On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:03 -0800 (PST), Jim Wilkins
wrote:

On Jan 20, 6:12*pm, Terry wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:20:14 -0500, Bob Engelhardt
...
Puzzled too. *How do you know that the wire isn't aluminum?

Terry

If it is aluminum, lye (sodium hydroxide) will make it fizz.

jsw

A reasonable test. Something else just came to mind: does the wire
fizz with new, clean HCl? If so then I'm stumped (for the moment at
least). If not, it may be that the crud in the old HCl has gunk** in
it that makes it capable of dissolving stainless steel. Nitrates or
possibly sulfates.

Terry
**A technical term used often in chemistry. :-)