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Important consumer tip: Beware of stainless steel lights being sold as underwater lights.
Stan Honey, is a renowned sailor, navigator and electrical engineer, who wrote:
Stainless steel is a special case. Generally, it is a bad idea to use stainless steel underwater, because it can pit. When it pits the "nobility" of the metal changes locally, and you end up with tiny galvanic couples that are made up of different parts of the same piece of metal and the pits grow deeper. One school of thought suggests that if you must use stainless steel underwater ,then you should connect a nearby, immersed zinc to it; this protects the stainless steel from itself, reducing the rate of pitting. The electrochemistry of this assertion is compelling enough to recommend that you protect a stainless steel with a zinc.
There is a stainless steel that we know of named a "duplex" grade V4A, that is known to be suitable for underwater use.
The conclusion: Unless the suppler can offer you zinc to connect to the stainless steel light that they are pawning off on you as an underwater light or if they can guarantee you in writing that they are using V4A stainless steel grade material, than you should stay clear of using stainless steel for underwater lighting. The facts speak for themselves.
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