Stainless and Acid

There are autotanners made out of Stainless Steal, so I would say it would not hurt at all.

 

Years ago I worked at a cheese plant and everything was stainless ,thats what we used to remove the butter fat along with caustic soda .
As long as it is diluted < like in a pickle > it wont hurt anything , straight acid will blacken and sometime leave little rust spots where it was splashed on the stainless .

 

Stainless is better than carbon steel.

Stainless contains high amounts of nickle and other NON CORROSIVE alloys. Yep I sure would use it!!!

I know a young fellow starting a tanning business that is using old bulk milk tanks they are stainless.

 

some stainless will degrade over time
t316 is the best grade
t304 will hold up for most stuff
all the food grade stuff ive made over the years is all t316
food can be pretty harsh on metal
if not sure and have a choice to make t316 is best

 

It is perfectly fine and will clean the metal. When stainless gets corroded you pickle it to clean the corrosion off.

 

Acids will dissolve it. Buy a plastic barrel and save the stainless for some other purpose.

 

Not the kind of acid we use.

 

Hydrogen ions are the same regardless of the acid used...it will dissolve it with time..

When you buy acid...what is the container made of?

Your solution will get a nice light greenish hue to it due to the dissolved nickel and chrome...but, you will get a nicely tanned hide due to the nickel and chrome that you're putting into solution...and down the drain...



Plastic is cheap...

 

LMAO Darrell. "What kind of acid"??? I warned you about soaping your mouth. Acid is acid as far as stainless is concerned. Why do you think the pickle "cleans" it? It's eating away the surface. That's not cleaning, that's actually corroding it OR ERODING it. We used to use porcelain lined bathtubs years back just because of that. Plastic is a more sensible alternative.

 

Well old man until you have been where I have been close your pie hole. There are detailed cleaning procedures for stainless pipe and they all include mild acidic solutions. We have even used citric acid. Plastic is the best choice but in his lifetime the acid would not eat his container up.

 

I worked in the water industry for 17 years, we used oxalic acid to clean resin used for various water treatments, We replaced our restaraunt grade stainless sink about every 3 years, the stainless plate would last longer but the seams (welds) degrade and leak. A pickle at 2 pH would not be a mild acidic solution, I would recommend plastic. For a cheap pickle container a 30 gallon garbage can or for a little more money you can get a chemical spill tub, you can rig with a drain if you wish. paul

 

Darrell, do you eat with that mouth? You don't have a clue where I've been. I've been there so long that people think I'm coming back when it comes to stainless steel and acid. As Sikk said, you ain't seen enough yet. I have an 8 foot stainless hospital sink that was replaced simply because it was acid etched to the point Sikk was describing. Stainless steel is STILL steel and it is adversely effected by both strong bases and acids. Look at kitchen sink traps that Drano was used routinely and I'll show you a drain pipe that's paper thin.

 

i dont claim to be an expert on anything
but the job thats buys my wife the suvs she likes is metal fabrication
all stainless is not he same
from my experience
and almost all will go to hell with acids save 1
it aint cheep or cost effective
weve got vats filled with acid to clean various types of metal
got one thats been filled for over 12 years
will etch aluminum instantly
we make all kinds of crap for the chemical industry down here
if you make anything that is not 316 it will do a magic act and dissapear
now to be honest ive never put low pH acid in a tank and kept records
but weve repaired damage from other things and 316 from my experience will hold up
evry other kind will do a magic act
we make centralizers and have made a mistake once or twice and you can tell in a few months if we used the wrong type it will simply corrode to nothing
could i be wrong when using a low pH acid even with 316 hell yes
Uncle George has forgot more about just about everything in life than i know
ill have make a small pan and keep some low pH acid in it and see how long it last
lol
never to young to learn something knew

 

Don't forget the salt Paul. Just put some of your pickle solution in it...

 

salts do nothing to 316
seen plenty of results on that myself from my own uses
but you know ive got access to this stuff
now that i think of it its not cost effective to use it for the average person
we dont do anything but commercial stuff
the oil companies can afford it
and the seafood industry also(i.e. the experiance with salt)
but for the average guy
you can go to 3 wallywordls and buy out the entire inventory of plastic tubs and still come out cheaper
than what you would making a tank that would hold up to
just ripped texaco a new one last week on a tank
ah!! feels good to make um pay a little
lmao
so on planet earth go get a plastic tub
or if youve got a pound of pixie dust
personnaly i dont know how people can make it without a metal shop(hee! hee! hee!)

 

Maybe so, but the combination of salt and acid...ever hear of electrochemistry?

Uh, right....they just pass that cost on to the consumers...so you might as well have just done it for free...

 

Yeah I eat with this mouth I just carry my weight better than you. I will concede that maybe some stainless will be effected by some acids. But why do we have caustic and acidic solutions running through refineries all over the world in stainless pipe? You haven't been there daddy George. Right now on the job I am on we running 2,200' of 8" stainless pipe. Guess what its going to carry? Low grade acid to break down H2S coming from Carbide. Guess we dont know what were doing. :-\

 

Okay guys I went to one of the metalergist here and asked the question. The stainless materials I am used to using are as he called them super alloys. They contain over 15% alloy. Thats why they can do the things they do. It can still be 321, 316, inconel and/or monel but their alloy content is higher. When regular stainless begins to pit salt and even mild acidic solutions will boost the corrosion in the metal because "the pits" themselves become acidic and release sulphur ions. There fore use plastic as the rest have said. Unless you can get your hands on some stainless used in refining. lol. Are you happy George?