Stainless steel and salt water

[rcreations]

I was in need of a clamp for the hose that goes into my sump and my local aquarium store sold me this stainless steel one, saying it's perfectly safe for salt water. Now this won't be completely under water, but some will definitely splash on it. Is it safe? And if not, do they make all plastic clamps? Can I use my stainless steel one until I get a plastic one or is it REALLY bad for my water? Thanks!

 

[earlybird]

Should be fine but check it often. Some stainless steel isn't stainless or the during manufacturing process was faulty. I have stainless steel screws and parts on my boat and one out of ever 3 seems to corrode/rust.

 

[rcreations]

Thanks.

I found some all pastic ones online which I'm going to have to order. In the mean time I can use the stainless steel one.

 

[earlybird]

Yep and the plastic might not be tight enough but you can reinforce them with plastic zip ties.

 

[stdreb27]

None of my "stainless steel clamps" don't have rust on it. It is annoying.

 

[groupergenius]

Stainless steel comes in many different grades. Some more corrosion resistant than others.

 

[ameno]

most clamps and screws you buy are low grade SS, such as 304L which will rust, that's why all the piping I do in stainless is spec. for 316L or better, so with it bieng in the water part of the time it's is gona rust over, I would use it until you can swap for plastic. I have actually used heavy duty plactic ties to clamp hoses on before and seems to work for low prossure.

 

[shrimpi]

Stainless steel is not resistant to saltwater.
I work in an O.R. and with the surgical grade S.S. we get in trouble if we let instruments soak in saline! It pits the instruments and causes damage and rust.
Use Plastic. Steel will at some point rust, pit, or weaken.
Jessica

 

[renogaw]

i'll disagree a tad shrimpi.
my mag 5 is held together by stainless steel screws, the impellers on power heads are stainless steel rods. i do have some stainless that pits and such, but there is stainless that is salt water resistant.
definitely not hose clamps though... those get chewed up fast. same with razer blades--to stop those from rusting i soak in water after and keep them in a little cup of rice

 

[jrthomas40]

Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
Stainless steel comes in many different grades. Some more corrosion resistant than others.

lilu dallas multipass....I LOVE THAT MOVIE...mila is pretty freakin hot

 

[shrimpi]

Originally Posted by renogaw
i'll disagree a tad shrimpi.
my mag 5 is held together by stainless steel screws, the impellers on power heads are stainless steel rods. i do have some stainless that pits and such, but there is stainless that is salt water resistant.
definitely not hose clamps though... those get chewed up fast. same with razer blades--to stop those from rusting i soak in water after and keep them in a little cup of rice
good point

I didnt think about the powerheads. They must have some sort of compounding or coating on the metal?
I wonder why the instruments in the O.R. dont have that? it would make sense being that we use saline/salt water so frequently. Maybe the compound doesnt stand up well to steam or pressure (sterilization).
But, yeah, either way, for the tubing fittings i would get the plastic ones. I got this one that was circular and had teeth so it locked kind of the way a zip tie does but it was reusable and it was great for my return pump that sat under water in my wetdry.
thanks for the info renogaw I didnt think of that
Jess

 

[donald]

If you want to see if it is more stainless than other stainless use a magnet to check it. Truly stainless steel is not magnetic. If it moves or is sucked up bu the mag then it will rust. I check all the screws on my boat before I install anything. It takes more time but it saves me money and headache in the long run.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
Stainless steel comes in many different grades. Some more corrosion resistant than others.
Lee-Loo-Dallas-Multi-Pass!
Good stuff.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by Shrimpi
good point

I didnt think about the powerheads. They must have some sort of compounding or coating on the metal?
I wonder why the instruments in the O.R. dont have that? it would make sense being that we use saline/salt water so frequently. Maybe the compound doesnt stand up well to steam or pressure (sterilization).
But, yeah, either way, for the tubing fittings i would get the plastic ones. I got this one that was circular and had teeth so it locked kind of the way a zip tie does but it was reusable and it was great for my return pump that sat under water in my wetdry.
thanks for the info renogaw I didnt think of that
Jess

i don't know why some stainless pits and some doesnt. i know my metal tongs are no longer usable in my tank, but my tweezers are perfect still. my scraper is stainless, but my razor and xacto knife blades rust FAST. maybe it is what donald is saying, more impure than others.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by ameno
most clamps and screws you buy are low grade SS, such as 304L which will rust, that's why all the piping I do in stainless is spec. for 316L or better, so with it bieng in the water part of the time it's is gona rust over, I would use it until you can swap for plastic. I have actually used heavy duty plactic ties to clamp hoses on before and seems to work for low prossure.
This is good stuff.
Stainless comes in different grades. The stuff that's "food grade" (not sure what the technical grade is for this) should be fine, but the lower grade stuff is gonna be a problem. Saltwater is highly corrosive.

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by jrthomas40
lilu dallas multipass....I LOVE THAT MOVIE...mila is pretty freakin hot
Dang. You got it in before me.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
This is good stuff.
Stainless comes in different grades. The stuff that's "food grade" (not sure what the technical grade is for this) should be fine, but the lower grade stuff is gonna be a problem. Saltwater is highly corrosive.

why would OR grade have such problems though like she describes? is food grade better than operating room?

 

[scsinet]

Well put it this way... I once went to American Science and Surplus (neat place by the way) and picked up a bunch of surgical tools that seemed useful for my tinkering and in case I needed to perform amateur surgery on the neighbor's dog, including some hemostats... those locking half-scissor-half-needlenose dealies.
These are surgical stainless, but after using them once in a tank then letting them air dry... I had rust. My kitchen utensils don't do this. I've used my kitchen spoons on my tank before and left them to dry with no issues.
I'm not sure what grade of stainless the surgical stuff is. Maybe it's a lesser grade... maybe it's an alloy that provides some benefit at the expense of the rusting. I have no idea.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
Well put it this way... I once went to American Science and Surplus (neat place by the way) and picked up a bunch of surgical tools that seemed useful for my tinkering and in case I needed to perform amateur surgery on the neighbor's dog, including some hemostats... those locking half-scissor-half-needlenose dealies.
These are surgical stainless, but after using them once in a tank then letting them air dry... I had rust. My kitchen utensils don't do this. I've used my kitchen spoons on my tank before and left them to dry with no issues.
I'm not sure what grade of stainless the surgical stuff is. Maybe it's a lesser grade... maybe it's an alloy that provides some benefit at the expense of the rusting. I have no idea.
If you do surgery on your neigbors dog, will you video tape it and let me watch.
I didn't know there were different grades of stainless, makes sense now, I've always wondered why some stainless rusted and others didn't.

 

[donald]

Also remember that most reef keepers run the salt content higher than normal sea water. This along with the fact that our salt most often is synthetic rather than natural also lends to a faster corrosion rate than exposure to a normal marine enviroment. I still say buy "marine grade" or better (if you can get it) and do the magnet test, it will work.
P.S. I love you Lelu Dallas!!