Can stainless steel swivels rust?
“Stainless steel” is never truly stainless. Even though we use the highest quality stainless steel available (316), prolonged exposure to saline solutions, especially in the outlet tube assembly of a dual channel swivel, will result in small amounts of iron oxide (aka “rust”) being formed. To remove it, flush the side channel with 3 Normal HCl until the acid runs clear. Do not soak the entire part, just flush with the swivel completely assembled. Next rinse with water. You have now removed any oxide accumulation but have also removed a small amount of stainless steel as well, so the freshly exposed surface should be passivated again to keep down the rate of oxidation. To accomplish the re-passivation, fill the side channel with 5 Normal nitric acid and let stand for about 30 min. Rinse out all traces of acid before next use. This procedure really only applies to the side channel of dual channel swivels – oxidation is seldom observed in single channel swivels or the center channel of du
