Shower Fixture Corrosion

[Lost4]

Went out to my Interstate this morning and I found that all my chrome bathroom fixtures have all corroded. My tanks are all empty and I have no water leaks. No sign of any moisture anywhere. Can anyone tell me how this may have happen. Please help I need to keep this from happening again.

[Daquenzer]

Do you have a water softener in your house? Where was the last time you filled your tanks? Corrosion is caused by hard water.

https://www.hunker.com/12002221/how-...throom-faucets

[Tim A.]

Corrosion can also result from using bleach-containing cleaning products (chlorine bleaches especially).

Tim

[Foiled Again]

Plain old rubbing alcohol MAY remove it if it is not too deep.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Plain old rubbing alcohol MAY remove it if it is not too deep.

Does take serious rubbing with terry towel or paper towel.

[Acheron2010]

CLR, in any grocery store cleaning aisle.

[BayouBiker]

Chrome plated products do not generally corrode from exposure to fresh water because the corrosion product forms a nearly clear and impenetrable protective coating halting any further corrosion. The fact that yours corroded indicates something other than water was in contact with the affected fixtures for an extended time. Salts and salt residues of various cleaning products would be the most likely culprit.

Someone mentioned bleach and the salts formed from bleach will harm chrome if not rinsed off very well with fresh water after use. Someone mentioned a water softener which adds a very small amount of table salt to the water and can also harm chrome if the softener is consuming excessive salts and also not wiped off well. Hard water was mentioned, but the calcium and magnesium salts do not dissociate well and are therefore much less likely to disrupt the protective coating.

Most likely though are residuals of various harsh cleaning products that may have been used prior to storage. Even if the product was not used on the fixtures, any condensation on the fixture would adsorb the residues from the aerosol mists that may be floating in the air.

So, avoid harsh cleaning products anywhere in the area, instead rinse, squeegee and wipe down the shower and bathroom fixtures after every single use. Rinse them often with fresh water and wipe them dry while in use. If they need a some cleaning use mild cleaning products. Only use harsh ones if the mild ones don't work but then triple rinse with fresh water, dry them and then come back in an hour and rinse them again.

You didn't ask how to remove the corrosion. Some people offered suggestions. Here are the most effective ways for chrome. If the corrosion is light use vinegar (acidic acid) with a bit of salt dissolved in it. If heavy, use phosphoric acid you can buy in the paint section of Home Depot, follow the directions. Then rinse very well when finished.

FYI phosphoric acid is a wonderful product to have around a trailer and the house. It removes rust and rust stains so well (have brown stains in your sinks and toilets? you need this stuff), prepares bare metal for painting, and forms an iron corrosion product that is black and coats iron, steel and zinc rather than flakes off so it protects these metals for a couple months. Caution: It will quickly remove thin zinc and tin coatings so use discretion because once the coating is gone, you will have to paint, wax or oil/grease the surface to prevent rust. Best not to use it on sheet and rolled items with these thin coatings.

[BayouBiker]

To add to my very long post, adding an old fashioned automotive wax based polish to the fixtures prior to storage will protect them further and they will look great!

[lsbrodsky]

I agree with everything Brian said except using phosphoric acid; that is only for the experienced user. In general, straight vinegar, with salt, is enough to deal with corrosion products that have not accumulated too badly. As above CLR is formulated for tougher duty. The problem with phosphoric acid, as pointed out by Brian, is that it is strong stuff that removes manufacturer coatings. Once that happens, you are forced into more regular maintenance. He is certainly right about not using harsh cleaning products, including bleach, anywhere around your plumbing fixtures. I have found that using vinegar once a month keeps everything at home and in the trailer looking new. Use the vinegar on the shower door glass as well. You do need to wipe water off plumbing fixtures after the last person has showered every day.I keep a microfiber rag in the shower for that.
Larry

[BayouBiker]

Larry, Thanks for the additional cautions about phosphoric acid. As a chemical engineer I appreciate the characteristics of a full range of chemical properties that many people don't. I often fail to consider that things that seem obvious to me are not actually so obvious. It's a blind spot I have.

Thanks again for watching my back!

[Mansderm161]

I've have the same problem and don't use any chemicals. I first noticed it in galley sink drain. Pointed it out when in for service at JC and they said it's not corrosion.....but it is! I use a water filter for all my water, always have, no strong chemicals, use disposable dishes. They recommended a little vinegar because they said the "scale" forms in the holding tanks too, so I pour a little vinegar down the drains and always wipe everything off. I personally think its poor quality metal. It still looks bad. I use neutrogena rain bath in the shower but mostly use shower houses at campgrounds. The only showers I took in the rig were at the international rally this past summer, so 10 total! I wash my hands with Rainbath in the bathroom sink after use. And my unit was bought new.

