>> Paul,
>>
>> re pick up tube to go with the wedge tank. Originally I was
>> going to silver solder hard copper plumbing fittings to make this.
>> My logic was that silver solder is very strong and has a melting temp
>> of over 1000 º. However, I learned yesterday that silver solder has
>> a service life that is quite short when temperatures are sustained
>> above 300º. The words service life and pick up tube should not
>> appear together. It has to last forever. So I am back to steel or
>> stainless steel. Can someone put a magnet on the stock tube and let
>> me know if it is SS? Is there any reason to defend against oxidation
>> at all given the location inside the pan. I am not looking forward
>> to building the bolt flange out of SS but what ever Mazda did will be
>> the standard.
>>
>> Jerry
>>
>>
>> Jerry,
>>
>> Some stainless steels are magnetic - some are not.
>>
>> The "magnet test" is inconclusive...
>>
>> Jack Beale
>
> I am aware of that but I have yet to run into the magnetic variety.
> If it does not react to the magnet, then it is SS. If it does react
> then it is possibly SS. or more likely just steel. I can take from
> there. Jerry
>
> I am pretty sure it is steel Jerry although I am not at the hanger to
> check.
>
> Paul

Jerry,
 I have one out of an 86 that has been stored in a slightly damp,
unheated shed for the last few years. Tube, plate and screen are all
magnetic. The tube has two small pea size spots of surface rust while the
plate the screen and the rest of the tube are rust free.

John Gibbons

Jerry,
The likely possibility is that the tube on the stocker is standard mild
steel (1010 or 1018)
with the surface passivated or coated. 400 series stainless is usually
used in an application
the material needs to be hardenable. Ferritic stainless is hardenable,
frequently it is used
to make knife blades. Ferritic (usually 400 series) is magnetic. It
would be super unlikely
that the PU tube would be made from this material. 300 series stainless
steel is the bright
stuff we normally think of as "stainless". 300 series is non-magnetic.
Both stainless types
are expensive. Mazda wouldn't use them unless problems forced it. The
tube is likely
1010 or other low carbon mild steel.
Bill Jepson





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