How do you prevent chemicals from coroding bath tub?

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I've noticed lately that the latex paint (i think) on my bath tub has been bubbling up in many places and the rim around the drain is rusty. Is there any way to prevent this?

After printing I wash out the trays and tongs under hot water in the bath tub. If I dump chemicals I do it over the drain in the bath tub. Is there a smarter way?

The bathroom was redone about a year ago. I started printing about 3 weeks ago.

Regards, Christina

-- Christina (apieture@yahoo.com), March 10, 2000

Answers

If you are going to continue to use your tub, you should use an epoxy paint, it resist the chemicals much better. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), March 11, 2000.

If your bathtub is painted with latex paint, this will happen even without any chemistry, just water.

If it is painted with epoxy (which is the best for this job) the problem is most likely water and chemicals getting under the paint at the edges. If it was painted without removing the drain hardware, there is an edge there that can cause problems.

To prevent chemical problems, use plenty of water when washing and dumping chemicals. Run plenty of water after you are done to rinse any remaining chemicals down the drain, and out of the trap.

-- Terry Carraway (TCarraway@compuserve.com), March 12, 2000.


Unless you painted it yourself, your tub is probably either fiberglass/epoxy resin, cast-iron with baked on epoxy enamel, or cro-moly steel with baked on epoxy enamel finish. If you have the third kind (it'll sound vaguely like a bell when you knock on it) the paint just comes off on its own after 15 or 20 years. I, personally won't install them and usually suggest the homeowner replace them.

I doubt it's anything you're doing chemically, and actually hot water is going to discourage the paint from clinging to the tub much more than your darkroom chemicals. On the + side, new fiberglass tubs are about 80$ and install in a weekend. Best o'luck.

-- Todd Erickson (ruralspice@yahoo.com), March 17, 2000.


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