A Quick Guide To Electropolishing As A Corrosion Protection Method
One of the major challenges for people who intend to use steel fasteners is how to ensure that they don’t end up being corroded. This is particularly important if the fasteners are likely to be used in environments such as close to large water bodies. There are many ways of tackling this, including through the use of electroplating and using fasteners made out of alloys rather than plain steel.
One of the main forms of corrosion prevention one should consider using is electropolishing. In a nutshell, this is a form of treatment that is normally considered the opposite of electroplating. After the process is completed, there will be a thick layer of chromium oxide on the stainless steel. This oxide is usually resistant to corrosion, which means that the metal underneath will be protected from any chemical reaction that might oxidize it.
Does quality of electropolishing matter?
If you are interested in electropolishing stainless steel fasteners such as 18-8 Stainless Steel socket head cap screws or 316 stainless steel hex nuts, you should keep in mind that the quality of the procedure does matter. When the electropolishing is done according to the required standards, it’s likely to protect the metal quite well. However, when it’s done in a haphazard manner, it may end up not standing up to most forms of damage, and will therefore end up rusting.
This basically means that if you intend to get electropolished fasteners, you should always buy them from firms that are known to provide quality. It may sometimes be a bit more expensive to do this, but the upside is that you will end up with very high quality. The higher cost will pay off in the long run since you will end up with fewer running costs.
Some of the things to look out for if you want high quality
If you are interested in buying high quality electropolished fasteners, there are some cues you can use to determine if a particular brand or manufacturer will offer high quality. Some of these include:
Certificates of quality production: Most high quality firms will have certificates and other documentation proving that they use standard methods of electropolishing. Some of these include ISO certification.
Customer reviews: You can also depend on customer reviews to figure out which firm to buy such fasteners from. The key to doing this right is making sure that you get them from a source that you can trust. For instance, if you have a few peers in the industry, you can talk to some of them to get the information you need to buy high quality electropolished fasteners.
Testing: In addition to that, you can also buy samples of the fasteners and subject them to different types of testing. This will give you an idea of which manufacturers seem to offer products that will have the qualities you are interested in.
If you are interested in quality fasteners that will not be affected by corrosion, you should definitely consider those that have been electropolished.
