How long can brass stay totally submerged in water?

A. That simply is oxidation on your vase. I don't know how sensitive or old the piece is, but I'd suggest you try "Nevr-Dull ⇦ on eBay or Amazon [affil links] ",

A. Hi Joe. Anahita's advice to simply use a metal polish or brass polish is fine as long as the item is not truly valuable. But if it is, then you should probably look up "metals conservator" and have a professional handle the problem. Good luck

Luck & Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.

A. Brass does not rust, only iron-bearing materials will rust. Brass will corrode however. There is no good answer to your question as it will depend on the quality of the water. If completely submerged in a clean stream or lake that does not have a lot of offending materials like a low pH or sulfides and etc, it will probably last for many years and only slowly grow a corrosion layer.

A. Sorry to be evasive, but the lifetime of brass will depend on a lot of factors, not least of which is what type of brass you use. Furthermore, there will be a major dependence on the chemistry of the water. Brass can undergo "dezincification", when the zinc dissolves out of the brass to leave behind spongy copper. This not only changes its appearance, but also significantly weakens it. The rate at which the zinc is removed will depend on factors such as oxygen content, pH, chloride levels, temperature etc. In an extreme circumstance, attack on the brass could be evident in a matter a few days.

A. As above, lots of factors involved.
But you need to know which copper alloy is to be submerged, and what the environment down there would be.
Consider bronze (copper and tin mainly) (not brass - copper and zinc mainly) cannons lifted relatively intact from sea bed after hundreds of years (cannons often in low oxygen conditions of silt/mud.
Trevor is right, brass is worse and would dezincify, especially in contact with other metals, ask any marine engineer or sea-going boat owner.
For lakes and rivers (presumably both fresh water), corrosion rates would however be much lower.
Regards

A. Brass pins have been unearthed in the Philippines that are estimated to be from 2000 B.C., Barbara. If you search for articles about historical brass artifacts, you'll get some additional ideas. Please try to describe your actual situation -- not only because the exposure conditions could vary from horrendous (mine water intrusion?) to highly benign (absolutely dry?), but because readers tell us they enjoy responding to human interest situations but they dislike flash quiz style questions :-)

Thanks.

Ted Mooney, P.E.

A. It's only a guestimate, of course, but after 150 years submerged in cool fresh water, a small coin sized piece of brass would probably be corroded beyond recognition. Bronze or copper would survive in much better condition, original imprints likely being discernible.

Of course it depends on the composition of objects made long ago, and the conditions - was it buried in mud, subject to tidal action?

If your scenario depends on the object being in recognizable, possibly usable condition, I'd go with bronze, although copper might do about as well.

If your scenario changes to warm, tidal saltwater, then bronze.

A. You may want to take a look at the Riace Bronzes that were found in 1972 in the sea near Italy and date from the 5th Century BC. They likely have been in the water for at least a couple of thousand years.

A. Hi there. I was just at the Athenian Archeology museum researching this very issue. They have several recovered sculptures in marble and brass with extreme underwater (fresh and sea water) corrosion. I sent some images to this finishing site:

Best
Raphael

A. Two small thoughts
Until probably the 19/20 century "Brass" commonly referred to Bronze. Hence 'Brass cannon' are invariably bronze a copper tin alloy not copper/zinc brass.
Secondly, you might like to look up 'antikythera mechanism'
Images and fascinating videos of reconstruction - and food for thought for a writer.

A. Hi Oscar,
Corrosion rates are affected very much by soil moisture and chemical characteristics, so there's no good answer to your question. One interesting tidbit, though, is that for many metals, the oxidation layer on the surface actually protects the substrate from further oxidation~ think of the 'verdigris' you see on statues. There's even a type of steel that was engineered to rust itself a nice protective layer and then stop! But even that is subject to environmental factors, and if it's damp and salty enough, all bets are off.

 I have what looks like a brass button for overalls. I found it in a spring close to Lake City off the Swanee river. It was on an old civil War wreck. It was green on the back when I brought it home in 1970. The green fell away and it is in perfect shape.

A. Hi Holly. We added your inquiry to a thread where you can read lots of perspectives on the issue. The short answer is that water is going to be be reasonably non-harmful to a brass vase.

Luck & Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET