Does Water Need Air to Corrode Steel?

[@programmer6428]

great example, love to see these and you should make more

[@Shane_at_SteelImage]

Will do!!

[@chuckfischer7202]

So, the steel drew Oxygen from the water? Without it being replenished the corrosion stopped? Enjoying the vids.

[@Shane_at_SteelImage]

Exactly. The steel within the seal container consumed all the available dissolved oxygen in the water. Once that ran out, no more corrosion. Hopefully it helps show the importance of oxygen in the water and that water alone is not corrosive. There are many applications, such as industrial boilers, where we purposefully remove the oxygen to avoid steel corrosion.

[@Chris-hx3om]

Same with all metals. I have a sealed electrical junction box for the lights on my boat trailer. All the cables come into the box. After 17 years I stripped the trailer (for re-galvanizing) and all the exposed wires in the box were still bright. Once the oxygen in the trapped air was consumed, no further oxidation of the copper wires occurred.

[@michaelabraham9177]

this begs the question, would some type of corrosion protection (ie paint) have slowed down, or stopped the reaction? I've been a welder for years, I now know rust is a supernatural phenomena lol. Or at least it appears so. I've seen rust form under oiled steel, inside sealed parts that were welded 100% or so I thought. and millions of other things. I used to build fire truck ladders. Every single weld was magnafluxed, and cleaned before a coating was magnetically, or electronically applied. I never understood the process fully. They didn't rust as much, but repairing old fire truck ladders showed me that even a small amount of cold lap (from other welders not as skilled as myself lol) would induce rust. I've built fire trucks, concrete bins, farm equipment, and etc. I know galvanizing doesn't hold up to fertilizer of any type, but mild steel holds up even worse. Stainless is an improvement, and can with maintenance hold up, but is not bulletproof. So my question is, what can you tell us about corrosion protection? I hate seeing my beautiful creations out of wonderful all purpose tuff steel flake away into oblivion till they are so weak you could punch a hole in them with your finger.

[@Shane_at_SteelImage]

Very cool all your experience. Haha, the last question is a HUGE question - asking about corrosion protection of steel. There are many strategies including (1) keeping steel dry (paint, coatings), (2) removing oxygen, (3) preventing water exposure, (4) anodic protection (sacrificial anodes) (5) cathodic protection (applied current) and (6) changing to materials to something that won't corrode in that environment (brass, stainless, etc).