How can you tell if a part is aluminum or not??

[Spilchy]

How can you tell if a part is aluminum or not?



I got a gig detailing a bunch of yard equipment and they need major degreasing.



I will be using Orange Blast for the first time to try it out. http://www.greased-lightning.com/products/orangeblast.html



They stress NOT to use it on aluminum.



However, I`m not sure how to check to see if any of the equipment has it or not.

[derekz]

Try using a magnet, if the piece is aluminum the magnet won`t stick. I learnt this from a chroming shop a few months ago.

[Scottwax]

You can also look for the "made of aluminum" stamp!



A magnet is the best I can do off the top of my head.

[Spilchy]

Thanks fellas.



What about Simple Green? I have it easily avaialble? Should I dillute it?



Or, I commonly use Eiman Fabrik High Intensity. I have it full strength, dilluted 1:1 and 3:1.



Will any of these be ok with aluminum?



Thanks

[huangdong28]

Regarding the magnet test, a magnet:



will NOT stick to stainless steel

WILL stick to chromed aluminum

[Ben Z.]

Well, stainless can be magnetic, it depends on if it is austenitic or not. And chrome plated aluminum is not, how could it be? Of course by magnetic, I am refering to ferromagnetic (a refrigerator magnet will stick to it).

[huangdong28]

Originally posted by Ben Z.

Well, stainless can be magnetic, it depends on if it is austenitic or not. And chrome plated aluminum is not, how could it be? Of course by magnetic, I am refering to ferromagnetic (a refrigerator magnet will stick to it). I guess I must be dreaming. A refrigerator magnet DOES STICK to my 2000 prowler wheels, which anyone can confirm on the Internet are chrome-plated aluminum.



If you want to get into the metallurgy of stainless steel (martensitic, ferritic,

austenitic, precipitation-hardened) we can do that, but for practical purposes, the large majority of stainless used in this application, including nuts and bolts, are not magnetic (BTW, your statement is backwards, austenitic is NON-magnetic). If you prefer, the statement may be changed to, "if a magnet does not stick, it MAY be aluminum, but it may also be stainless steel, magnesium, copper or titanium".



As far as chrome-plated aluminum, the statement stands as is - chrome-plated aluminum IS magnetic..

[Ben Z.]

Whoa... Notice, i never stated that austenitic stainless is magnetic. This is an honest question, I did some quick research, but came up empty-handed. How would chrome plated aluminum be magnetic if there are no(a critical, possibly innacurate assumption on my part) magnetic materials in the wheel? Appologies for the off-topicness.

[huangdong28]

Originally posted by Ben Z.

How would chrome plated aluminum be magnetic?

CHROME-plated anything is magnetic (including the plastic chrome-plated centercaps on the above-mentioned wheels).