Zinc Plated Toy Parts?!?!?!?!

[mrgoogls]

okay so i was reading about how to test things to make sure they are stainless steel. i was doing it to make sure the screws i bought were stainless steel( they are labled as so but just making sure) and i decided to do it on a toy part. the test i was using was just a magnet because i know stainless steel is NOT magntic. and on most of my toys(not all but a lot of them) the chains and quick links on them were magnetic. so they are NOT sainless steel. i am freaking out because i spent all this money on tuys(well over 70$) and they might contain zinc.

my quastion is do they conain zinc, or is it some kind of other coating that is okay for birds. and even if it is zinc, is it okay because it would be electro-plated onto it so most chewing wouldnt make it flake off.

 

[isaiah.nino]

huh thats a good question you could always try calling the company who made it and try to find out if it is and or it could contain zinc . i would take all the magnetic metal out of the birds cage untill you find out . or it could be a coating that is sfae for bird but i havent heard of a stainless steel screw or etc that has a plating of something on it because stainless steel is the safest metal for birds . hopefully they are stainless steel !

 

[PortaPerch]

There are various grades of stainless. Some stainless has a weak magnetic attraction. Some of it also rusts. It contains 10 to 18% chromium, and sometimes nickel. Cheaper stuff would skimp on the chromium.

Zinc has a more rough, dull grey surface. A local bird farm sells only galvanized (zinc) wire for cages and aviaries. They recommend a vinegar bath to neutralize the zinc. Galvanize/zinc is only a corrosion protective coating over iron or steel, which you would be able to scrape off with a knife edge.

 

[mrgoogls]

huh thats a good question you could always try calling the company who made it and try to find out if it is and or it could contain zinc . i would take all the magnetic metal out of the birds cage untill you find out . or it could be a coating that is sfae for bird but i havent heard of a stainless steel screw or etc that has a plating of something on it because stainless steel is the safest metal for birds . hopefully they are stainless steel !

the screws are stainless steel. they are labeled as so and are NOT magnectic. and i dont have the bird yet getting it in october. and ordering the cage in like a week or 2. very excited!i didnt think the screws would have a coating only the toy parts are worrying me.

 

[mrgoogls]

There are various grades of stainless. Some stainless has a weak magnetic attraction. Some of it also rusts. It contains 10 to 18% chromium, and sometimes nickel. Cheaper stuff would skimp on the chromium.

Zinc has a more rough, dull grey surface. A local bird farm sells only galvanized (zinc) wire for cages and aviaries. They recommend a vinegar bath to neutralize the zinc. Galvanize/zinc is only a corrosion protective coating over iron or steel, which you would be able to scrape off with a knife edge.

thanks. only one of the toys looks likt it may have a darker coating on it. but i didnt look close really. ill give it a more thourough inspection later. and compare it to the SS screws to see. also, are there any tests you know of that would give a me a surefire way to know if it contains zinc. and if it does how can i get it off or would i have to just get rid of the metal parts. good thing is the only one that loked dark is a rig of metal with wood blocks all around. so i can easly clip the ring and reuse all the wood but ya, all the chains and quick links look nice and shiney but are magnetic wich worries meD:

 

[henpecked]

The zinc would be non magnetic also, it's the ferrous metal(iron) that they but the zinc on to make it "rustproof". SS wouldn't have zinc coating because no reason. PP is right the cheaper SS could attract a magnet,in which case i wouldn't use it because it will rust and the rust(oxide) is also bad. GAW (galvanised after welding) wire is used in cage construction but the birds don't chew on cages like they do toy parts. (at least breeder birds don't)

 

[mrgoogls]

okay, the only dark looking one was the ring thing. the rest are shiney. i took a knife to the metal ring but it didnt look like it did anything. so just to be safe unless you guys give me a test to know for sure i will just cut it and reuse the blocks. the other all look shiney like SS. i compared them to the food skewer i got from my safe bird store(it is labeled 100% SS and wasnt magnetic.) and it looked the same. are there any tests i can do to find out for sure??

