Hi there I rode in the sea with my alu frame, can it rust as Steel?
It is completely dry.
Thanks
Caligula
Alu does not rust, its oxidising (sp?)
It doesnt matter. Many people ride stripped alu frames.
I am woried about the inside of the frame
don’t worry about it, water will not hurt aluminum.
Aluminum will oxidize when exposed to air but, unlike rust, aluminum oxide sticks to the aluminum it was created on forming a protective skin preventing more oxidation. That is why aluminum tends to look sort of dull.
Thanks
Caligula
Rust is oxidisation of iron (or the iron component of steel).
Aluminium also oxidises, but all it does is form a dull skin. Once that skin is formed, the air can’t get to the aluminium to make it oxidise more.
One thing to worry about though is if you have steel bolts in aluminium. They will set up an electrolytic reaction and weld together. This is anot a joke, it is serious.
Take all the bolts out, rinse and dry, then reassemble using copper grease on the threads. This is important. If the bolts weld to the aluminium, then the frame may be a write off.
Also, worry about your spokes, rim and nipples. If nothing else, rinse, dry and apply WD40 or something.
The only bolts I did not clean is my brake camps bolts (all my bolts are stainless so they are not suposed to be able to rust). If they do weld Ill use a helicoil to repair that.
Rec.Sport
So I should just spary some WD40 on it and it should be fine(my uni got salt water on it as well)?
I found zero evidence of unicycle content in this thread.
We must assume his frame was for something other than a uni.
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(:
A lot of bad advise in this thread
Living on a boat in the tropics, I learned a lot about corrosion.
Salt water on the inside of the alum rims on my motorcycles has caused deep pockets of white oxide to form, ruining them. They were a whole lot thicker then uni rims, that will go to trash much sooner.
Do not use copper anything with alum or stainless parts. It will form a battery in salt water when near lower galvanic metals like alum or stainless, greatly increasing (100 x faster) the rate of corrosion. This is called galvanic corrosion.
Stainless gets it’s own type of corrosion, called crevasse corrosion. This will cause shiney bolts to snap along an invisible crack that forms after long exposure to salt.
If you get your uni in salt water, my advise is to remove the seat post, deflate and break the rim seal at the tire, and soak the whole thing in the tub for a half hour, to get all the salt out of the inside of the rim, and frame and spoke threads.