Stainless steel grading in mods and attys

[shorestyle]

So from what I understand, and correct me if I'm wrong is that most high end SS mods and atty's are made from either 304 or 316 grade stainless steel. Now 316 is supposed to have "an increased resistance to corrosion" so why aren't all devices using 316 instead of 304? Does it have to do with conductivity properties? Manufacturing costs?

Thanks in advance.

 

[jarreddizzle]

I would assume it would be a combination of manufacturing costs and practicality. I would see why attys would be 316 (esp gennys etc.) but other than that 304 ss should suffice. we're not using them underwater everyday all day :/

 

[Richard75]

The difference is in cost... and coolness in saying it's 316. There's no way that a 2% difference in nickel and chromium would make much of a difference for us vapers. The big difference between 304 and 316 is that 316 has a bit of molybdenum (about 2%), and this just helps it against chlorides. But unless you leave your mods and attys out in the rain for a few months at a time, there's no real reason for it. Would I choose 316 over 304? Sure I would, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[Commie]

From my understanding, 316 is more expensive, and is harder to machine.

 

[shorestyle]

This is what I figured. Thanks!

 

[Bad Ninja]

From my understanding, 316 is more expensive, and is harder to machine.

Marginal cost difference
Same tooling ia used to work both.
Both are as soft as butter to a machinist, and super easy to work with.

316 was developed for MINOR corrosion resistance in marine typ applications.
It is irrelevant in the context of vaping.
There is no difference that would be noticeable in our application.

 

[Nightshard]

You should be more be more interested in the grade of the button switch in mechanical mods and circuit components in electronic mods, because that is going to break down, long before the steel.