What is stainless steel AISI 904L and why does YPHOS use it?

Model 03, 05 & 07 housing is made of Stainless Steel AISI 904L – a super alloy. The term “super alloy”, “high performance” or “advanced steel” is added by the raw alloy manufacturers referring to the superiority of this metal in terms of characteristics in contrast to the standard, more widely available stainless steel AISI 316L which is commonly used in marine industry.

The 904L alloy is used worldwide in extremely corrosive environments like acid treating facilities, storage tanks for acids, petroleum and petrochemical equipment etc. Another field that requires an alloy of such properties is motor shafts in high-end marine submersible pumps, aerospace applications and fine watchmaking. The advanced hardness and corrosion resistance of this alloy made it the material of choice for world-class manufacturers like Grundfos (pumps) and Rolex (watches).

And why others do not use it?

This alloy is exceptionally expensive, rare and difficult to process. The hardness of the metal requires 10 × times the time to process compared to simple metals like bronze and it requires extremely expensive and specialized machinery – something that is usually considered too expensive for most applications.  

And why we do it?

Because YPHOS is focused in designing, creating and offering the most premium and highest quality underwater lights in the world.