Why would my tools rust all the sudden?

[charle10]

I was out grabbing a screwdriver last night and noticed some bad looking rust on about half of my screwdrivers that I hadn't seen on them a few days prior. I don't mind a little surface rust on the un-plated tools, but this was spotty and blistering looking. I wiped most of it off (oily/greasy rag), but had to wire brush a few things, then sprayed the whole drawer with WD-40. I decided to look through the rest of my drawers and saw the same thing, the top side of almost every un-plated tool had these small blistering rust spots. These tools have been in the unheated garage for several years with only minor spots of what I would call normal surface rust. What could cause this sudden onset of rust?

Everything is usually wiped down with a oily rag before setting for a while. I had heard that acid could cause flash rust, so I moved my 2 old batteries outside (one of them left a nice puddle under it). Could that be the culprit? Its been rainy and getting warmer but we get that weather a lot and I have never seen this kind of rust pop up like this.

Any ideas? I know pictures would help but I don't have any to post right now. I'll try to get some tonight.

 

[Kirbot]

Was it particularly humid or anything?

Sometimes I will open my toolbox find things nearly dripping wet.

 

[charle10]

It has been humid, but its Michigan, its always humid. Tools weren't wet, and most of the time that I have seen wet tools, the rust shows up on the bottom side where the water pools. This rust was only on the top side.

 

[A_Pmech]

Sometimes I will open my toolbox find things nearly dripping wet.

The mere thought gives me the shivers!

 

[z28snksknr]

Sometimes I will open my toolbox find things nearly dripping wet.

That's in anticipation of being used

 

[nikonica]

I'd bet it was the leaky battery. I had a small bottle of very diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl) in my desk drawer (I am a professional geologist by trade, and we use HCl to test for the presence of calcium in rock samples). It leaked, only a tiny little bit, but that was enough to corrode all the USB cables and other metal objects in the entire desk, even in other drawers.

My tools do get moisture on them from time to time, when the weather changes. The steel warms up slowly relative to air, so they stay cold longer and moisture condenses on them. Yet rarely do I see any rust, only on the black oxide tools like impact sockets.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Agree, acid is somehow on the loose in your air. It can happen from derusting solutions left open, pool cleaner, and of course batteries as noted! This happens very quickly and will get everything in the entire space. You're gonna be spending the rest of your life wire-wheeling and waxing everything you own!

 

[mrholeshot]

keep a small fan running in your garage. I have to do that in my steel building

 

[HandyManny]

It's just simply a characteristic of non-stainless and non-plated high carbon steel. Carbon steel even if it doesn't rust will patina over time when unprotected. I live in a dry climate, but something as simple as finger prints or sweaty hands can cause carbon steel to oxidize. What you are seeing could be a surge in humidity or even a surge in certain pollutants being more consentrated in the air around you. You'd be surprised how much oxidizing chemicals get into the air we breath.

 

[mrholeshot]

It's the wind blowing in from Japan.

 

[HandyManny]

It's the wind blowing in from Japan.

Funny? I don't feel my skin peeling off

 

[mrholeshot]

Funny? I don't feel my skin peeling off

Give it three more days

 

[alex71]

same thing happened here on Sunday. it was caused by a 40 degree temperature swing (from the 40s to the 80s). Climate control (even if you keep the heat at 50) is such a great thing to have in a shop.

 

[Lump]

I learned a lesson about that in my garage. My buddy who is a skilled contractor remodeled the walls and ceiling of my garage after my ceiling fell out two or three years ago. While he had all the drywall out, he ran all new wiring, etc, for me, and filled the walls with insulation. He installed a beautiful overhead gas furnace, which does a terrific job of keeping my garage warm in just a few minutes, regardless of weather. But he warned me that I would have to keep the garage heated to a bare minimum at all times, now that I had insulated the walls. Otherwise, he warned, I would experience extreme moisture on everything inside. I live in southwestern Ohio, by the way.

Well, the first winter I was trying to stay on a tight budget, and I just never quite got around to turning on the furnace. But then after a couple of months of winter weather, we had an unusual warm spell, and I took advantage of the weather to go out into my shop to tinker with some project or other. When I opened my big tool box, I got the shock of my life. Everything in the box was coated with fine little beads of moisture, and rust was starting on many of my tools. I nearly freaked out, and when I began checking around, I found just about everything soaked with moisture! AAAGGGGHHH!!

I turned the furnace on to 50 degrees after that, and I have never looked back. And, I have never, ever found moisture on my tools again.

Later I mentioned that to my contractor buddy, and he chuckled, saying, "Did you think I was kidding you? Once you insulate an attached garage like that, you have to keep it heated. Just set your furnace on its lowest setting, and forget it."

Maybe you insulated your garage, but didn't keep it heated?

