subcode1

last fall I purchsed 4 zinc rotors from Brakemotive. My car is always in a heated garage so snow rain ice etc has not touched them.
I conatcted the vendor and the response was rust is normal in my region (northeast). I sent another emial and the vendor responded asking for pictures etc. It appears that I am going to get some help? maybe? waiting for response.

Has anyone else who purchased these rotors also have the severe rust problem??? Last week I took wheels off for the 5th time and polished the rotors and applied a metal sealer (not where pads ride of course)thinking it might help. Three days later rust and a lots of it.
Any input would be appreciated. Thinking I might have a defective set???

Thank

QCVette

I bought a set too, but don't have them on yet. There have been a lot of good comments about them, so I was surprised to see your comments.

You said you have polished them 5 times? When you polished them, is there any chance that you polished through the zinc plating to expose the iron?

Let us know how it turns out.

dblerman

The zinc plating is only a few microns thick, it wouldn't take much to get through.
Also, using any acid-based wheel cleaners (pretty much ALL chrome/aluminum/magnesium cleaners) will attack the zinc and cause rusting as well.

subcode1

The zinc is perfect which is what surprises me. It seems the rust just bled through. I polished them with a small 1" buffing wheel but the rust (very heavy) seem to bleed right through again within 3 to 4 days. My original rotors had over 30,000 miles and I cleaned them once or twice with very little if any rust? I have the red calipers and chrome wheels and the rust makes the car look like crap.Mybe they were not cleaned correctly when they applied the zinc coating? The one year warranty is for warping so I am waiting to see if anything will be done?? They have been real nice so far.

dblerman

post a few pics.

Evil-Twin

I can tell you anything you want to know about rotor care. there are rotors that cost 250 dollars for four and their are rotors that cost 300 each. My rotors are the 300 dollars a piece variety and are twelve years old and look better than the day I bought them. it requires a little maintenance. Ill give you a heads up on inexpensive rotors claiming to be zinc coated. The zinc coating is microns thin to non existent. more expensive rotors use an electronic bonding agent, cheaper rotors are dipped, and if not prepped right the zinc wont adhere. If your rotors are rusting now , polishing will not help. if you have rust, you don't have a zinc coating.
these are my 12 year old rotors taken less than a month ago. my car is not a garage queen.. it has 90,000 miles on it the rotors are Baer Eradispeed Plus 2

subcode1

all I can say is WOW nothing wrong with learning something new every day. That is what I love about this forum. I agree with all you said. They advertised ZINC and I believed them. Guess I am taking them off and painting them with High Temp paint because I have had no response yet and don't think I will? Will take pictures tonight and post.

dblerman

No, brakemotive rotors most definitely ARE zinc coated, just not the same quality or plating process as some of the more expensive rotors. Just curious what kind of wheel cleaner you use, because many WILL eat through the zinc in a matter of seconds. FWIW I've had their rotors on for almost a year and a half and they look like new.

Brakemotive is an excellent vendor and they stand by their products. I would try giving them a call instead of waiting for an email response.

Evil-Twin

here is your problem.. 100 % sure of this. Look on the inside where the cooling vanes are located.. you will note that the inner surface is very rough... in a cheap rotor where they are dipped in a zinc bath. the outside which gets prepped will accept a few microns of zinc.. some cleaning products will remove the zinc. " BUT " there is no prep on the inside where the cooling vanes are located and because of this and the rough surface the zinc wont adhere and the inside will rust and bleed out via centrifugal force or if the rotors have holes, will bleed there as well...

here is what you do:
Get a couple of cans of Good quality Brake cleaner like CRC.. it doesn't leave a residue. and spray the inside cooling vanes, buy two cans of cleaner and use half a can on each rotor... don't do all four at one time, its too much work.. focus on doing just 2 rotors.. do the front and back of one side, so that side will look uniform.. then do the other side when you have the time to invest.
take off a rotor, and heat it up with a light bulb so the rotor is warm..then move it to a space where you can safely spray it with cleaner. then warm it back up again, this expands and contracts the molecules this will make sure no oils are embedded in the cast iron. then spay it again with cleaner and let it dry under the light bulb. Buy a can Of VHT silver paint ( VHT very high temp ) can find it at most auto stores.. at the Very least get 500 F temp paint. lay the rotor flat and paint the vanes, get it in there let it run out and then let it sit for 30 minutes.. move the light two within an inch of the rotor to warm it up. after 30 minutes remove the bulb, and paint it again. this will be ten times better than any zinc application. IN between the cure times of the first rotor you can be working on the second rotor. You can mask off the fire paths before hand or you can just take a wire wheel on a drill and remove any paint from the fire paths, but remember if you have holes and slots you will remove any protection from them, so if that the case.. spray some silver vht in a cup and use a q-tip and paint each hole and slot.. wait about 20 minutes and redo... that rotor will never rust other than the fire path but them is quickly scrubbed off when you apply the brakes. Next year, you may want to do it again. but the next time it will take you less than a hour to do two rotors and will last . I invest about 8 hours a year to keep my 4 corners looking good, this included polishing my CCW's, detailing my calipers and cleaning a detailing my wheel wells.

subcode1

I sincerely appreciate the above. It is going to be handy. I am first going to look into the Baer Rotors first. If not then I will go with your painting directions.
Thank You

By the way I never used any chemicals other than a 1" hard buffer to remove the rust.

subcode1

UPDATE Brakemotive contacted me today and said they would send out new set of rotors. Thumbs up for great customer service. All they need is pictures.
which is a reasonable request.
I am going to send the new ones out to a friend to have the hubs powder coated before I install them this time to make sure. Not going through this again.
Thank You for all the input and advice.

Evil-Twin

I would suggest while they are new that you paint the cooling vanes. it wont hurt the zinc and will add an extra layer of protection where the zinc is usually the least .

chaase

It is always nice to hear about one of our vendors standing behind their product.