[BayouBiker]

That you commonly use vinegar for scale is a likely contributor to what I will assume is minor surface corrosion and discoloring. The acid does partially evaporate and redeposit on damp surfaces. A couple hours after you use acid in the area wipe areas that are damp or are often wet with clean water a few times. Me? I would not use acid unless I'm removing corrosion and scale in a place that shows or I stay for an extended time in a location with very hard water.

Localized corrosion occurs when the thin continuous corrosion product is disturbed exposing fresh metal due to various reactive chemicals and other localized impurities. This area will continue to corrode and scale until the localized impurities are removed and continuous corrosion layer is restored.

When you wipe a metal surface with a medium strength acid it does two things. One, it aids in the removal of minerals, discoloration and surface corrosion, and two it aids in the restoration of the continuous corrosion layer. Even better would be to follow the acid wash with several wipings of clean water and then a good polishing with polishing compound then some polish itself.

[Mansderm161]

I have corrosion on the galley water spigot too and it sees no vinegar. I also always use a water filter attached outside to the water source, but if you take that aerator off every couple of months, its full of crap. I have to take it off anyway to scrape the corrosion off. I really think its inferior metal. This has never happened in any home faucets. Who knows...the sediment in the aerator may be coming from the metal degrading inside as the water flows.

[BayouBiker]

Any vinegar you use will permeate the air and uniformly distribute itself, however your description of crap in the aerator screen along with use of a filter indicates a nontraditional scale problem. So I'm going to take back that suggestion and move to a different one.

Mixing of incompatible waters are the most common cause of the kind of scale problem you indicate. I say this because you say your home does not have a scale problem.

Do you fill your fresh water tank from home and then go back and forth between using the tank and using remote city water sources? Or do you tend to predominately camp in two locations with very different well sourced waters?

[Mansderm161]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

Any vinegar you use will permeate the air and uniformly distribute itself, however your description of crap in the aerator screen along with use of a filter indicates a nontraditional scale problem. So I'm going to take back that suggestion and move to a different one.

Mixing of incompatible waters are the most common cause of the kind of scale problem you indicate. I say this because you say your home does not have a scale problem.

Do you fill your fresh water tank from home and then go back and forth between using the tank and using remote city water sources? Or do you tend to predominately camp in two locations with very different well sourced waters?

Yes, I do. I always travel with full tank of filtered water from home, but do hook up at campgrounds. Water from home would also go thru water pump filter whereas campground water would not. I still filter the campground water with the camco water filter.

[BayouBiker]

So I suspect your home water has unusual dissolved minerals that are incompatible with many of the surface waters that come from city water supplies in the campgrounds.

Scales all begin as dissolved minerals that become solids due to changes in solubility. Solubility changes when pressure drops or rises, temperature changes, water evaporates or incompatible waters mix. Some scales wipe off easily when you clean up, others clog fittings, pipes and screens.

Particle filters, no matter how sophisticated, cannot help with dissolved minerals and precipitation of same. Water softeners target exchange of the "hard water" minerals Magnesium carbonate and calcium carbonate with sodium (table) salts. They are primarily from limestone regions of the country and all surface water downstream from those regions. Demineralizers, mostly reverse osmosis ion exchangers will remove all inorganic minerals. Activated charcoal removes organics.

So what to do? First collect a sample of the stuff and attempt to determine what it is. It is not corrosion from the fixtures, the quantity you describe is too much. All the pipe in the trailer is plastic so this has to be a mineral scale. If it is slimy and soft, it contains an organic component like grease or wax or a surfactant and has formed an organic salt. It would be unusual, but if so you can add an activated carbon filter to remove the organic components.

It might be Iron salts, it might be carbonates, it might be something else. You can send it to a lab online or you can try some simple tests. Start with the idea it is a carbonate and try to dissolve it with "Lime Away" or similar. If it fizzes and dissolves great. If not and it is a dark color try phosphoric acid from home depot, if it dissolves and and turns light, it is likely Iron. If neither of these work, it is something less common. But no matter the outcome at least you have confirmed it is a precipitating mineral so you can be confident of your method of addressing it.

Options:

1. Live with it and wipe down your fixtures especially the nozzle area and sinks every time you use them. Flush out your system especially the water heater after every trip.

2. Don't bring water from one area to another. Instead fill your fresh water tank and flush your entire lines with local water once you arrive at the area you intend to camp.

3. Find a local source of water more compatible with typical surface waters.

4. Purchase a small reverse osmosis system ($200-400 for a reasonable capacity) then flush and and fill your trailer with demineralized water before each trip. The flow rates will be low the lower the cost so be patient.

Hope this helps, let me know what if anything you find or decide to do.

[Mansderm161]

Thanks