Stainless steel sink owner be aware

[regal]

When we did the renovation 2 years ago, we put in a stainless steel utility sink in the laundry room. I use it for water change and maintainence stuff. It started to rush about a year ago and started leaking from the bottom seam a few months after. Today while doing laundry and also some tank maintainence, one side of the bottom busted wide open when the sink was half full. :screama: :banghead: The water ran to the dent and then down to the basement. If I had hardwood floor or carpet, I would be screwed big time. (I have marble floor in the dent and the basement.:smile: ) But it is still a big PIA for cleanup. I took 3 trips to home depot to get all the stuff I need and changed it to a regular sink. So if you have stainless steel sink and saltwater tank, keep them away from each other.

 

[TimberTDI]

When I lived in an apartment I used to drain all WC water down the bathroom sink. I ended up rotting the trap. This was when I had the 150 set up, of course I didn't notice until after I pumped out about 40 gallons of water. Thank God, I was on the first floor and the basement was ours. Talk about a mess. You know now that I look back, I realize what a saint my wife is for letting me have my tank.:inlove:

Steven

 

[wild fin]

so what is the best way to despose of the water, cause i too live in my own house and i usually flush it...

 

[KathyC]

Just a thought...but my boat is loaded with stainless steel fittings..railing, screws, all sorts of things specifically because SS is impervious to SW.
If it's true stainless, there shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Awibrandy]

Just a thought...but my boat is loaded with stainless steel fittings..railing, screws, all sorts of things specifically because SS is impervious to SW.
If it's true stainless, there shouldn't be an issue.

I agree with Kathy. What more then likely happened is that it was low grade stainlesssteal sink. If you get a high grade this should not happen. When buying a stainless steal sink look for the lower gauge numbers. The lower the gauge the better the quality.

 

[DEEPWATER]

my poor kitchen sink

 

[DallasNYC]

There are several grades of stainless steel. I don?t think there are any that are completely impervious to salt water. The ones on boats are probably of a better grade. Most metal in the hobby is titanium.

Lower gauge means thicker metal which is good. But there are actaully grades that have to deal with what types of metals/minerals/methods used to make it.

I usually flush my water and never gave it a thought. That said, my super actually had to change the trap a few month ago because it started dripping on the neighbors below. I had chalked it down for the old age of the building, but now you got me thinking.

It may be a good idea to give the toilet several flushes afterwards to make sure the salt water doesn?t stay in the plumbing traps.

 

[Awibrandy]

How long had you been flushing the water Dallas? I'm curious, because I always use my kitchen sink, I was in my old house for 21yrs. of which I had sw tanks for the past 4, and never had a problem.

 

[DallasNYC]

5-6 yrs now. It could have been the age of the pipes and nothing to do with the salt water. But I will make it a practice of a few follow through flushes anyhow. This was probally a cast iron trap anyhow.

 

[cali_reef]

Just a thought...but my boat is loaded with stainless steel fittings..railing, screws, all sorts of things specifically because SS is impervious to SW.
If it's true stainless, there shouldn't be an issue.

Kathy, all stainless steel corrodes giving the right conditions. The SS hardware on the boat are typically not soaked in saltwater than exposed to oxygen after use, you probably give the deck hardware a good rinse after each use and its dried under the sun. SS sink collect the salt residual and starts to corrode between each use, the corrosion is further accelerated by dissimilar metal attached to the sink and the strait electricity from all the electrical appliances that uses home piping as ground.

Best bet is to rinse the sink well after each use, or switch to a none metallic sink with PVC pipes as drain.

 

[regal]

I agree with Kathy. What more then likely happened is that it was low grade stainlesssteal sink. If you get a high grade this should not happen. When buying a stainless steal sink look for the lower gauge numbers. The lower the gauge the better the quality.

I don't know if it is true. If you look at the picture, there is rust all over the sink. If the material was thicker, the rusty look on it would not be very attractive eventhough it didn't break.

 

[nemo]

I'm worried now. At water changes, I pour the water down the toilet. You reckon it would corrode the pipes too? I will have to find another way to dispose of the water then.

 

[cali_reef]

I'm worried now. At water changes, I pour the water down the toilet. You reckon it would corrode the pipes too? I will have to find another way to dispose of the water then.

No need to worry.. Flush the toilet a few times you'll be fine. The fresh water from few flushes should be enough to get the salt water out of the traps. The sewer pipes have so much soap scum and crap on the interior surface I don't think the salt water will do much damage.

 

[regal]

I'm worried now. At water changes, I pour the water down the toilet. You reckon it would corrode the pipes too? I will have to find another way to dispose of the water then.

Let your downstairs neigbor worry about it.... J/K. Like cali said, flush the toilet/sink a few times afterward.