lead tape rusting?

[Matt H.]

I had the good fortune of getting a pair of PT57A's.

In the process of changing out all the wear items: new butt cap, grommets, grip... I noticed that the lead under the bumper has a fair amount of rust.


i can't tell how many layers of lead there are, so is it worth sending to a pro to have the racquets re-matched with new lead, or just stick the new grommet set on and forget?

[Tommyj]

Why don't you weigh the racquets with the lead tape, then remove it and weigh again. Then the difference is how much new lead tape you need to put on.

[UCSF2012]

Lead cannot rust. Rust is Iron Oxide, resulting from the oxygen in the air reacting with the iron in the metal. That requires that there be iron. Lead is lead, not iron.

[ollinger]

^^ are you saying lead does not oxidize? have you not heard of lead oxide?

[PBODY99]

Brown residue is adhesive. Leave the lead alone re-install the wear items and enjoy.

[sureshs]

Lead does get corroded in the presence of air and water to form oxides and carbonates thus giving it a dull color and preventing further oxidation

[ChicagoJack]

Somebody in another thread is asking a somewhat related question. If you place lead on the pallet, and under the grip, would perspiration cause the lead to disolve/decay, then possibly find its way into the skin. Seems doubtful from the comments posted here, but the addition of body salts to the mix, has me curious.

[Andreas1965]

Between your skin and the lead are a layer of basegrip and overgrip. If you're really afraid of something bad happening to you, just put some clear packaging tape over the lead. So it'll be isolated.

[OldFedIsOld]

Lead DOESN'T RUST, it's non ferrous(meaning it doesn't contain Fe2+ which is IRON). It can be oxidized when water or some sort of chemical strips electrons from it, but usually for things like lead pipes it happens at a very low rate.

The brown/ dark gray color is just discolorment from a source. Could be from sweat, could be from the glue under the grip.

I would suggest always covering lead tape with some sort of clear tape or something else, because its still lead and very poisonous to humans.

[ChicagoJack]

Originally Posted by Andreas1965

Between your skin and the lead are a layer of basegrip and overgrip. If you're really afraid of something bad happening to you, just put some clear packaging tape over the lead. So it'll be isolated.

Thanks. But you are answering a question im not asking. Im not asking what i ahould i do if i think lead is hazardous. My question is.. Is lead hazardous to skin if placed underneath the grip and over grip ( do sweat and body salts cause the lead to erode, corrode, dissolve, and seep back into the grip? Not trying to start a feud. Just speaking very precisely and clearly. Thanks again for your reply.

[ChicagoJack]

Originally Posted by OldFedIsOld

Lead DOESN'T RUST, it's non ferrous(meaning it doesn't contain Fe2+ which is IRON). It can be oxidized when water or some sort of chemical strips electrons from it, but usually for things like lead pipes it happens at a very low rate.

The brown/ dark gray color is just discolorment from a source. Could be from sweat, could be from the glue under the grip.

I would suggest always covering lead tape with some sort of clear tape or something else, because its still lead and very poisonous to humans.

Again, im not asking if lead will RUST (no need for all caps, i get it).

[db10s]

I'm going to guess that everything is fine, don't worry about it.

[txt858]

yeah i have a lot of lead tape on my racquet, from Gamma to Unique lead tape. Initially, it looks silver in color then after a while, it gets really dull in color but it's not rust. Bronze has the same affect, you have to polish and buff it to get it back to a shine. but in our case, we don't really want to do that.