Peter Zaborski wrote:
> Be careful here - *don't* use steel wool on chrome. This will
> destroy the chrome. Steel and chrome have an electrolytic
> reaction that will cause rust all over your chrome. That's
> why they put a layer of copper and a layer of nickel between
> the steel of the bumper and the chrome so as the keep them separate.
This is an EXTREMELY slow process, as with all dissimilar reactions.
We
all have some dissimilar metals touching on our cars and rusting
as we speak.
However, the time spent IN CONTACT between steel and chrome
is a few minutes at most per strip. No electrolytic reaction
could hope to acheive much.
> At least this is what my father (a materials scientist) told me
> when we cleaned up a friend's hubcaps with steel wool and they
> immediately rusted as soon as they got wet.
Two likelihoods, one is that the protective nickel coating
was worn off.
Another more interesting problem is that tiny bits of steel wool
come off during the rubbing process and they have to be washed
off VERY meticulously. They themselves will rust and stain whatever
they are stuck on.
--
Trevor Boicey, Ottawa, Canada.
tboicey@brit.ca, http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
[ Seeking some miscellaneous MG parts, see the list on the web page... ]
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