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Localized pitting of Stainless Steel in inhibited HCl

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, California
May 6, 2009

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

James Watts
- Navarre, Florida
May 11, 2009

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 [deceased]
consultant metallurgist - Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
We sadly relate the news that Bill passed away on Jan. 29, 2010.
May 12, 2009

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