What does chlorine do? Specifically to n690

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Kachowhow

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So the other day I was at an indoor pool to pick up my kid. I was pulling out something out of my pocket when my hand accidentally caught my edc blade and bam, it fell onto the pool deck where the water is. I am aware that chlorine is really corrosive and damaging to metals, and I’m wondering how damaging it is to a n690 blade.

Since it only has 17% chromium and 1.1% molybdenum, how will this resist pool chlorine. I know that some stainless steels have up to 30% chromium and I don’t know what to make of this.
From the composition of n690, I’m not sure what other element is in a significant number than can resist the corrosiveness that chlorine brings.

The knife is also stonewashed, so besides damaging the steel itself, could the chlorine also damage the stone wash finish?

I just wiped it with a paper towel and I don’t want to get any water near it until I can figure out the damages. Should I be concerned or is the blade perfectly fine?
 
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MarkN86 said:
Most people who have issues with rust are exposing the steels to high humidity, salt, and other corrosive agents over longer periods of time. If you put a concentrated acid or alkaline on your blade and leave it there, yes, it will eat it up a bit, but once it's diluted in a pool's worth of water, the chlorine isn't a concern.

I thought my Carbon Steel Mora would be rusted and gone in a year, but aside from being worn from sharpening and use, it's literally in perfect shape a decade later with relatively little maintenance other than a washing and wipe of oil every now and then. Just don't leave it dirty and all is well.

I float down the river and swim at the lake with my Para3 LW in BD1N in my trunks pocket and over the course of 4 years of owning it, I have not seen a single fleck of rust, or even any discoloration. It's not terribly dissimilar in corrosion resistance with N690. You've chosen a very corrosion resistant steel to begin with.
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You can patina D2 with your average yellow mustard. You can tiger-stripe it or do other designs. You just strip away any oil with alcohol, put on the mustard, and wait an hour. Even with semi-stainless D2, it isn't instantaneous.

This actually became a default test for D2 in the age of unscrupulous companies stamping "D2" on junk stainless like 3Cr and 5Cr. After cleaning the blade with alcohol, an hour of mustard exposure will significantly stain the D2 but not those other steels. A key point is that even 8Cr13Mov, a stainless steel with relatively low corrosion resistance, comes away either clean or with minor staining depending on the surface finish.
 
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Chronovore said:
You can patina D2 with your average yellow mustard. You can tiger-stripe it or do other designs. You just strip away any oil with alcohol, put on the mustard, and wait an hour. Even with semi-stainless D2, it isn't instantaneous.

This actually became a default test for D2 in the age of unscrupulous companies stamping "D2" on junk stainless like 3Cr and 5Cr. After cleaning the blade with alcohol, an hour of mustard exposure will significantly stain the D2 but not those other steels. A key point is that even 8Cr13Mov, a stainless steel with relatively low corrosion resistance, comes away either clean or with minor staining depending on the surface finish.
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Don't bring condiments into this, pool water is already anxiety inducing enough!
 
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It should be fine after wiping it off, treated pool water is very low % even cleaning solution at 5% shouldn’t effect the metal unless it soaks for a while. Anytime you are concerned just rinse In clean fresh water and dry as soon as possible.
I have by accident dropped a drop of chlorine straight out of the bottle on my cpm154 knife blade and didn’t notice. A day later I picked it up to use and by that time it had dried. It left a pepper flake spot on the stone washed surface but not real deep. I was able to clean most of it off with plain water and then mineral oiled it good and let it sit a few hours before wiping it off. It hasn’t shown any worse effects since then , just a shallow etched dark spot.
 
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I drew up a a flow chart for myself, specifically for these types of emergencies.

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Sorry....sometimes I just can't help myself. I think your knife will be fine. :)
 
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Steely_Gunz said:
Pool guy here. Your knife will be fine 😁

Pretty much any steel once wiped dry or at least washed and dried immediately isn't going to rust just hitting a pool deck or even pool water.

I have routinely used an Adamas in Cruwear (which is not stainless) to cut the foil tops off 12.5% bleach (hot enough to be warm to the touch and eat a hole in your clothes in about 2 mins). I just wipe it on my shirt and maybe wash the blade down with a drink of my water. Then I'll give it a shot of oil when I get back to my office.

I used have WAY more trouble keeping steel from pitting when left at my office. The chlorine would vent out of the buckets and bottles before they started sealing them tighter. Ate the chrome plating right off the store hooks. Diluted down in water, Chlorine is pretty forgiving.

The thing that pits my knives the worst is my sweat. Whatever battery acid coming out of me will spot up VG-10 pretty quick. The N690 folder I had back in the day never had an issue with that.
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will poolwater chlorine cause any pitting to n690? What can cause pitting to the blade besides corrosion? Does it happen often?
I was thinking of the corrosion as in rust, but if there is any other types of corrosion that will damage the blade from chlorine poolwater, what are they?
 
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My dude, relax. Your knife is fine. Pool water typically has about twice as much chlorine as tap water. Plenty to kill the critters people bring in, but it's really pretty mild compared to many solutions. Wash it, dry it, oil it, forget about it.
 
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Kachowhow said:
will poolwater chlorine cause any pitting to n690? What can cause pitting to the blade besides corrosion? Does it happen often?
I was thinking of the corrosion as in rust, but if there is any other types of corrosion that will damage the blade from chlorine poolwater, what are they?
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Your knife is fine. You, on the other hand, may need to visit a psych for some Xanax.

Take a look at the knife in question right now. Is it rusted, pitted, or otherwise damaged in any way? No? There’s your answer.
 
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I dipped my 15v Manix in my pool to clean off a bunch of sap from the blade. I was amazed how much of the patina it removed. No ill effects though.
 
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Actually flushing it with water is the safest thing to do - water is less corrosive.
An equal amount of acid would neutralize the chlorine, but that's impossible to calculate and apply.
 
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