Is ocean air damaging?

[Scissors]

The "ocean air corrodes vehicles faster because of the salt" myth just won't go away, and likely persists due to a quirk of geography.

When the water evaporates from the ocean, the salt does not go with it.  This is simple chemistry and something you can test at home by dissolving salt in water and then allowing the water to evaporate.  The water which evaporates is relatively pure and is not chemically different than the water which evaporates from a freshwater lake.

It may seem that the salt is causing corrosion simply because the place in the nation which has the most ocean water nearby (Florida) also has the highest humidity and most rain.  It's all of this water, rather than "salty ocean air" (which doesn't even exist), which promotes corrosion when combined with air, certain pollutants, and other things picked up from the dirt found on all of our nation's roads.

A bike cover will keep the rain off, but won't do anything for humidity.

The best thing you can do is simply keep it clean and perhaps protect electrical contacts with silicone dielectric grease.

[sbrguy]

that explanation makes sense you just gave.

only thing i'm curious about is why when youa re near the beach do you get the whole "ocean air smell"?

[erkishhorde]

As stated above, the biggest problem are electrical contacts corroding. Always remember to check your brake/tail light and if you ever find it not working, it's probably a corroded contact. If you have problems starting, check the ground bolt for the battery or the bolt on the starter.

If you've got a steel tank, the sea air can also cause the tank to rust, causing you problems.

Other than those, it's mostly cosmetic (rusted frame, rusted bolts).

[ian48th]

Water that has evaporated from the ocean may not be salty, but sea spray is.  So here in Victoria, BC, where we get high winds in the fall, it could be a problem depending on how close you are. 

I had a problem with the temperature sensor contact on my bike.  Cleaning up the contacts and applying dielectric grease has prevented the problem from returning.

At the time of the problem, the bike was stored outside near the ocean under a cover for about 18 months.  Now it's in a nice dry garage.  I love my garage...

[Desmo Demon]

Water that has evaporated from the ocean may not be salty, but sea spray is.  

Is is generally why, as you go further inland, vehicles have less and less corrosion on them.

If a person were to go strictly by humidity levels, it may be difficult to explain why Atlanta has almost the same annual relative humidity as Charleston, SC  but a car will rust away much faster in Charleston. The annual evening relative humidity is 56% for both and Altanta is 1% lower at 82% compared to Charleston's 83% for the morning humidity. I used these two examples because neither town sees salt thrown around in the winter like northern cities do.

Here in Greenville, SC (82% am and 54% pm humidity) cars usually only have rust on them if they come from the north or from the beach. You couldn't imagine the number of cars sitting in back yards and in fields that have been there for more than twenty years and don't have any rust.....the paint and  interior is faded, but they have little to no rust.

Here's a cool table for humidity - http://www.cityrating.com/relativehumidity.asp

[sbrguy]

ok so what is causing the cars in charleston to corrode so much faster than other land locked cities if charleston is a landlocked city too and the humidity level is within 1-2% of the other non rusting cities?

[Desmo Demon]

ok so what is causing the cars in charleston to corrode so much faster than other land locked cities if charleston is a landlocked city too and the humidity level is within 1-2% of the other non rusting cities?

That's just it. Charleston is not landlocked as it is a coastal city and rusting cars would be from ocean salt.....probably from the ocean spray that can be carried for miles, as ian48th stated. I was showing that, despite equal hunmidity levels, one area has more of a rust problem than another area, so rust is being caused by something other than just the humidity, and that high humidity does not necessarily cause rust, as all the older vehicles sitting out in the open around here would show.

[NorDog]

As far as salt, with regular washes/wipe downs salt in the air and it's effects should be kept at bay.

At bay?  I can't believe you harbor such puns.   

[Langanobob]

At bay?  I can't believe you harbor such puns.   

I was on the fence, but that's it for me!  I'm going back to TOB!!!