Floor drain material
Floor drain material
(OP)
How can one know if a floor drain is of stainless steel material or brass with chrome finish. Believe me they almost look alike and I really face difficulty at times while approving floor drains of stainless steel material. Please give some clue, thanks.





RE: Floor drain material
Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com
RE: Floor drain material
Solid brass is also not magnetic. If a magnet sticks, the item is usually steel or cast iron, with a brass plating. If the magnet does not stick, you can test further by scratching a hidden area with a sharp tool. If you see a shiny yellow scratch, the item is likely solid brass. If you see a silvery scratch, your piece is likely white metal (zinc). Iron, steel, and white metal can all be replated, in which case a lacquer is always applied to protect the plating.
Test with a grinder - sparks generally means stainless steel. No sparks means aluminum or chrome-plated brass. Use a grinder to grind off a section - if it is more yellow or gold colored, it's Brass.
If it is stainless steel, it will have a uniform appearance throughout. Cut or grind through the piece of metal to make sure it's not just chrome plated steel.
RE: Floor drain material
The specific gravity of brass is higher than that of stainless steel. It is possilbe to determine specific gravity of an object directly using weight measurements of the object in air and whilst the object is suspended in water. The specific gravity is the ratio:
s.g. = weight in air/(weight in air - weight in water)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_weighing
RE: Floor drain material
Thanks dicksewarret and DVD for your thoughts.
RE: Floor drain material
B.E.
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