Hey Mike,

The Sugatsune stainless steel Euro hinge is, in fact the only stainless steel Euro hinge on the market.

There are many levels of stainless steel and if these were rejected due to the carbon/iron content then your search can end here.

There are 5 knuckle, institutional hinges on the market in stainless that may pass the carbon test. I believe this is where most people end up after searching. Check with Sugatsune for these as well.

This question comes up frequently. Although the Sugatsune stainless hinges would be ideal for outdoor conditions or other high moisture areas it appears they are not the product for MRI rooms.

Keith, the hinges shown on the Amazon link are simply steel, not stainless steel even though they call them “Euro Brass”. Clever name, but there is no such material. Chinese imports ….

I have successfully used the sugatsune hinges (make sure you are using the actual stainless ones because they have 2 versions! included installation screws may not be stainless watch out for that) in multiple MRI rooms previously. There is some truth that they may contain a very very small amount of iron/ferrous content (it's been explained to me that it is likely from the machining processes bending/forming that has rubbed some material off). One of the main differences that I've noticed is when doing casework in a new MRI vs a remodel in an existing. A few of the MRI technicians I've talked to have explained that there is a certain amount of calibration that has to be done to deal with the "noise" or whatever it is from the metal ferrous/or not in the room and that changing what is in an existing room probably isn't going to get the same level of tweaking as during installation of a new machine (taking this on their word). Obviously no one is going to certify their cabinet hardware as MRI safe but if the sugatsune hinges won't work you'll likely have to use stainless piano hinges as in the past I personally haven't found any 5 knuckle/institutional that are nonmagnetic even being labeled as stainless .

Is it being rejected by the architect or the machine manufacturer? We have dealt with GE on this, and they always have to deal with rebar in concrete floors, steel joists and other things around the equipment. If it is the architect rejecting this and you are proposing just what everyone else does, they need to look at their design or offer a suggestion.

Thanks Everyone.
The hinges are being rejected by the architect as far as I know. But I am just getting my info from the PM and didn't ask a ton of questions.
We have used the sugatsune hinges successfully on previous projects but no luck on this one.
I will see if we can switch to 5 knuckle or piano hinges in this case.

Mike W.:

My experience in these matters is to ask the architect to specify the hinge that he would like to have used in this application, since your recommendation was rejected. Perhaps the architect will find what you need.

If not, then when the architect becomes as dumbfounded as the rest of us are in solving this problem, suddenly a whole world of practical solutions start to make themselves available.

Let their fingers do the walking, instead of yours, as we used to say before the Internet.

Good luck.
TonyF

Hello All,

Great conversation here. To clarify, Sugatsune's stainless drawer slides and euro cup hinges are designed and tested for corrosion resistance. While customers have decided to use these in the past in MRI rooms, Sugatsune itself cannot recommend them.

Stainless steel is generally non-magnetic as sheet metal, but once you form it, you change the properties of the material. You can test this yourself on a stainless steel sink by running a magnet along the flat side (where you feel almost no attraction) to the top or bottom along a curve (where you feel some attraction). Same metal, different properties.

Click the link below to download the file included with this post.

Stainless_Steel_Notice.pdf

https://www.sugatsune.com/products/productdetails.cfm?catid=5&subcatid=10&productid=304B-46/19,%20C46/19