316ss and muriatic

[wgalcik]

one of my helpers sprayed a newly fabricated 316 ss brushed finished railing with muriatic acid. is it now scrap or can someting be done with it
thanks
walter

[Bodybagger]

Depends how badly it attacked it. Must have sat with the acid on it a long time to notice the damage if it was 316.

If it's rusting now, you could carefully run a stainless steel wire wheel on it - matching the direction of the grain.

Or you could sandblast it.

But is there something you could spray on to get rid of the rust? You could spray pickling acid (20% nitric, 2%hydrofluoric) to stop the rusting. But that is nasty stuff. Anyway the pitting will remain after this, the only question is how deep is the pitting. And the brushed texture may be ruined.

You'll have to probably use some combination of pickling and mechanical treatment (ie brushing or sanding).

Read this...http://www.euro-inox.org/pdf/map/Passivating_Pickling_EN.pdf

[etonline]

I'd start with a maroon non-woven pad to match the brush finish. If that does not remove it try 120 grit and work coarser till your happy then work back UP thru the grits till a final with maroon non-woven.

I had to spot do a whole restroom that they cleaned the tile and over sprayed the stall dividers and doors.

[usmcruz]

I guess my brewing experience will come in handy in this situation. First take off any rust, and polish the Stainless Steel up as it was before, now goto wal-mart and get a product called Bar Keepers Friend, it is made for stainless steel. Now mix up the powder and a tiny bit of water into a paste and with a green scrubby, scrub the stainless steel for 2 minutes, and then rinse off the paste and let it air dry. Do not dry the stainless steel with a towel, let it air dry. Bar Keepers Friend helps replace the natural oxide layer on the stainless steel that keeps stainless steel from rusting. Its great stuff, give it a try!