Stupid question about the coast?

Walking Man · Mar 1, 2006

Here in Ohio, the air is very humid, and I have noticed that some you who live near the coast, state that "the air is very humid AND I live by the coast", which somehow implies that there is somehow extra salt in the air. Is there any truth to this? And if so, how far does this "salty air" phenonmenon travel? Just wondering. Thanks. My guess is that this is more a psychological phenomenon because of the smell of ocean? Heck, I don't really know, I'm just guessing now.

Menocu · Mar 1, 2006

High winds will easily carry salt spray aloft.. if you're close enough to smell salty ocean air, you're close enough for things to suffer from corrosion as a result, in my experience. I own one car that was with me through 4 years where I lived a mile or two from the beach, and another that I bought after I'd moved 60 miles inland. One look under the hood and it's obvious that it's not just psychological.

DGG · Mar 1, 2006

Yes it is true. One day at a windy beach will leave your car covered with a salty film. It is tough on boats and motors. Fishing equipment, etc. Usually the best thing to do is wash everything off good with fresh water and spray it with some type of corrosion protectant like Breakfree CLP.

mete · Mar 1, 2006

The worst I've ever seen is on Padre Island TX. I went there to deal with some very serious corrosion problems.This was a t a time when the island was being built up , condominiums, motels etc. Serious ? outdoor lighting systems replaced in ONE year ,door locks ,air conditionong units etc , the same !!!! Always warm ,high moisture and the air always contains salt . Typically a fog forms which burns off at 9-10 am .This fog condenses on everything and as the sun burns things off the salt content increases to very high levels.They have car washes as you leave the island - it's highly recommended ! On the other end of TX, Houston there is the man made addition of sulphur fumes from refineries which makes that area the worst in the country. The sulphur may have been reduced at this point because of environmental laws .

HoB · Mar 1, 2006

But it doesn't travel very far inland. Even when the coast is swept by storm probably no more than 30 mi tops. It also depends on which coast you are talking about. Due to the earths rotation the main prevailing winds over the entire earth are West to East which means that West coast always have a much stronger sea climate than East coasts (just as a general trend obviously you can have a Nor-Easter on the East coast as well). This is why Seattle has a much wetter and more moderate climate than Boston for example.

gbaker · Mar 1, 2006

Walking Man said:
My guess is that this is more a psychological phenomenon because of the smell of ocean? Heck, I don't really know, I'm just guessing now.

I'm an engineer on the MS Gulfcoast. As I walked up to the outdoor section of an air conditioner (the condensing unit) I noticed a beautiful sparkle on the ground around the unit in the sunshine. I then realized it was pieces of the aluminum fins literally falling off the unit. Now this unit was right by the water, but all commercial ac units I design now come with either coated fins or Cu fins.

For what its worth the humidity down here causes many problems down here as well.

TexasNativeDRJH · Mar 1, 2006

mete said:
The worst I've ever seen is on Padre Island TX. I went there to deal with some very serious corrosion problems.This was a t a time when the island was being built up , condominiums, motels etc. Serious ? outdoor lighting systems replaced in ONE year ,door locks ,air conditionong units etc , the same !!!! Always warm ,high moisture and the air always contains salt . Typically a fog forms which burns off at 9-10 am .This fog condenses on everything and as the sun burns things off the salt content increases to very high levels.They have car washes as you leave the island - it's highly recommended ! On the other end of TX, Houston there is the man made addition of sulphur fumes from refineries which makes that area the worst in the country. The sulphur may have been reduced at this point because of environmental laws .

Very true about the Texas humidity. Also whenever some people pass by the place that makes the smell added to natural gases, they call the police to report a leak. Happens all the time. High heat and humidity are what I think are the causes of Houston being voted the most obese city 2 years in a row. Its too hot to do stuff outside a lot of the time, and we also live nearby the Blue Bell ice cream factory in Brenham. Man that stuffs good.

One of the worst jobs around here is a lower bay technician at a Jiffy Lube or Kwik Kar. Its like working 9 hours in a sauna while constantly on your feet. I would drink 10 bottles of water a day and never use the restroom, it was all sweated out. A lot of these places wonder why people never stay long, maybe its the $6/hour to be miserable and get burned by hot cars.

