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316L stainless steel is rusting in boiling water [Greece] 

April 15, 2008

Hello I find you site and I think that you can answer to my problem.
I use stainless steel 316L for level indicator in a boiler.
After one month of use the stainless steel indicator inside the boiler are rusting and getting smaller. The thickens of the metal is R2mm.

Thanks for your help.

Dimitris Prodanas
employee - Greece

Could there be iron contamination on the surface of the indicator? Passivating it should help. Let us know if we can help.

Ray Kremer Stellar Solutions, Inc. Algonquin, IL, USA

Are you sure it is made of 316L, which should be passivated by your supplier? Otherwise, it may appear spotty rust instead of uniform rust and not reduce its dimension. All can be determined if you want to.

Jun Zhang
- Cincinnati, Ohio