Has anyone used all aluminum for the slats in the water bed? Just wondering if there are any issues? I was hoping to cut down on the rust if possible.
Aluminum is not a good idea due to the risk of galvanic corrosion. You can get by with aluminum slats as long as you run pure water without any additives. Any type of rust inhibitor acts as an electrolyte which will kick off corrosion of the aluminum.
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Can I put some sort of rust inhibitor in with the steel slats?
Yes that is very common. There are some commercially available products as well as some DIY concoctions that folks typically run. I recommend browsing/searching the forum for more info.
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Anyone have a suggestion for rust inhibitor?
Sterling cool
Green cut
Plasma green
This link goes over a lot of The cutting fluids
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A true honest suggestion would be to put good drains in if you are not going to use it a lot just fill with water then drain and dispose of the water. Any chemical you put if water will put vapor in the air.
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I am a cheapskate old schooler. I dissolve a box of borax in boiling water, ( I have the Pro), then top up the table, keeping the pH around 9. Yes, the borax leaves white crust occasionally but it doesn’t rust. All the folks running GreenCut and Sterling Cool swear by it.
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I use plasma green 9010, works great for steel and aluminum as well. Never any rust or build up residue on table or steel Sheet that I leave on table.
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I run aluminum slats in mine the slag doesnt stick hard like on steel slats. I use a simple mix 4 boxes of arm and hammer washing soda to 400 gallons of water. No corrosion problems as water evaporates the splashed spots and slats dry with a white powder but goes right back into the water as soon as it gets wet.
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I have a bucket of plasma green but since my water evaporates rather quickly I sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of 20 mule team borax in the pan as I fill it and never have an issue. A box will last a year…
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So for us original 2x2 tables from the early batches with aluminum pans, how are aluminum slats any different from an aluminum pan.? I run a rust inhibitor concoction and don’t see any galvanic corrosion on the pan. My pan is dirty for sure when drained to clean each year but nothing is eating through the pan.
I got it that someone may have a abundance of aluminum and what to use it up. In my area the cost difference between steel and aluminum it seems a waste…
What benefits does use aluminum have over steel slats?
Way faster to clean. The slag doesnt stick as hard. I just have a local supplier shear strips from a sheet
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Thts was my thought. I have some laying around and wanted to know if there were any downsides.
I couldn’t see why they wouldn’t work. my thoughts are slates to me are considered consumables. In two years i went through both sides of the slates that came with the machine. then remade new slate holders so that i could have a slat every 1.5 inches. almost ready to turn them over. Aluminum is just a lot more expensive than steel i couldn’t see the benefit of the extra expense. Thats just me though.
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Weird we found that aluminum almost became the exact same price of steel for a little bit.
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Not in our area aluminum is crazy. just ordered four pieces if slick .125 costed me 900 bucks. I can get .125 sheet steel close to 100 a sheet i haven’t priced it in a while. I made my slats out of 14 ga which I get for about 70 a sheet.
I think I stated this before but I do have the material already so I wont need to purchase anything. The biggest thing to me would be ease of maintenance and cleaning.
The question I would ask is what it would cost to replace it and what else can you make out of it. Then the other side of me is like I have it why not use it.