Dear Parrots magazine,
Zinc Corrosion
I would like to point out some problems that I have encountered when building aviaries and having them galvanised. I wanted some flights built to match a building I already have available and went to what I thought was an expert in aviary manufacturing – I won’t mention any names. I produced a rough sketch of what I wanted, which included some mesh panels and some sheeted panels.
All was done and fitted reasonably well, although not perfect, but acceptable, and I was quite pleased with the results. But problems started to materialise some months later, when I noticed that corrosion had appeared and was spreading out from certain parts. On investigating and speaking to somebody who was knowledgeable about this type of construction, it would appear that there were some basic mistakes made.
The panels I had made were zinc plated and there needs to be drainage holes drilled at certain strategic points to allow the plating salts to be rinsed out, but the holes were drilled in the wrong places, which was trapping a certain amount of salts that was producing corrosion. Also the sheeted panels had been welded on to the steel tube prior to plating, leaving gaps that were trapping the residue of the plating salts.
The point of writing is to make anyone else aware, if they were to build a similar project, that whoever manufactures it fully understands the processes involved, how the parts are constructed in order that the plating salts can be effectively rinsed off.
Henry Ross, by email