Need some Advice about Rust and and nylon runners

[jpark42]

So my climbing gear was wet and left in a water tight bag for about three weeks, why this happened is a long story one I am not prepared to explain. Needless to say that my gear wasn't to happy when I finally took it out. When I took out the gear most of biners and cams had a white powdery substance on it, a type of rust I think. I think the metal gear will be ok with a little cleaning but I am curious if this substance will have any adverse effects on my slings and whether or not I should retire all my runners and buy new ones.

[rob]

That white powdery substance is aluminum corrosion. Be careful.

 

I'm not sure about nylon and water damage -- an interesting question. But nylon runners are cheap, your life is not. Why not replace them?

 

Sounds like a bummer, dude. Hope it works out.

[jpark42]

That is true but considering that I every single one of my cams would have to be done, at $5 a pop, and all my nylon runners are the really exspensive Mammot Dynmma runners I want to get peoples opinion on whether or I need to replace them.

[lizard_brain]

Mildew?

[jpark42]

None as far as I could tell.

[ClimbingPanther]

nylon and dyneema aren't the same. in my chemist's opinion, dyneema should be more chemical resistant than nylon. I'd still trust the dyneema for sure but may be a bit skeptical of the nylon. wish you could tell me the pH of the water your stuff was soaking in. nylon will degrade in extremely acidic solutions, but I doubt your water really became very acidic. your call, but if there's no visible damage, you're most likely OK

[DavidHiers]

Well, AL doesn't react with just water, as its always covered by AL oxide.

 

You can add chlorine to get a reaction, and you can get electrolysis going with with all the non-AL (steel springs, etc) stuff on the common rack.

 

It probably is AL oxide, which is stuff that you make sandpaper out of; abrasive, but not too far from neutral Ph as far as I can tell.

 

Wash the stuff, and you should be OK.

[ClimbingPanther]

http://www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/article.asp?doi=tf9696500561

 

yes it does react with water, just not very quickly. given the airtight container, your "rust" could be Al(OH)3, making your water slightly acidic though not likely to be a real problem. anyway, if you have all dyneema it doesn't matter.

[jpark42]

So it sounds like I am good to go as far as my Mammot Dynaame slings go but I might want to look into retiring my nylon runners and resling my cams. Thanks for feedback

[DavidHiers]

http://www.rsc.org/publishing/journals/article.asp?doi=tf9696500561

 

yes it does react with water, just not very quickly. given the airtight container, your "rust" could be Al(OH)3, making your water slightly acidic though not likely to be a real problem. anyway, if you have all dyneema it doesn't matter.

 

We very much agree with Vedder, Vermilyea and you! The Al is covered with an oxide film, and reacts in a cathode/anode electrolysis reaction to produce other junk.