DGG · Mar 2, 2006

gbaker said:
I'm an engineer on the MS Gulfcoast. As I walked up to the outdoor section of an air conditioner (the condensing unit) I noticed a beautiful sparkle on the ground around the unit in the sunshine. I then realized it was pieces of the aluminum fins literally falling off the unit. Now this unit was right by the water, but all commercial ac units I design now come with either coated fins or Cu fins.

For what its worth the humidity down here causes many problems down here as well.

I'm not an engineer so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think electrolysis/galvanic metal corrosion (where one metal steals electrons from another metal causing failure in the lesser metal) is much more severe along a saltwater coast.

http://www.copper.org/applications/plumbing/techcorner/pdf/galvanic_corrosion.pdf

Most salt water boater have "zincs" bolted all over the boat and boat engine to prevent this from happening. Do folks in the midwest/great lakes area have this problem I wonder? Of course their boats are only in the water for a couple months of the year because of all the ice and snow, hee hee!

mycroftt · Mar 2, 2006

When I lived in Connecticut there was a hurricane during the mid 1980's. I saw a field of sweet basil with leaves that were spotted with discoloration from salt spray around 10 miles inland. The farmer was selling it cheap. I ended up eating a lot of pesto.

gbaker · Mar 2, 2006

mycroftt said:
When I lived in Connecticut there was a hurricane during the mid 1980's. I saw a field of sweet basil with leaves that were spotted with discoloration from salt spray around 10 miles inland. The farmer was selling it cheap. I ended up eating a lot of pesto.

Come on down to the Gulfcoast and you can see Pine trees discolored and damaged the same way. On second thought you don't want to come down here - unless your a contractor.

I'm not an engineer so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think electrolysis/galvanic metal corrosion (where one metal steals electrons from another metal causing failure in the lesser metal) is much more severe along a saltwater coast.

http://www.copper.org/applications/p..._corrosion.pdf

Most salt water boater have "zincs" bolted all over the boat and boat engine to prevent this from happening. Do folks in the midwest/great lakes area have this problem I wonder? Of course their boats are only in the water for a couple months of the year because of all the ice and snow, hee hee!

Seawater makes an excellent electrolyte so galvanic corrosion is a bigger problem in salt water than fresh water. Im not a boater but I tend to remember some people used them in fresh water when I lived in Kansas. Im sure they dont have to be changed or replaced as often.

I dont think the fin corrosion I described above was caused by dissimilar metals. I think it was another form called cell concentration. Im not an expert at this and could easily be wrong. If you really want to dive into this I can Email you a 1992 Navy document on corrosion. Its does get a little technical at times and is 300+ pages but isn't a real hard read. I have it at work in pdf form (1.5 megs).

buckg · Mar 3, 2006

I live half a mile from Puget Sound, which is salt water (though not as salty as the ocean). The prevailing winds come from the water. On the side of the house closest to the water, the screen doors have deteriorated and need to be replaced. On the other side of the house, things are much better. The house is 10 years old. Inside the house, there don't seem to be many problems. It appears to me that it's the salt being carried by the wind that causes the problems. The only question is how far the salt travels in the wind.

mete · Mar 3, 2006

Galvanic corrosion requires different metals ,moisture and an electrolyte .Some of the air conditioner units had severe galvanic corrosion since they had different metals , steel,copper, aluminum. Yes ships have sacrificial electrodes but of magnesium which is the highest on the galvanic corrosion chart. However on Padre Island even the all aluminum units suffered .I photographed one unit on a waterfront restaurant that had the aluminum fins completely blocked by corrosion product of aluminum chloride,aluminum hydroxide !! ...Gbaker , maybe that corrosion was 'exfoliation corrosion ' which which doesn't happen too often except for aluminum....In any case there are many types of corrosion and often you will find more than one type taking place.

kamagong · Mar 3, 2006

I read somewhere that temperatures are more moderate near the ocean. This phenomenon is supposed to extend ten miles inland. Perhaps that is the boundary for salty air also.