 

[jjjrmx5]

I bet it was the great change in temp from hot to cold and things condensed. I;ve had it happen in my garage when the temp goes from teh 80's one day to rainy and 30's the next like it did last week.

Also had happened to me and my tools in large industrial assembly buildings with limited climate control for the same reasons.

As an LOL, I have a rolling bottom box in my basement with a lift lid 12 drwr top box. I kept the top lid open for a while and of course, it became a junk collector. Opened a middle top drawer to fin my dwr mat soaking wet and my tools all damp.

Seems I placed a half used gallon of distilled water I was doing a 50/50 antifreeze mix with in open top area. Under a rag there was a 90 degree angle pick tool pointing up. Over a week the water kept leaking out very slowly due to a pin hole from the pick till I did a WTF moment and found the source.
That'll teach me be be a slob. LOL

 

[HandyManny]

I was out grabbing a screwdriver last night and noticed some bad looking rust on about half of my screwdrivers that I hadn't seen on them a few days prior. I don't mind a little surface rust on the un-plated tools, but this was spotty and blistering looking. I wiped most of it off (oily/greasy rag), but had to wire brush a few things, then sprayed the whole drawer with WD-40. I decided to look through the rest of my drawers and saw the same thing, the top side of almost every un-plated tool had these small blistering rust spots. These tools have been in the unheated garage for several years with only minor spots of what I would call normal surface rust. What could cause this sudden onset of rust?

Everything is usually wiped down with a oily rag before setting for a while. I had heard that acid could cause flash rust, so I moved my 2 old batteries outside (one of them left a nice puddle under it). Could that be the culprit? Its been rainy and getting warmer but we get that weather a lot and I have never seen this kind of rust pop up like this.

Any ideas? I know pictures would help but I don't have any to post right now. I'll try to get some tonight.

same thing happened here on Sunday. it was caused by a 40 degree temperature swing (from the 40s to the 80s). Climate control (even if you keep the heat at 50) is such a great thing to have in a shop.

Looks like you're both in the Great Lakes area. Has there been some type of caustic material emmited into the air around there recently????

 

[warmpancakes]

Its michigan unless the garage is heated like mentoned above get used to it it will happen every year when it starts to warm up, I take the tools inside in october bring them back out in april

 

[mrholeshot]

because I keep my Motorcycle, fourwheeler, mowers tools and such in my steel building and we have normally 40-60 degree temp changes and 100% humidity much of the time I find that nothing more than a fan keeping the air moving in the building is enough to keep the rust down. If the power goes out during the night the tools in my metalboxes will be wet as well as anything steel in the building. The fan keeps the air circulating and eliminates the problem. I use just a common window fan running on high.

 

[Rickster]

Yes, as said above, we had a temp inversion the other day. We went from solidly cold days to a one day temp rise to 70 degrees. Tools were very cold in the toolbox and the sudden warm air caused LOT of moisture to form. I've had this happen before and I noticed several of my impact sockets were rusted up too.

 

[HandyManny]

Yes, as said above, we had a temp inversion the other day. We went from solidly cold days to a one day temp rise to 70 degrees. Tools were very cold in the toolbox and the sudden warm air caused LOT of moisture to form. I've had this happen before and I noticed several of my impact sockets were rusted up too.

That will definitley do it to any steel or metal. Have had that happen all too many times to my gear when hunting. Come in from bitter cold air into a warm cabin and watch the condensation form in minutes on a rifle or shotgun, sometimes dripping.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

+1, all of my tools on Sunday were dripping wet with condensation. I am sure the weather was somewhat the same in the neighboring state!

 

[DARKSCOPE001]

when I went to aviation school there would be pretty dramatic temp swings in the building and hanger and Some of my bare steel tools rusted pretty rapidly (Ie feeler guage set) and a few others that were not protected and oiled. (just out of curiosity would light rust on feeler gauge trash it or be reason to warranty it?)

Anyways. I always coated my tools in some fresh oil. Whatever is laying around it doesent have to be fancy. If I was working on engines a small pool of new engine oil or some out of the can on a rag would work good for cleaning and leaving a protective film. If I was out in the hanger and didnt have access I would keep a can of WD-40 for quick spray and wipe offs.

Also Idk how much it helps but Im my mind its a good thing to have in there. A product by the name of damp check. You can get it at many stores for around 3-5 dollars and refills are cheep enough. just dump it out and refill it when the pelets all melt. It has sucked quite a bit of moisture up and drawn it out of the air. So I figure its at least kinda working

Also zerust bricks work and things ike that but just give em a coat of light oil and problem solved

Thanks
Sean Scott

 

[route246]

Try getting some desiccant (usually silica gel). You can search and buy it at many places.

 

[Shadowdog500]

Was it particularly humid or anything?

