Does saltwater stain stainless steel sinks?
 

I did a search and couldn't find any reference to this question. I've noticed stains appearing on my stainless steel sink over the last year or so. I"ve had salt water tanks for 19 months. Is this a coincidence, or does anyone else have this problem? I'm pretty good about cleaning out the sink after I clean my tanks, but the stains are up on the rim looking like splash marks I may have missed...They are not coming off with SOS pads...

We are going to redo our counters and sink either this year or next. Is there a recommended sink type for salt water tanks? :P

Thanks in advance for any insight you may have :)

I get a variety of stains on my ss sink where I mix up the water. Every now and then I just take an sos pad to it and it cleans up nicely.

Stainless steel is not resistant to rust due to saltwater from what I understand... but it sounds like you have a different sort of problem?

saltwater can discolour SS but will not rust it, Also there are many different grades of SS and some are not as resistant as others.

Few people realize that stainless steel can still corrode like any other steel. The key to the corrosion resistance of SS is the high content of chromium as an alloying agent. The chromium in the steel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form an invisible later of protection. So in order for SS to resist corrosion it requires oxygen, in areas where oxygen is limited or circulation is poor corrosion can occur. Such areas are usually created with surface contact, for example if you place a glass in your sink and leave it for a long time you will get a rusty ring in your sink. You'll also notice your stainless coral sheers, despite your best efforts, will always rust in areas which always have surface contact.

So to some it all up, your sink can corrode but if you take proper precautions it can be prevented. However some areas of the sink with permanent surface contact will eventually corrode.

Maybe try CLR, my sink just gets white water marks on it though, calcium build up I guess.

Thanks for all the input!

I'm posting some pics - I just scrubbed my sink with an SOS, and these definitely won't come off.

I don't think I've ever taken pics of my sink before :P

Thanks for all your input - any guesses now that you've seen the pics? It's not rust, it's not calcium... It IS a 30 year old sink, so maybe its warranty ran out about the time I got saltwater tanks? ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel

If anyone wants to find out more about SS