 

[henpecked]

What test are you looking for? Too see what quality of SS or to test for zinc ? The zinc should dull with an mild acid(lemon ,vinegar) and chrome wouldn't, but both should be magnetic as they are just a thin coating over a ferrous metal.

 

[mrgoogls]

i was looking for a test to see if there is zinc. so how are we talking about chrome now? it that SS? is chrome safe? you just got me confused again

 

[henpecked]

Chrome is ok but it's just a coating,over a unsafe material. An oxidizer (acid/base) should have a reaction with zinc, it might bubble or foam , but at least it should dull the finish on zinc coated parts. I'd stick with the magnet test. Good SS won't attract but cheap might somewhat, Stick to the good stuff.

 

[DebsFlock]

The stuff that's really got a lot of zinc is "pot metal" which is dull grey and heavy (aluminum is also dull, but light, and is OK). I worry mostly about things like bells and rings that will be attached in prime chewing territory. When I buy parts, I buy good SS, but some toys come with components that aren't 100% clear what the composition is. If I had birds that tended to chew the quicklinks and so forth, I'd worry a lot more.

Heavy metal poisoning is the kind of thing that builds up slowly over time, FWIW.

 

[mrgoogls]

i did a test with vinigar on all the metal that was magnetic. and nothing happened on any of them. so i guess thats good. i also found out that you can do the same thing with muric(sorry for bad spelling) acid and if it contains zinc it will violantly foam up. aand since the acid is much stronger than vinigar it will react even if there is less zinc. so once i find out where to buy it i will test with that. but it looks like it is all just low grade SS and thats why it has the weak magnetic attraction. so i will use these toys but in the future will buy only higher grade SS.

 

[luvmytooo]

Doesn't this kind of stuff just scare the living daylights out of you ?!
It would make me jut throw everything out and never buy a toy that uses metals of
any kind !!! I would just use leather or ropes to make toys ....

That is so scary :11:

 

[azdesertrhino]

We did a lot of research on this subject. We were putting together a bird toy line that would only have stainless hardware etc etc.

ANYHOW, there are stainless components that will exhibit a small amount of magnetism but it should be minimal.

Zinc coating (galvanization) must be avoided at all costs!

Copper should be avoided.

The determination on aluminum is up in there air in my book. It is soft metal that a large bird could shave and ingest.

There is a whole learning curve on metals, toxicity etc.

 

[Conuregirl]

We did a lot of research on this subject. We were putting together a bird toy line that would only have stainless hardware etc etc.

ANYHOW, there are stainless components that will exhibit a small amount of magnetism but it should be minimal.

Zinc coating (galvanization) must be avoided at all costs!

Copper should be avoided.

The determination on aluminum is up in there air in my book. It is soft metal that a large bird could shave and ingest.

There is a whole learning curve on metals, toxicity etc.

hi! scooter z makes most, if not all their toys with ss parts, too. i have also questioned aluminum for use in my home and for my pets. i took a chem and anatomy class in college, we learned that exposure to aluminum is really toxic. we are exposed to it everyday from soda cans and from aluminium foil cooking. i have been really skeptical on aluminum cages. :20:

lastly, i know people that deal with factories in china with various manufacturing and importing and heard some really sketchy stuff about metals. even though stainless steel is stamped or has a grade it will most likely be incorrect and have have less, for example knives.

 

[PortaPerch]

Our first set of stainless utensils, made in USA, was still good after many years. It never rusted, but wifey got tired of it, so it is long gone and we have been through a series of cheap ChiCom crap "stainless" that gets rust spots.

Aluminum does not corrode beyond a very thin protective layer. That's why pure aluminum is used for soda cans. Most of that beverage stuff is highly corrosive, and an assault on your stomach.

Aluminium is soft, however, so most aluminum products are aluminum alloys. They may contain any of several metals such as magnesium, which corrode readily. Airplane skin, for example, is alclad, aluminum alloy with a thin layer of pure aluminum for corrosion protection. I suspect aluminum wire used in cages is some alloy with a thin layer of aluminum.

Powder coating, done right, is great.

PP