Sailfish 275 DC Owner's Manual - Caring For Stainless Steel

01/27/2015

Sailfish275DCOwner’sManual|sailfishboats.com

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Caring for Stainless Steel

The information provided is designed to 

give you a thorough understanding of the 

factors that can impact the appearance 

of your anodized aluminum. By using this 

information, we hope to help you enhance 

the beauty and value to our products.

What Makes Stainless 

Steel Stainless?

Oxygen is the key element in causing rust, 

or red oxide on steel and other metals. 

Stainless Steel contains Chromium which 

reacts with the oxygen in the air to form a 

chrome-oxide surface layer that is invisible 

to the eye, but strong enough to prevent 

further oxygen from “staining” (rusting) the 

surface. Higher levels of Chromium and 

the addition of other alloying elements 

such as nickel and molybdenum enhance 

this surface layer and improve the corro-

sion resistance of the stainless material.

What Determines 

Different Grades of 

Stainless Steel?

The grade of Stainless Steel is primarily 

determined by the amount of the Chro-

mium and Nickel alloys contained in the 

material. 304 and 316 are the prominent 

grades of Stainless Steel: 304 contains 

1% Chromium and 8% Nickel, while 316 

Contains 16% Chromium and 10% Nickel 

and 2% Molybdenum. The Molybdenum is 

added to help resist corrosion to chlorides 

(like sea water and de-icing salts).

Can Stainless Steel 

rust?

Not in the way steel rusts. Steel will 

discolor, bubble and flake from red oxide 

development. Stainless Steel may develop 

red spots, but this is usually due to Iron 

particles on the surface of the Stainless 

Steel. Any Iron particles must be removed 

and the Stainless Steel cleaned with a 

high concentration of citric acid or a com-

mercial cleaner specifically designed for 

Stainless Steel.

Is Stainless Steel 

Green (Environmental-

ly Friendly)?

Stainless Steel is highly sought after by 

recyclers and is 100% recyclable. New 

Stainless Steel typically has a recycled 

content of between 65% & 80% which 

makes it one of the highest average con-

tent recycled construction materials on the 

planet.

Will Stainless Steel 

Discolor?

Cleaners that are typically used with 

cement, grout and stone, etc., may contain 

Muriatic Acid. Stainless Steel is not 

resistant to Muratic Acid. MURIATIC ACID 

SHOULD NOT BE USED IF STAINLESS 

STEEL IS PRESENT. It is not even nec-

essary that the acid touch the Stainless 

Steel, just the “fumes” from it will cause a 

discoloration of the Stainless Steel. Other 

than this, Stainless Steel is usually very 

resistant to discoloring.