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Titanium values????
40inches - 5/7/17 at 01:15 PM

Domestic appliance manufacturers, the Indesit Group definitely, are making there washing machine drums in Titanium
Metal recyclers will not take them!!!! Titanium exhaust guards anyone?

nick205 - 5/7/17 at 02:20 PM

We've had pressings made from sheet Titanium at work. I was tasked with sourcing the Titanium sheet. It was not easy to source and very far from cheap.

ETA...thinking back I had to drive from Hampshire to Birmingham to get it and than back to Berkshire to deliver it to the pressing people.

Why on earth would highly cost conscious white goods manufacturers choose to use it?

Unless things have changed dramatically and it's suddenly cheap and easy to source!

[Edited on 5/7/17 by nick205]

coyoteboy - 5/7/17 at 04:23 PM

Ti Prices
Ti Prices

Looks like it's falling heavily recently but still wouldn't have thought it came close to stainless.

nick205 - 6/7/17 at 08:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
Ti Prices
Ti Prices

Looks like it's falling heavily recently but still wouldn't have thought it came close to stainless.



Interesting to know and I do wonder what's caused this - higher availability, fewer users etc?

ETA...a little more web reading suggests that whilst Titanium is fairly abundant it's also fairly difficult to extract. Perhaps extraction processes have advanced and made it easier to extract and supply.

Likewise for I can't see it being cheaper than stainless steel for white goods components.

[Edited on 6/7/17 by nick205]

Mr Whippy - 6/7/17 at 12:02 PM

I mind working with it on downhole logging tools and having to drill tap new fitting holes, was much like stainless.

Then we started working with alloys with Uranium in them and I was less than happy....and left

40inches - 6/7/17 at 03:06 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
Ti Prices
Ti Prices

Looks like it's falling heavily recently but still wouldn't have thought it came close to stainless.



Interesting to know and I do wonder what's caused this - higher availability, fewer users etc?

ETA...a little more web reading suggests that whilst Titanium is fairly abundant it's also fairly difficult to extract. Perhaps extraction processes have advanced and made it easier to extract and supply.

Likewise for I can't see it being cheaper than stainless steel for white goods components.

[Edited on 6/7/17 by nick205]


They are very light, and it appears that they may have used this to reduce the bearing sizes
Failure of Indesit/Hotpoint drum bearing within 6 months of purchase is common. Hence the number of scrapped drums.

02GF74 - 6/7/17 at 05:36 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 40inches

They are very light, and it appears that they may have used this to reduce the bearing sizes
.


Was my initial thought but surely the clothes, what 7kg, and water, has to be significantly more than weight of the Ti drum?

40inches - 6/7/17 at 05:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
quote:
Originally posted by 40inches

They are very light, and it appears that they may have used this to reduce the bearing sizes
.


Was my initial thought but surely the clothes, what 7kg, and water, has to be significantly more than weight of the Ti drum?


Yep! The strain on the bearings comes mainly, as you say,from the clothes and water.

nick205 - 7/7/17 at 08:11 AM

quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
Ti Prices
Ti Prices

Looks like it's falling heavily recently but still wouldn't have thought it came close to stainless.



Interesting to know and I do wonder what's caused this - higher availability, fewer users etc?

ETA...a little more web reading suggests that whilst Titanium is fairly abundant it's also fairly difficult to extract. Perhaps extraction processes have advanced and made it easier to extract and supply.

Likewise for I can't see it being cheaper than stainless steel for white goods components.

[Edited on 6/7/17 by nick205]


They are very light, and it appears that they may have used this to reduce the bearing sizes
Failure of Indesit/Hotpoint drum bearing within 6 months of purchase is common. Hence the number of scrapped drums.



Sounds familiar! My parents have just replaced an 18 month old Hotpoint washing machine due to bearing failure. Apparently you had to purchase a complete drum assembly, which included a new bearing. The cost of the parts and labour would have been more than the cost of a new washing machine! Another indicator of the "throw-away" society we seem to live in these days.

40inches - 7/7/17 at 08:16 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by 40inches
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
Ti Prices
Ti Prices

Looks like it's falling heavily recently but still wouldn't have thought it came close to stainless.



Interesting to know and I do wonder what's caused this - higher availability, fewer users etc?

ETA...a little more web reading suggests that whilst Titanium is fairly abundant it's also fairly difficult to extract. Perhaps extraction processes have advanced and made it easier to extract and supply.

Likewise for I can't see it being cheaper than stainless steel for white goods components.

[Edited on 6/7/17 by nick205]


They are very light, and it appears that they may have used this to reduce the bearing sizes
Failure of Indesit/Hotpoint drum bearing within 6 months of purchase is common. Hence the number of scrapped drums.



Sounds familiar! My parents have just replaced an 18 month old Hotpoint washing machine due to bearing failure. Apparently you had to purchase a complete drum assembly, which included a new bearing. The cost of the parts and labour would have been more than the cost of a new washing machine! Another indicator of the "throw-away" society we seem to live in these days.


That sounds about right. The outer tub is in two halves, plastic, bonded together.
I haven't personally replaced drum bearings for a few years, they are replaced under warranty.

MikeRJ - 7/7/17 at 09:03 AM

There is no way a manufacture could build a washing machine with a solid titanium drum and make the price competitive, it would cost a fortune to manufacture.

quote:
Hotpoint says:
Aqualtis is the first to fit the reinforced stainless steel drum with a special titanium alloy, to prevent limescale build up and provide greater resistance to corrosion.


Sounds far more like a titanium plating on the outside of a stainless drum (e.g. like titanium coated drill bits). That would be enough to cause problems with recycling.

[Edited on 7/7/17 by MikeRJ]

02GF74 - 7/7/17 at 10:23 AM

quote:
[

Sounds far more like a titanium plating on the outside of a stainless drum (e.g. like titanium coated drill bits). That would be enough to cause problems with recycling.



that makes more sense, you need a tougher coating to survive al the coins, keys and iPhones being washed.

davidimurray - 7/7/17 at 11:00 AM

Looking at hopoint they say - "Aqualtis is the first to fit the reinforced stainless steel drum with a special titanium alloy, to prevent limescale build up and provide greater resistance to corrosion. It also gives more strength to the drum, especially when it rotates at high speed, like during the spin."

Titanium is a horrible element for scrap as it only requires small amounts to have a significant effect on steel properties when recycled. Hence it would have to be especially sorted and separated . There are some specific scrap merchants around for titanium but they reprocess into ingots or pellets either for sale back into the industry or as alloying elements. Not worth the hassle for your bog standard scrap merchant.