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inkjet21
11/15/2011, 10:23 PM
Has anyone made a sump out of 304 stainless steel? and if you did, did it hold up to the salt water over time? I have plans to make a 3 chamber tank ,makeup water, new salt water, and a 100 gal sump all out of s/s. but i thought i would see what ppl had to say here before starting it. thanks for any info on the matter.
r-balljunkie
11/16/2011, 01:08 AM
Has anyone made a sump out of 304 stainless steel? and if you did, did it hold up to the salt water over time? I have plans to make a 3 chamber tank ,makeup water, new salt water, and a 100 gal sump all out of s/s. but i thought i would see what ppl had to say here before starting it. thanks for any info on the matter.

no.
304SS starts to show surface rust in a salt laden environment in a week or two without even touching seawater. corrossion and pittance will be evident in months when it comes into contact with seawater. you might get some passivation and develop a film on exposed surfaces, but it wont hold up long term, especially if the temperatures of the weldments arent hot enough.


im an engineer in the marshall islands, i deal with corrossion control every day.


buy a used tank, and convert it, save yourself a headache.

c
inkjet21
11/16/2011, 06:40 AM
BallJunkie, Thanks for the reply, i kinda thought that was the case, i have 3 full sheets of 304 i could of made it from, oh well save that for diffrent project, I`ll just use the rubbermaid tub i have, that`s to bad it could of been a really nice layout,
ohm786
11/16/2011, 07:54 AM
Interesting idea though. Perhaps if you powder coated the end result?
thegrun
11/16/2011, 08:28 AM
Even high quality stainless steel will rust over time. 304 has a lot of iron in it and will rust quickly.
inkjet21
11/16/2011, 10:14 AM
Maybe i could just coat the inside with the same epoxy they use on wood tanks??? Hummm now that might just work, sandblast the inside for good adhesion, prime and paint
Toddrtrex
11/16/2011, 11:40 AM
Seems like a lot of work, and a lot of risk -- personally I wouldn't do it.
DeepSeaBeauti
11/16/2011, 11:46 AM
Small tanks are cheep, And rubbermaid are even cheeper then glass tanks!
AlfieReef
11/16/2011, 11:53 AM
I would think that metal and saltwater don't mix. Good to hear from experts