Sometimes I will open my toolbox find things nearly dripping wet.

Where do you keep your box?

A friend built a metal shop on the side of a hill so the water is funneled to the one side his building. He didnt put plastic under the concrete, and he didn't insulate his steel building. Everything in that shop rust extremely quickly. Ive been in there a couple of times where everything was soaking wet like a downpour just occurred inside the building.

When I had my building put up I Followed Morton buildings suggestions of making it higher than the surrounding area, plenty of ventilation, sealed plastic layer under the concrete, and insulated the walls and roof. Everything is high and dry even on the dampest days.


I used to work with a salt water boat mechanic. He let the grease and oil stay on his tools when he was done with them. He said it as the only way he could keep his tools from rusting. Turns out that is a trick that most if not all salt water boat mechanics use. If you are in a corrosive environment I would follow his lead.



Chris

 

[jay50]

You're getting all that rust because you've been slacking off on tool polishing. Time to get back to work.

 

[JeremyManning]

don't use WD40 use fluidfilm for protection it is far superior

 

[DARKSCOPE001]

don't use WD40 use fluidfilm for protection it is far superior

I just use WD-40 cuz its cheep and I can get it everywhere. but like jeremy said many have had luck with fluid film or waterpruf? either way as long as there is some kind of oil barrier on the tool it will be fine.

obviously WD is little more than a carefully blended mineral oil mix it doesent tend to stick or stay on for very long. but it also has the advantage of no strong odors. and spreads into a crazy thin layer that works just long enough for me. granted i dont have tons of tools so most of mine get used on a regular basis.

good luck
Sean Scott

 

[charle10]

Maybe it was a combination of the wet weather and the batteries. After airing the garage out, and taking the leaking batteries out I haven't seen any additional rust.

The toolbox is in the detached unheated uninsulated garage. I've seen plenty of flash rust from moisture, and rust from long term exposure to the elements, but this rust that popped up just looks different. I also noticed some of the tools had an almost white glaze on them which wasn't there before.

Sorry, no pictures, couldn't get one to come out clear.

 

[mp23]

its the weather, my garage floor was wet the other day, first 80 degree day of the year, by wet i mean it would get your shirt wet if you laid on it.

 

[dwm]

I'm in Michigan too, but all of my tools are in the heated, attached garage until May. Some of them migrate to the detached garage during the warmer months.

Since it hit 80F this weekend, and we had a wet winter, I'd expect more-than-usual amounts of moisture to be the cause. I live on a lake, and Saturday night the fog here was like pea soup. Big temperature swings at this time of year cause a LOT of condensation.

You could always run a dehumidifier in the spring. That's what I used to do at my old place, and ran the drain hose under the garage door so I didn't have to keep emptying it. I'd fire it up in the middle of March and shut it down at the end of April. Cheap on craigslist.

 

[pipsters]

Buy some Camphor from Amazon, eBay, or your local pharmacy:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JQUHBU/?tag=atomicindus08-20

It emits a vapor as it evaporates, coating tools in a light coating of, umm, I guess vapor that keeps rust from forming. I put a tablet or two in each drawer in my tool box.

See this:

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/chem00/chem00292.htm

 

[Ohio Auto]

Same thing just happened to me Sunday here in NW Ohio. It was MY fault. I keep the shop at 48 degrees..I went out to the shop to work..it was 55 degrees or so in the shop...mid sixties and rising outside. Opened up the overhead doors to enjoy the day and bam....everything started sweating in the shop.

I just came in a little while ago from cleaning all my tools and wiping them down with WD40.

 

[Gregg33]

Possibly from salt residue from the floor of the garage (if you daily driver cars in there), combined with condensation.

 

[spv]

I had the same issue with HCl. A small glass jar with no top. Went into the garage after a few days and saw a few items had developed surface rust. Drill press was one. I was not happy at all!

 

[kbeitz]

Chemicals.... Swiming pool chemicals will ruin tools in the same room.
Also solder tip cleaning blocks will rust a tool over night...

 

[BOONEY7750]

I run a de-humidifier, we have the same crappy mid-western weather in IL as Ohio. I like dry silicone spray better than W-D40, keeps the drawers from holding dirt and the tools from being all lubed up and slipping out of my hands in a tight spot. (That's not supposed to sound dirty) If I know I will not run the de-humidifier, like when I let my buddy borrow it last spring, I just open the the drawers and hit them with the dry-silicone and be done with it, they look a little chalky but, better than rusty or slippery. Also check your gutters, you could have moister coming through your pad, depending on age of the house. My 100 year old house will pull moister out of the ground through the floor if I do not keep the gutters clean and draining away from the house.

 

[ngk22r]

That's in anticipation of being used

That is got to be one best posts right there!!!! In the sig now!!!