8mm Stainless Steel Chain for anchor

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Gludy

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Does anyone know who supplies a very high quality calibrated stainless steel chain for use as anchor rode?

I understand normal 316 is not good enough quality for this and I cannot find a supplier using Google. I think there is one in Italy.
 
S/S anchor chain?

Blimey Gludy - you're pushing the boat out for Christmas. At the rate I deposit marine hardware on the ocean floor I'd need to be very brave indeed to invest in a s/s anchor and/or chain. Good luck in your search anyway - have you tried William Hackett Chains? Try contacting them because their website doesn't make it obvious that they manufacture marine chains.
 
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Here is a quote from Steve Dashew's web-site :

" The stainless is handsome, but it is also substantially weaker than would be the case with mild or high tensile steel. And the welds are potentially subject to corrosion.

So why bother? Aside from the aesthetic statement there is one advantage. You don’t have to worry about regalvanizing. Worth it? That is a question you have to answer for yourself. But our preference is high tensile steel."

In this case he was speaking about the anchor itself but you might want to take this into consideration.
 
Thank you for the suggestions.
The 8mm Duplex chain I am talking about has a much higher tensile strength than 10mm galvanised and its about half the weight. Its also flakes better and we are having some problems with the current poorly flaking chain. The anchor is a Rocna 40kg galvanised which I will stick a few anodes onto.
 
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I would have thought 40 kg anchor and 8 mm chain was a serious mismatch.

I'd be interested in seeing a link to evidence a small stainless chain can be stronger than a big galv one.
 
We have a real flaking problem with the chain piling up and the s/s chain flakes much better.
Appearance rates a zero - its all about function so we want to save weight and have improved flaking without losing any strength - what would you suggest?
 
Gludy, if you want my comments.

Firstly, the label of 316 doesn't really cover the grade of chain because it can be in various tempers. The 316 that everyone means when they say 316, e.g. cheap stuff from chandleries, will be G30. "High tensile" stainless is commonly G50, but still 316. Now 316 has issues, you don't see it used much in commercial marine applications, but it tends to be okay in the leisure market.

Having said that, it's true that most duplex stainlesses are superior to 316, in terms of both corrosion properties relevant to the marine environment, and strength. The WASI duplex chain you linked to appears to be a little stronger than G50 if the stated BLs are to be believed, somewhere between a nominal G50 and G60.

I would be very interested to know exactly what grade of duplex they are using. Be aware there are a range, from cheap lean duplexes which would be bettered by 316 in terms of corrosion properties, to super duplexes which would be way expensive and total overkill.

Anyway the appropriate match for the Rocna 40 is 11 mm G40 or 8 mm G70, i.e. with G50 stainless you'd be wanting to look at 10 mm. That WASI chain 8 mm would be a little weaker (~10%) than 11 G40. Pushing it but maybe okay. You're not worried about affecting strengths in the future with re-galving.

You shouldn't need to worry about anodes on the anchor. If you deploy the gear 300 days a year in 30 deg C water then maybe, but otherwise you should be needing to re-galv the anchor on account of wear before you see any effects of galvanic corrosion.

Sybarite said:
Here is a quote from Steve Dashew's web-site :

" The stainless is handsome, but it is also substantially weaker than would be the case with mild or high tensile steel. And the welds are potentially subject to corrosion.

So why bother? Aside from the aesthetic statement there is one advantage. You don’t have to worry about regalvanizing. Worth it? That is a question you have to answer for yourself. But our preference is high tensile steel."

In this case he was speaking about the anchor itself but you might want to take this into consideration.
Click to expand...
I sympathize with Steve's position, but stainless is not 'substantially' weaker than mild steel - 316 is usually about the same in fact, and other grades can be properly high tensile. As for the welds, there's nothing intrinsically problematic about stainless welding... problems arise from poor quality fabrication. You should not have issues with quality gear from reputable manufacturers.

The principle issue with stainless is that it's [very] expensive. Cheap stainless means poor quality. One of the principle brands in Europe that do top quality stainless chain is Maggi. Surely WASI have a good name too, but I have no feedback. In your position* I would investigate whether WASI are making that chain themselves, and whether the price looks realistic (compare to Maggi G50 for one).

