52060

Localized pitting of Stainless Steel in inhibited HCL  

May 6, 2009

Please help; I do not know how to explain why stainless steel part have some pitting area after Sc. Conditioner and inhibited HCL treatment.

Galina Kofman
engineer in cleaning shop - Hayward, CA

Sight unseen, my guess is that you have used the dip for a while and now have a ferric chloride build up which is far more aggressive than inhibited HCl and significantly more aggressive than plain HCl.

James Watts
- FL

In addition to James' point (with which I totally agree), the chloride itself will wreak havoc on many stainless steels, whether or not the acid is inhibited. The inhibitor is restricting the action of the H+ part of the acid. It doesn't affect the Cl- part.

Bill Reynolds    consultant metallurgist Ballarat, Victoria, Australia