Mr Punter Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 The current development has a fair bit of stainless steel externally - most of it is 316 grade. We have lots of horizontal balustrades, as well as lettterplates and escutcheons. All have performed well except for the front door handles, which appear a bit corroded. We have 8 of these doors on the development and they cost £3,600 each. They were installed less than 18 months ago and when I contacted the manufacturer they did a sloping shoulder, saying they should be cleaned with specialist product. I would not expect door handles to be subject to some regular maintenance routine. What should I do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 (edited) my thoughts would be thats chinese grade 316 - -not real marine grade(304) ,which is the best type for corrosion ressitance or it was covered in a sticky protective layer that left some glue behind try cleaning with a solvent --if it goes thats your answer --remains of a protective film of some sort worth a a try ? don,t think it will be as its looks worst where the tube has been radially cut to fit other bit what do you do --clean them then clear lacquer? how long was the warranty on the doors? Edited May 14, 2019 by scottishjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 I'd agree, it's not 316. It's probably not 304/A2, either, as although 304 is less corrosion resistant than 316 I'd not expect it to show signs of ferric oxide like that in a non-marine environment. Might be an idea to test it with a magnet, as 316 is non-magnetic, 304/A2 is slightly magnetic and "Chinesium stainless" is almost strongly magnetic. The "Chinesium stainless" seems a curse that we have to live with, as I bought some supposedly "stainless" shed bolts that are now as rusty as an anchor. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassanclan Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 If you have seriously spent £28800 on 8 door handles then they shouldn't be rusty, you should write to the manufacturer explaining that you will be having the metal tested and be seeking a full refund + costs if it's not 316 stainless steel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshine Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 3 minutes ago, bassanclan said: If you have seriously spent £28800 on 8 door handles then they shouldn't be rusty If he did he would be a fool, the total cost were for the 8 doors. Surely the handles aren't that much for the supplier to replace at their cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 25 minutes ago, JSHarris said: I'd agree, it's not 316. It's probably not 304/A2, either, as although 304 is less corrosion resistant than 316 I'd not expect it to show signs of ferric oxide like that in a non-marine environment. Might be an idea to test it with a magnet, as 316 is non-magnetic, 304/A2 is slightly magnetic and "Chinesium stainless" is almost strongly magnetic. The "Chinesium stainless" seems a curse that we have to live with, as I bought some supposedly "stainless" shed bolts that are now as rusty as an anchor. Thanks Jeremy. I did the magnet test and it is non-magnetic. The door people say it is 316 and I have no reason to disbelieve but I cannot work out why they look so bad. The door people have just got back to me saying "I appreciate that you spent this sum of money with us and in return we provided goods and works to the value of £29k. However, that does not remove the responsibility of the properties occupiers to maintain the goods in an appropriate manner and it would appear that no maintenance has been undertaken since the doors were fitted. This is not our responsibility to rectify and whilst I understand you feeling our position is not satisfactory, it is not unreasonable given the circumstances. I take no pleasure from these situations and it’s saddening to see our product neglected to such a condition." I really did not expect to have a maintenance program on external stainless steel handles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonshine Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 7 minutes ago, Mr Punter said: I really did not expect to have a maintenance program on external stainless steel handles! When the doors were provided / installed, did they come with any manual / instructions that state the maintenance for them? It seems there is some information on it https://www.alpro.co.uk/care-and-maintenance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 ask them what you should be doing --if they want to play that card ,then where was the instructions on how to maintain these doors,considering they are more expensive than a lot of cars ,which have a documented service schedule I used have same problem with chinese ex manifolds ,supposedly 316s/s - but they not only blued but in 6 months turned brown the manifolds and ex systems i had made by BTB still sell s/hand 10-15years at a premium later as they still have no major signs of corrosion on them even now when isee them advertisedo neabay etc the car has rotted away ,but exsystme is still there .LOL to be fair my fancy s/c ex system solld for £780 +£360 for a maniflold in 2001. and i only stopped getting them made in batchs of ten when the price went over £1000 for a system . BTB now only do very exotic f1 and special systems and last price i got for manifolds in 2010 was £750 each to me-- kind of killed the market for saxo /106 customers the point is there are lots of dif spec s/s that are classed as 316 etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 There's no real maintenance needed for 316 stainless in a non-marine environment, and even in a marine environment all that's normally ever needed is a wash and rub down. One thing that may be causing the staining is if the manufacturer either used a ferrous polishing system, something like steel wool, or a ferrous contaminated non-metallic polishing system. What can happen then is that minute particles of steel/iron get embedded in the polished surface of the stainless and corrode. The fix for that is to re-polish the stainless using clean green Scotchbrite pads to remove the contamination. Looking at the fittings I think they'd need to be removed in order to do a decent job. There are polishing firms around who could do this, but it might be an idea to test one handle first to see if this fixes the problem. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 maybe a good post on facebook with pictures might get some action from them you could reply saying how un happy you are are going to post pictures --before you actually do it certainly people need to know these mega priced doors are shite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 6 minutes ago, JSHarris said: There's no real maintenance needed for 316 stainless in a non-marine environment, and even in a marine environment all that's normally ever needed is a wash and rub down. One thing that may be causing the staining is if the manufacturer either used a ferrous polishing system, something like steel wool, or a ferrous contaminated non-metallic polishing system. What can happen then is that minute particles of steel/iron get embedded in the polished surface of the stainless and corrode. The fix for that is to re-polish the stainless using clean green Scotchbrite pads to remove the contamination. Looking at the fittings I think they'd need to be removed in order to do a decent job. There are polishing firms around who could do this, but it might be an idea to test one handle first to see if this fixes the problem. suspect you are right ,due to the signs at the joint where they may used a grinder to finish them off at that price i would expect bits to be tig welded together anyway and nice fillet showing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Just now, scottishjohn said: suspect you are right ,due to the signs at the joint where they may used a grinder to finish them off if you end up replacing them we've found that polished 316 SS is better than brush-finish at staying corrosion free. It's something to do with the smoothness of the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 Perhaps @pocster may want to look at this before he orders his front door. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 4 minutes ago, Ian said: if you end up replacing them we've found that polished 316 SS is better than brush-finish at staying corrosion free. It's something to do with the smoothness of the surface. I suspect it may also be related to fine particles of steel from the polishing brushes getting embedded in the surface. Staining like this seems to occur when the fabricator hasn't been scrupulous at keeping all the stainless polishing stuff separate from other polishing stuff, I think. One option might be to see if the parts could be electropolished, as that should clean the surfaces and remove any minute particles of embedded ferrous stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Crumbs ! You certainly wouldn’t expect that to happen so soon !! @Mr Punter - thanks !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 @Mr Punter It's not a cheap product but you could try this: https://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Rust-Remover-Cleaner/dp/B071Y37HND We used it on a commercial job where some SS had gone rusty after the client's cleaners used bleach. It worked really well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplysimon Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 @Mr Punter are the short bars attached by threaded rod to the long ones, if so are they also ss or mild? same for the fixings through the doors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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