* Actually I would go for 8 mm G70 galvanized but that's up to you - after all if you get stainless chain you'll need to upgrade the anchor to stainless no? :)
 
Gludy said:
We have a real flaking problem with the chain piling up and the s/s chain flakes much better.
Appearance rates a zero - its all about function so we want to save weight and have improved flaking without losing any strength - what would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I would suggest that you look at a flake breaker fitting in the anchor locker, as it has everything to do with how the chain falls into the locker. For instance, I have no issue with my 60m of chain coming back in from full deployment, without the use of a chain flicker pole or prodder.
 
Gludy said:
Thank you for the suggestions.
The 8mm Duplex chain I am talking about has a much higher tensile strength than 10mm galvanised and its about half the weight. Its also flakes better and we are having some problems with the current poorly flaking chain. The anchor is a Rocna 40kg galvanised which I will stick a few anodes onto.
Click to expand...

Surely you are looking for chair weight as part of your anchoring strategy. So based on that a chain which is half the weight would have to be larger size.
 
I find all these comments very helpfull and I have learnt from them - thank you.

Wasi no longer sell the chain anyway. I will investigate more.

My boat is anchored pretty well 24/7 and most of the year cruising in the Caribbean at present so anodes are needed - a lot cheaper than buying an s/s chain. My friends found out the hard way. :-)
 
Hi there. We have 10mm stainless steel chain. It came from Germany and I understand is the only LLoyds approved stainless chain (But i could be wrong about that!).

Can't find the details I am afraid, it's 12 years old now. We use it with a 65lb CQR.Forty foot boat, weights just under 16 tons . Flakes beautifully! Cleans easily from mud but you still have to scrub the barnacles off.

No problems to date with it and I remain unconvinced of the 'it's likely to snap' argument.
We anchor most of the time, currently in the Caribbean,and so far the advantages have well outweighed the disadvantages...

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com
 
Gludy said:
I cannot find a supplier using Google. I think there is one in Italy.
Click to expand...

Below are some Italian contacts, but Jackie Chadwick at Bradney Chain (www.bradneychain.co.uk) is a very helpful port of call in the UK. The last quote I had from her - for 8mm dia DIN 766 chain, ISO certified, Grade 50 - was £25.70/m. The Grade 30 version was £11.08/m, which is similar to the Italian prices.

http://www.catenificiorigamonti.com/pgm/shopping/product_details.php?id=30&product_id=41

http://global.ebay.com/CATENA_CALIBRATA_PER_ANCORA_IN_ACCIAIO_INOX_316/250214417513/item

http://www.gamaronline.com/catena-inox-calibrata-mm-8.html

Hope this helps: I was looking for the same reasons as yourself - fed up with poor flaking qualities of galvanised.
 
Gludy said:
Wasi no longer sell the chain anyway. I will investigate more.
Click to expand...
That's a pity, I wish there was a reputable source of duplex SS chain.

Gludy said:
My boat is anchored pretty well 24/7 and most of the year cruising in the Caribbean at present so anodes are needed - a lot cheaper than buying an s/s chain. My friends found out the hard way. :-)
Click to expand...
Elaborate on your friend's experience? Galvanic corrosion will damage your galvanized components, not the stainless, the zinc is sacrificial to the latter. I.e. your HDG anchor would act as a big anode in the vicinity of the anchor-end of the chain. Using a dedicated anode isn't really going to help that much anyway, even placed at the very end of the chain (at the shackle), it's all about surface area! The anchor galv will still corrode (very slowly).
 
Friends experience with 8mm Duplex was that his galvanised Rocna 40kg corroded and he had to put a couple of anodes on the roll bar to stop it.

He very much likes the chain.

My number one reason is flaking - I have real problems and runaway chain situations caused by flaking problems - its a real pain. Th second reason is weight saving but if I could solve the flaking problem then I would not change.

It has been shown that chain weight has little effect on anchoring - I always thought it did but I was wrong.
 
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