Corrosion management in a salty environment.

by Phil
(Australia)

Hi All:

We live "on the Ocean" (i.e. live-aboard boat), and obviously corrosion is right up there as a major problem.

Tried many management options, and have found that the simple things work best. For reference, here's what we've tried, with the "bad" first.

1. Liquid Paraffin (Pharmaceutical grade). No smell, clear finish, but really poor performance.

2. Vegetable Oils: Very prone to oxidation (go "rancid") and provide almost zero protection.

3. Vaseline: Despite the article comments - not that good as a corrosion preventer (really a slightly more viscous form of Liquid Paraffin).

Best results have been with coatings designed to prevent corrosion. So, here goes:

1. "Ordinary" mineral Motor Oil: Works very well but the smell's a bit off-putting. Adding a small amount (drops) of Clove Oil BPC helps!

2. Synthetic Motor Oils (e.g. Mobil 1): Bit more costly, but worth it. Seem to provide almost perfect corrosion management in our conditions.

3. Our "best so far" - Corrosion-X http://www.corrosionx.com/corrosionx.html. This "does what it says" and provides significantly better long term corrosion management.

WD-40 does work, but we'd never use it on our "hardware" since it's not that good under our living conditions.

Hope this helps (or provokes further correspondence!)