts maintenance frequency and operational downtime. Consistent etch quality carries through to the finished surface, improving uniformity and reducing defects on anodized aluminum parts. Because dosing is controlled and the product tolerates a range of temperatures, it suits both large industrial lines and smaller anodizing service operations, supporting a better return on the process through reliable performance and simpler process control.
Choosing the right match is where most sourcing decisions stall. As a trading supplier, we keep one point of contact from first enquiry to after-sales: tell us what you are making and the conditions you work under, and we shortlist the closest matches from our supplier network, compare specifications and arrange samples before you commit to a bulk order. If something does not behave as expected, we work with the supplying partner on the cause and a practical fix, and stay with the case until it is settled. Email, WeChat or WhatsApp enquiries get a reply within 24 hours.
It is added to the caustic etch tank that runs before anodizing. Its job is to keep dissolved aluminum in the bath instead of letting it settle as sludge, and to hold the etch rate steady so the surface stays even and free of pits. In practice that means a bath that stays workable longer and parts that enter the aluminum anodizing process with a more uniform surface.
Dose between 10 and 20 g/L of working bath volume, with roughly 15 g/L as the usual sweet spot. The figure is tied to bath volume rather than to the load, so it holds whether the tank serves a few prototype parts or a full line turning out anodized aluminum profiles. Heavy loads and long dwell times are handled by moving toward the upper end of the range and checking the bath by analysis rather than by adding more on instinct.
Run the bath between 30 and 60 °C, with 40–50 °C giving the most predictable results, and etch for 30 seconds to 10 minutes; most mirror and matte work lands in the 60 second to 2 minute band. Longer dwell deepens a matte finish, while bright polished stock usually wants the shorter end. These are the conditions for the etch stage of the anodizing aluminum process — check them against your alloy and the finish you are matching before a production run.
It improves what the oxide has to grow on. By holding the etch rate steady and keeping sediment out of the bath, it gives a more uniform surface going into anodizing, and a uniform surface takes a uniform oxide. The difference shows up as fewer patchy or pitted parts after anodizing rather than as a change in colour or gloss, which is exactly the kind of defect that hurts a plant running an aluminum anodizing service on repeat orders.
Yes. The working window is moderate — no extreme temperature and no unusual tank requirement — so a bench bath run from an aluminum anodizing kit uses the same control points as a large plant. Keep the dose, free alkali and dwell time inside the ranges and it behaves the same way at small volume; the only practical difference is that a small tank reacts faster, so check it more often.
No. Caustic soda does the etching; the additive manages what happens around it. What it brings is a surface active agent and an inhibitor that keep dissolved aluminum in solution and hold the attack even, but free alkali still has to be maintained inside its own range. Treat it as a bath component rather than a substitute.
Yes, it can be dosed into a bath that is already running. Desludge first if there is heavy sediment on the bottom, bring the bath to temperature and free alkali, then add the dose with circulation on so it disperses before you anodize aluminum parts from that tank. From there, top up against bath analysis rather than on a fixed schedule.
It helps by removing a variable. The etch is rinsed off long before colouring, so nothing from the bath carries into the dye or the seal; what carries forward is the surface profile. A profile cut evenly takes an even oxide, and an even oxide is what gives consistent colour and a seal that behaves predictably across a batch — worth remembering when the etch sits at the front of the anodizing aluminum process.
