Did anyone else get the email about them switching to a stainless steel water table?
Sounds like its going to delay the shipping of some water tables (including mine) but well worth it.
Seems like a worthy change with the issues some guys are experiencing with the aluminum one.
It really shows that they are paying attention to issues and working hard to build a better product. Hats off to all you guys at LS!
That’s awesome. I have the aluminum water tray now but would love to purchase the stainless one when they drop! These guys are killing the customer service game!
Got this too and I agree. I am antsy to start working with the machine, but do feel the minor delay is worth a superior product.
Im content with dealing with the mess of cutting on open slats for a while knowing I will end up with a better product. But yes Im very antsy also. lol.
Im order 3424 so i should receive shipping info any day now!!!
What were the issues? I’ve seen people concerned that maybe they’d have a problem with corrosion sometime but hadn’t seen any actual problems reported.
If there are actual problems I may see about upgrading to the new SS one next year after they get them in stock.
The galvanic corrosion. I don’t remember who posted it but there was pictures of pock marking in the bottom of their water table. Those eventually would corrode through and cause leakage.
These water tables with aluminum, steel, electricity in one place is the exact recipe for galvanic corrosion.
@langmuir-daniel what do you use for fluid in your machine? Any one with a first batch that has a tray with enough corrosion to make a difference in cut quality?
I can’t see dumping an aluminum one just because the stainless is better. Wait to see if you have problems then buy it down the road. I would say the aluminum will last years before corrosion is a problem.
All of our machines here use the aluminum water table with straight water. We never drain them and there is never any corrosion of the aluminum. The steel slats give the water a rusty color. The downside to running straight water is that it tends to rust whatever steel you are cutting (especially cold rolled and HRPO). Additives such as sodium nitrite can be used to prevent rusting, but it can cause corrosion of the aluminum. That is why we encourage folks to drain the water table if they are using rust inhibitors.
The reason we are switching to stainless is so that folks can leave rust inhibitor treated water in the tray without needing to drain it. Its a best of all worlds type of thing. If that makes sense.
Any deals for those that already have aluminum but have a thing for stainless?
Mmmmmmm stainless
I decided to powder coat my aluminum one to start with, just got it back today. We’ll see how it works out.
It should work great. Any type of coating that will separate the aluminum and steel will work well to inhibit corrosion.
That’s kind of what I’m thinking of. I coated mine with FlexSeal and haven’t noticed anything but dirty water - scale from the steel I cut. I drain mine after every use though & add Borax to it.
I have sprayed mine with truck bed liner. Thus far, all is well with it (I was one of the guy experiencing pitting of the alum tray as I was using Borax mixture). I’ve also stop using the drain as the ground and ground directly to the slats. I felt that going through the drain plug would “sandwich” the table and maybe exasperated the issue (I have no proof of that so I could be 100% wrong).
I drain my table more often now too. The SS tray is a good thing!
James, I agree with you nothing wrong with upgrading when there is a problem. I have a powder coating oven big enough to do the water table but until I have an issue I’ll keep it the way it is. Then again I just water for the time being as I’ll be moving soon and its easy to just leave it in there.
I would like to know this as well. I haven’t even opened my table yet. Can you guys let me know if I can swap it for the stainless version?
What size thread is in the drain bung ?
I got tracking info for my stainless steel table yesterday. looks like I will have it by Tuesday!
Just noticed there in the store now. Shows a pic on a table but dont know if the pic is of the stainless or not.
