Re: 3-pot system question -Galvanized buckets

At 06:42 PM 6/2/98 -0700, you wrote:
>I was always told not to put galvanized pots on the fire, because the
>extreme heat breaks down the coating and the vapors are harmful. Is this
>an old wives tale, or is there some truth to it?

My training is in Organic Chemistry, so I'm not a metallurgist, but
according to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, the melting point
of pure zinc, the "finish" on galvanized steel, is 420 Celsius (788F) and
its boiling point is 907 C (1665F). It seems to me that you would need an
awfully hot campfire to vaporize enough zinc to be harmful. In fact, I
would guess that the heat of such a fire would probably be more harmful!
Now, I don't know what else your galvanized buckets have had in them, so
it is possible that there could be some other noxious material that could
vaporize, but I believe that heating galvanized pots/pans/buckets/whatevers
should be safe for camp use.

Yours in Scouting,

Alan

Alan Wolfson Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner
wolfson@scamp.mv.com Arrowhead District, Daniel Webster Council
alanw@mdli.com Nashua, NH
I used to be a bear (NE-CS-36) Co-leader GSUSA Cadette troop 7
I used to be a fox (NE-I-184)

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