Rusty shrouds, just installed

[zachduckworth]

Bi,

I recently replaced the shrouds and chainplates on my boat. I bought the wire and upper terminals from a locally well regarded rigger. He swaged the tops and I installed Staloks at the bottom.

About two months in I see candy cane rust at the lower ends of the shrouds, but not up towards the spreaders, which are fine. Some turnbuckle pins are showing rust stains. And little surface rust stains are showing up on the Staloks. I am concerned that rust is popping up in all these places, especially on the Staloks. Is this normal? Is it possible I have stray current running through the mast that is causing corrosion of some sort? There was a thread on here from 2016 from a guy with a similar problem. I don’t think he ever found out what the problem was ( or at least did not post about it). He got advice ranging from “this is normal” to “must replace Chines junk steel”. Any advice appreciated. Also if there is a quick way to determine if the problem is electrical using a multimeter that would be helpful. My Victron says there is now draw when switches are all off though, and I stopped hooking my boat up to shore power to make the zincs last longer. Any advice is appreciated!

[Tin Tin]

Ask your rigger for a copy of the test certifcate for the wire he supplied. It might be 304 which can be more susceptible to rust stains but is stronger and cheaper than 316. Both are used for rigging. interesting article attached

https://www.westmarine.com/west-advi...l-Rigging.html

[Mickeyrouse]

Surface rust is not uncommon on stainless. Stainless, however, may not be assumed to be forever. Surface stain often arises from carbon steel dies and rollers in the manufacturing process. Rust can be a greater concern in fittings at the bottom end of rigging where water - and salt- collects. Different grades of stainless have varying propensities to tarnish. A reputable brand of stainless wire like Loos should have many years of service. An off-brand- who knows about the metallurgy?

[s/v Jedi]

Yes I believe this is dust from fabrication. I heard riggers say that it will rust out of the wire after which it will be okay, but I would pressure wash it out next time.