Stainless Steel hose clamps?
 

The plastic hose clamp failed on the pump in the preskimmer last night (about 1am I do believe). Shot water up & out. After Not getting electrocuted (thank goodness) & cleaning up the water (hardwood floor) we put a stainless steel hose clamp on. Anyone have any thoughts? Is this ok? Will it do till we can get better plastic clamps? Will it cause any problems?

I would think it will last for a very, very long time. Especially so if you don't allow it to come in contact with SW. I use a number of them and they are two years old and don't show any sign of wearing out.

i have used ss clamps for years with no problems. i have changed a few out that are right over the sump as they tend to seize up after awhile but no biggy.

It is touching sw. Thats why I wondered. Hope its OK till I can find plastic clips!

you can get the plastic clamps at OA...I think JL has them too. Most SS clamps are not 100% stainess...the gear is not.

Like Mike said, most SS hose clamps are not 100%. I special ordered some that were 100% SS and used them in my sump for a while. After about 6-8 months they started to rust so I assume they were not the right grade of stainless. Didn't cause any problems that I could see though, and I removed them and used Zip Ties with a zip tie tightener which worked great. A few days until you can get replacements will be fine.

the tipical SS hose clamp is good for fresh water but will still rust in salt water as they have to use a different ss aloy to keep it maluable so it doesn't get brittle and brake from bending around stuff. I would stick with plastic if you can.

now if this clamp is outside the tank and not submerged then goahead and get a SS hose clamp from canadian tire.

Steve

zap straps :mrgreen:

Steve is right. Pretty much any SS item will rust with direct exposure to salt water - taking oxygen out of the water in the process. IMO it should only be used for a quick fix.