Just received new shanks today...but are they new and are they stainless?

[Pickngrin]

I ordered 2 all stainless elbow shanks the other day. They arrived today, but 1) I'm not sure whether they're stainless or chrome (the collars seem shinier than I thought they would be) and 2) there is what appears to be rust on the inside of the concave area that connects to the elbow (inside of the shank).
Does this sound like they might be used?
How can I tell whether they are stainless vs. chrome?

Thanks

 

[Cheeto]

Pictures PLEASE !!

also take a magnet to them !

 

[Pickngrin]

Here they are... I couldn't get clear pictures of the rust, though.

 

[Cheeto]

I would take a magnet to them, some parts of the shank may only be chrome plated.

low grade stainless has a small percentage of ferrous metals in it to help make it affordable.

True stainless will also develop rust spots due to improper cleaning, being stored in an moisture rich environment due to impurities in the water.

I would clean them and put them in to service !

 

[Sea]

Hard to tell for sure, but they are awful shiny. +1 on the magnet.

 

[Pickngrin]

I just tried a magnet -- no real attraction that I could detect. To my untrained eye, they look too shiny to be stainless.

 

[Bobby_M]

The magnet won't really help because if they're not stainless, they'd be chrome plated brass. Did you specifically order stainless? Where from?

 

[Pickngrin]

I ordered the "all stainless" model, from Kegworld. Interestingly, they were shipped directly from Micromatic. My concern about the rust is that there might also be rust inside the actual elbow.

 

[Chello]

The barbed elbow piece looks stainless to me. The exterior of the faucet side does not. I bet the interior is if that tail piece is.

 

[mordantly]

the elbow is machined stainless (the barb area). the shank also appears to be. the exterior stuff is chrome plated. brass, aluminum, copper, and 300 series stainless are non-ferrous. 400 series stainless and cheap chinese stainless are ferrous (magnetic).

in the eliptical pocket and od of the shank, you will see very fine and even machining marks from high feed rates of production. if it is perfectly smooth on all surfaces, most likely it is plated brass.

ive had 303, 304, 316, 416, and even 440 rust mid process on a part run due to the water based neosol coolant our machines used. you have to clean and dry stainless to allow it to oxidize and passivate. if you don't it can rust if it has been near iron or wet too long. chances are in china, they handled it crappy. just clean really well with a green srubber NOT STEEL OR STAINLESS WOOL!! and dry theroughly and your fine.

 

[samc]

I got mine from Micromatic and they were stainless. Stainless can be brushed or really shiny/polished like Bobby_M's keggles or somewhere in between.

If they have rust I would send them back no matter what they are!

 

[Sea]

If you ordered "all Stainless," then they are guilty of false advertising at least. I would contact the manufacturer, and make sure you got the product you ordered, and there wasn't a mix-up, cause it happens all the time.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

If trhey were shipped directly from Micro-Matic then there should be a MM part number for you to reference and compare.

 

[Pickngrin]

I phoned Micromatic today. The guy I spoke with had to check on both issues (the rust and the stainless vs. chrome) and called me back. He said he forgot (??) to tell me, the orange stuff is not rust, but rather some kind of flux from the soldering process. He said it comes right off (true, I was able to rub some off with my finger). He said that they went to check the remaining inventory of the stainless shanks and the chrome shanks to make sure that I got the right part -- their count was correct for each one, he said, indicating that they sent the correct part.

 

[mordantly]

solder? there shouldn't be any soldering on these parts.

 

[Pickngrin]

The Micromatic description of them says that they are soldered.
Anyhow, the vendor that I ordered from has been very responsive and today left me a message stating that they are shipping another set to me and an envelope to return these.

 

[mordantly]

is the tail piece integral with the shank?