Plating on cylinder valves is done for aesthetics but carries the risk of flaking and particle generation, which is risky for oxidizing gases. Further, the plating and the substrate material may be incompatible with the gas content, and machining tolerances need to take plating thickness into account to ensure gauge compliance.

The inlet, outlet & the internal surface of the valve body & components are plugged during the plating process to ensure plating is only deposited on non- gas wetted areas to avoid any chance of plating contamination.