By Battling Corrosion, the War on Rust Can Be Won

Metal rusts. Even if it’s painted, it can still rust and look lousy. But just because metal rusts doesn’t mean you have to live with it. Fortunately, you can fight back and win the battle against corrosion.

Corrosion is not necessarily synonymous with rust. Rust is the brown stuff that forms as a result of corrosion on steel.

There are ways to handle the simple forms of corrosion found around the house: rusting steel, galvanic corrosion and corrosion on uncoated aluminum.

Here’s a simplified version of the complex electrochemical process of how rust forms on painted steel. Moisture penetrates through pores in the paint film or through a scratch. The oxygen in the water combines with the iron in the steel, and a minute amount of iron is dissolved, forming a solution.

There is an imbalance of electrons between the solution and the surrounding steel, and this leads to a flow of electrons, namely current. As long as the current flows, the steel will deteriorate (corrode) and rust will form.

Because rust has more volume than the steel, it expands and helps form a blister under the paint. The blister will cause the paint to fail, exposing the steel to more moisture and accelerating the corrosion process.

Here are four steps that can greatly slow the decay of steel. Note that the steps are interrelated and that paint can play a role in each step.

* Keep it clean.

* Keep it dry.

* Insulate it.

* Galvanize it.

Step 1. Dirt holds moisture, and we’ve seen the effect moisture has on steel.

Step 2. No moisture, no rust. This puts a premium on repairing blistered paint and using the right paint for the job.

Step 3. Not only does paint keep the metal dry, almost all paints act as insulators. By stopping current flow, paint prevents corrosion.

Step 4. Galvanized steel is coated with zinc. The steel is dipped in molten zinc (known as hot dipped), or it is plated by being immersed in an electrochemical bath. Homeowners can’t be galvanizers, of course, but they can use galvanized hardware. They can also use a primer with 84% zinc by weight.

Zinc is a special material, as far as steel is concerned. In corrosive conditions, it loses electrons at a faster rate than steel does. If you cover the steel with zinc, the zinc will corrode away, but the steel remains unscathed until the zinc is gone.

A related means of protection is to position a zinc bar--called an anode--near the steel. This is the method used to protect steel swimming pools. Likewise, magnesium anodes are used to protect hot-water tanks.

You might wonder why hot-water tanks don’t use zinc anodes. The answer: At 120 degrees and above, zinc loses its effectiveness as an anode. In fact, it completely reverses its effectiveness, causing the steel to become the anode.

Early galvanized hot-water tanks, for instance, rotted away quickly. Once manufacturers discovered the problem, they switched to magnesium anodes.