I've seen similar holes in fermentation tanks, but they were right on
the welds. A bit like an inclusion, or a metallurgical fault caused by
bad welding. Needless to say, having 1500 litres of product (under 1
bar of pressure) start to squirt out of such a hole makes repair a
crisis moment :)

JB weld and straps saved the day.

alistair

On 2-Feb-11, at 7:32 PM, David Beierl wrote:

> Dear Volks,
>
> Now that overall galvanic corrosion has been laid to rest, take a
> look at this for a couple of scary photos http://picasaweb.google.com/dbeierl/PittingCorrosionInStainlessSteel#5478091019245298018
>  .  Not sure how long it took on that trowel, but I've seen it go
> through a good-quality saucepan in a few days.  Quite a surprise
> when the water started squirting out the side.  Thickness was
> similar to the trowel, maybe a bit less.  Could this be an issue for
> the Vanagon underbody coolant pipes?  It certainly can be in marine
> applications.
>
> Here's a place to start continuing to be scared, especially if you
> live where they salt the roads. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitting_corrosion
>  .  Thinking of it tonight because Providence is apparently pretty
> much shut down from ice, haven't heard a car go by in about five
> hours now.  Heard one siren in that time.  Reckon they'll be salting
> tonight some time, after they get chains on the trucks maybe?
>
> Yours,
> David
> ps - Alistair, maybe this will take your mind off those bleeding
> bleed nipples for a little while...
>
> --
> David Beierl -- dbeierl@attglobal.net