Standing Rigging-should I be worried?

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by seacottage

Apply some undiluted Muratic acid with a paint brush on the rust. Rinse off with water after 3 minutes and see what it looks like then. Could look brand new.

I don't have any muriatic on board but I do have some Krud Kutter rust remover which is phosphoric acid that I may give a try.

[thb]

Most likely what your seeing are the contaminants from the mfg process being leached out of the wire. The EPA stopped wire mfg from using oil baths a few years back and now everything is drawn thru powder. Keep in mind the wire is drawn and formed using carbon steel dies and residue stays on the strands. In a relatively arid climate it can take a long time for the leaching process to finish as a lot of water is needed to rinse the crud down. Candy stripping can be caused by the strands running thru the upper part of the forming die not getting enough powder / lube. Key work is pitting; clean off your rust and look for it. With regards to sealing the wire the real culprit are the core wires and getting sealant inside of that group is probably imposible. Hope this helps

[Don C L]

I didn't see any cracking in the swagings at all. If there is no cracking, I'd wash them clean, take a good look with the magnifying glass for pitting, then see how they look in 2 or 3 months again. I would probably just use soap and water and a scrubbing pad, stainless steel brush. Somehow using muriatic acid in the strands in the swaging doesn't seem like a good idea. My rigger just did the same with my rigging (using boatlife.) I doubt that is the culprit. I also doubt your rigging is in imminent danger of failure. It would be a great thread though to show testing done on rigging that has this issue.

[thb]

Do what DL says, keep chemicals out of the equation

[fryewe]

Perhaps the wire was cut with an angle grinder and the grinding dust was not removed, and was captured within the assembly. If enough heat was built up in the grinding the SS characteristics can be altered and it can become less corrosion resistant. Even if it's not, the dust has a lot of surface area to present to salt water and air, and will rust pretty quickly.

Perhaps explains why another poster had surface rust on new shroud assemblies that later cleared up (all the grinding dust had been oxidized).

[JPA Cate]

A comment on airborne pollution: we have had that happen, and it looked horrible. However, a roughish passage with lots of salt water spray, and it was clean and shiny again. The wire: DyForm [sp?], out of Britain.

With the present non-availability of new Norseman cones, would suggest for people who plan to keep their boats use Sta-Locks.

[h20]

all 316 is NOT equal!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I don't have any muriatic on board but I do have some Krud Kutter rust remover which is phosphoric acid that I may give a try.

personally I would do neither. You are asking for more trouble than you currently have. The acid will embed itself in any space or crevice. or if you do, use a weak solution and pre wet with water.
I agree with others, the candy stripe and etc is likely caused by lack of, or inappropriate cleaning after the wire was drawn thru steel dies. That's why one wire from the same batch causing the candy stripe happens. That one strand is contaminated.
Most SS gets passivated/acid cleaned. The iron from the hard dies embeds itself on the surface. Maybe it's hard to accomplish in today's world and with long wire strands.
Try using steel wool on a piece of SS sometime, or even a grinding disc that was previously used on steel, and leave it outside. It will rust terribly if not cleaned... especially around salt water.
I would talk with your supplier and tell them it's obvious it is a wire mfg. cleaning problem. Why in the world are there 30 year old 302/304 ss rigs out there that look great?

[charliehows]

Havent seen this mentioned before so its a FYI. Any industrial rigging maker that supplies swaged lifting wire has to load test their wires (and - here in Australia - stamp the swages to show they've been tested) - so if you are worried about your rigging take a sample in to have it load tested - if you get them to measure it first it'll be easy to get a replacement if it fails. If its only a year old and it fails the original supplier is way in the wrong.

[neilpride]

Wichard Wichinox paste cleaner re passivate can do the trick...

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by thb

Do what DL says, keep chemicals out of the equation

Water is a chemical. How do we keep chemicals out of the equation?

[Captain Bill]

I thought I would give everyone an update on this. Since My last post I cleaned the lower swage fittings with stainless steel polish and a toothbrush and also the lower 5 feet of the wire. I's been about 2 months now and no new rust or staining has appeared on the rigging. I think the diagnosis of surface contamination which accumulated at the bottom fittings was correct. We are now in North Carolina so we've put quite a few miles and plenty of salt spray on that wire. I'm keeping an eye on it in any case.

[stevensuf]

I had the exact same thing happen when i re rigged in 2011, candy striping and rust collecting at the top of the lower swages, 15000nm later all is fine and shes been through some tough times, just spray with oxalic every few months for cosmetics.

[monte]

Is spraying with oxalic acid recommended or does it remove any protective coating on SS?

[colemj]

Oxalic acid will not remove any protectiveness from SS. Where people go wrong is in using abrasive cleaning products containing oxalic acid - which scratch the surface and exposes free iron to rust more.

Oxalic acid attacks only the rust and reduces it to a water soluble (and colorless) form that washes away easily.

Mark