rust on stainless cooktop

[artsynycgirl]

I have a brand new gaggenau cooktop and it gets rust spots if you don't wipe it dry every time its used. Is there something you can treat it with that will make it more like real stainless steel (it doesn't seem to be very stainless)? I was thinking of using the rust-oleum clear appliance spray enamel. Also some stainless "polishes" claim to resist moisture. Whats the best thing to do?

Val

[BobK207]

The stainless cooktop might be 400 series stainless (for high polish look) rather than 300 series (more often a brushed finish)

400 stainless is normally magnetic, 300 stainless typically not magnetic (but can be magnetic depending on alloy & cold working)

400 stainless does have the corrosion resistance of 300 series

Contact the dealer & the mfr for more information.

cheers Bob

[jtnospam]

Some of the so-called stainless steel coming out of China is pretty crappy, they cheat a lot on standards, and American importers play along because the price is right. I don't know if this is the case with your appliance, but it wouldn't surprise me.-Jitney

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Rusting stainless? Sounds like it is inferior material. I don't thing the clear spray is going to do a good job. I'd use some of the rest preventative sprays that we use for keeping cast iron took surfaces rust free. Top Cote and Boeshield are very good. You can find them at

While there, look for the jar opener. Great little gadget that really works.

[Noozer]

Go back to your supplier and demand that he give your money back. You asked for stainless steel - which shouldn't rust. He's ripped you off (or he was ripped off)

[artsynycgirl]

yeah, great advice. I'll just toss my custom countertop made for the units and get my money back so I can get something I don't have to polish.

[Amun]

If your stainless steel "rusts" ??????

And you don't want to polish it all the time or replace it.

Paint it.!

AMUN

[Abe]

the acid to stay in contact with the SS long enough. Maybe a cloth saturated with the citric acid solution can be laid on the SS surface for 20 minutes or so.

[thrugoodmarshall]

There are a lot of materials out there called "stainless" steel. I'm not going to cut & paste from their publications; you can quite easily read what they have to say at:

You may especially be interested in: Care and cleaning: applications: There is a technique called "passivation" that can make the "stainless" steel more resistant to corrosion. When I worked for a healthcare manufacturer, everything was made of stainless, and everything had to be passivated before it went into production. Passivation is a nasty process, and should probably NOT be done at home. However, here are some links if you want to learn...

Overview of passivation:

The pertinent sentence from the above page: "In lay terms, the passivation process removes "free iron" contamination left behind on the surface of the stainless steel from machining and fabricating."

Nitric acid process for passivati> I have a brand new gaggenau cooktop and it gets rust spots if you don't

[Frank J Warner]

Thanks for the passivation links. I've been using nitric acid for years to etch my stainless blades, mainly ATS-34, S-30-V and some pattern-welded blends. Always called it "etching" or "pickling" and mainly did it to bring out the grain in the steel. Never knew the precise mechanism behind it.

-Frank

[thrugoodmarshall]

Wow! Stunning work. I love the exotic materials. I've got a rock I found when I was about 12 or 13 years old, and I've always wondered if it's mammoth tooth. Or, maybe it's just a big white rock with interesting markings.