Don’t put magnets on your CT! Corrosion?

[cybertooth]

I feel like an idiot…
Decided to put advertising magnets on my CT. Happened to take them off to wash the truck after a month and my heart sunk…rust and corrosion.

I was able to clean most of it off with liquid barkeepers friend followed by windex but there are a couple of small white spots left that have a slight rough texture to them. I am planning on using a cordless polisher with barkeepers friend to see if it will just take a little more than elbow grease to polish it off.
Does anyone have any recommendations for removing the rest of these small spots or know what exactly is going on? I like to assume the spots are just superficial corrosion with good SS underneath still…

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[L3it3R]

random orbital polisher (about $35-50 from Harbor Freight) and some BKF will take care of that.

 

[CarMan ElecTruck]

Looks like extreme pitting also..

 

[SSonnentag]

Now I'm concerned about the small magnet flags I placed on my CT.

 

[Jack27]

Now I'm concerned about the small magnet flags I placed on my CT.

Reading up on this it says most stainless is not corrosive to magnets however some. Stainless that is magnetic can some times show or cause some corrosion do to what they used in the making of it and elements of weather.

 

[cybertooth]

random orbital polisher (about $35-50 from Harbor Freight) and some BKF will take care of that.

Thanks for the tip, sounds like I’m going in the right direction. I’ll try it out this weekend and post an update in case anyone else has this issue. Fingers crossed.

 

[wh1t3rbb1t]

I had the same with a magnet on my truck. Which is disappointing because of all the possibilities. But oh well. I wonder if we could place something in between the magnet and steel which would allow it to stick but not allow the corrosion.

 

[cybertooth]

I had the same with a magnet on my truck. Which is disappointing because of all the possibilities. But oh well. I wonder if we could place something in between the magnet and steel which would allow it to stick but not allow the corrosion.

That’s a great idea. Maybe a thin piece of clear bra or vinyl? I got the magnets off Vistaprint and they are mediocre quality. I think the other issue is road debris getting stuck around the edges and accumulating resulting in rust.

 

[yohst]

It is possible that some electrochemical reaction takes place between magnet and steel - with (salty) water this reaction would be a bit faster. This reaction is not likely though, most advertisement magnets don’t have this kind of corrosive materials. More likely is that moisture and road dirt (grit, metal) gets trapped which may cause the corrosion. Regularly removing the magnets and clean them as well as the location on the truck could prevent troubles.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

So the main issue with many of these magnets is if there is any metal touching metal, or even a thin layer separating it will cause the problem. Metals of different alloys create electrolysis (i.e. like a battery), and corrosion ensues. This is why the old adage about not placing aluminum touching steel, etc, which can cause problems, and just about any non-similar alloys cause this problem. I actually have a magnet that says "Clean/Dirty" on my stainless dishwasher, and it has a plastic cover. Well, it becomes like a battery and I get the same problem on that dishwasher. Bottom line is... don't use magnets.

 

[SentinelOne]

I had a small magnet on my tail gate for 4 months and it's corroded underneath, not too bad but it's there....bummer. Wonder if stickers do the same??

Flag is a magnet, bike is a sticker...above the flag you can see where I had another magnet and it rusted a bit underneath!

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

That’s a great idea. Maybe a thin piece of clear bra or vinyl? I got the magnets off Vistaprint and they are mediocre quality. I think the other issue is road debris getting stuck around the edges and accumulating resulting in rust.

As per my previous post... you essentially made a battery out of that. Electrons will flow from one alloy to the other particularly when it gets wet, and that eats the metal.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

I had a small magnet on my tail gate for 4 months and it's corroded underneath, not too bad but it's there....bummer. Wonder if stickers do the same??

No. As long as there is no metal, the sticker shouldn't do it unless the adhesive is corrosive. Read my post above for why it happens.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

For those who are nerds.... this is a great scientific paper on how it works and why:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304885304000290

 

[Maaz]

I had a small magnet on my tail gate for 4 months and it's corroded underneath, not too bad but it's there....bummer. Wonder if stickers do the same??

Flag is a magnet, bike is a sticker...above the flag you can see where I had another magnet and it rusted a bit underneath!

Whatttt this sucks. I have the same flag magnets. Are these okay or will they eventually cause issues ?

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