Anchor chain PAIN!

[Onyva]

HELP!!!!!!!We have a Lewmar Ocean Concept windlass (002 gypsy) and need to replace our current 50m chain with 100m - ready for the Pacific. Problem. The manual says "10mm DIN 766" or "9.5mm ISO" or "5/16 ACCO G40" but does not quote dimensions of the links. I suspect my current chain is actually 7mm High Test - have you ever tried measuring an anchor chain link!?- (approx dimensions: Px25mm / Wx30mm / int width x12mm / ext length x43mm)

All I want is 100m of High Test Grade 40 chain to fit my windlass. Everyone I have talked to so far keeps asking me what I currently have rather than telling me what I can have.

Help!

1)does anyone know what "DIN 766" "ACCO" and "ISO" mean? Are they standard link sizes or something or, as I suspect, related to quality and breaking strengths etc?

2)does anyone know how I can go about obtaining the chain we need that will actually (definitely!) fit our windlass?

Any help / insights VERY appreciated......

 

[snowleopard]

Measure the chain size by using a caliper or whatever on the thickness of a link, then go to a supplier and ask for e.g. '8mm chain calibrated for Lewmar'.

All they do is take standard short link chain and run it over a gypsy of the appropriate make to check it doesn't snag!

 

[Santana379]

The chain experts on the East Coast are E.Y.E at The Gunshed, Levington. Tel. 01473 659666. They are also very good value. No doubt you are on the other side of the country.

In my experience the best way to be sure is to take the windlass to the chain supplier, and run a considerable length of chain through it, not just a couple of feet, to ensure an exact match. You could always just take your existing chain in for a supplier to measure.

One or two windlass manufacters, (I believe the S-L hi speed is an example), are a bit sly in using non standard chain, so you have to go back to them for replacement/additional chain. I recently had to pay 4x as much for non standard chain as compared to the nearest standard size. The size difference was tiny, but enough to render the windlass fairly useless.

 

[Deleted member 478]

Try Griff's Chains

 

[Salty John]

ACCO 5/16 G40 is short link, calibrated, high test. ACCO is, I believe, American chain company. The others quoted in the manual are metric equivalents. ISO is International Standard and ISO 4565 is the European standard for small craft anchor chain. For each chain size there is a pitch, (the inside length of the link), and the gauge, (the wire diameter). 5/16 G4 is 5/16 nominal gauge, 1.01 inch pitch. It will have 12 1/4 links per foot. G4 actually refers to the alloy strength, Grade 40. The old BBB chain and proof coil chain are G3 or Grade 30. There are no direct equivalents between American and European chain: 5/16 G4 has a gauge of 0.34 inches or 11/32 not the 5/16 you would expect! So 5/16 chain is actually closer to 9mm than 8mm metric chain. You should select the chain for the purpose - I prefer G4 because you can use a smaller gauge and therefore lighter, more flexible, chain than G3. If 7mm G4 is right for your boat get a new gypsy of that size. If you want to stick with the present gypsy you need to take the gypsy to the chain to be sure it is a good fit. Mismatched chain and gypsy is a real PAIN!

 

[snowleopard]

[ QUOTE ]
5/16 chain is actually closer to 9mm than 8mm metric chain.

[/ QUOTE ]
A slip of the pen I think... 5/16 = 6mm, 3/8 = 8mm

 

[DeeGee]

Suggest you cut and paste and send to enquiries@islandchain.com, whether you buy there or not, he does chain; only chain and nothing but chain.
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Salty John]

Hi Snowleopard,
I think you will find:
5/16=0.3125x25.4=7.9mm
3/8=0.375x25.4=9.5mm
My point was that nominal 5/16 chain actually has a wire diameter of 11/32 which is 11/32=0.375x25.4=8.73mm, closer to 9mm than 8mm.
I'm British living in UK but my boat is in USA so I work in imperial measure for the boat but metric for work in Europe. I think I'm bilingual, measurmentally speaking, but please correct me if I'm going horribly wrong.
Cheers,

 

[snowleopard]

[--word removed--]. You're quite right. Engage brain before operating computer. Perhaps my ground tackle is heavier than I thought /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[snowleopard]

Wow, this censor is getting clever. I replaced the 'i' with a '1' in that 4 letter word and it still caught it.

 

[AndyL]

DIN766 for 10mm chain means a link of nominal dimensions 10 x 28, but the important part of the DIN spec is not the link size, but the length over 11 links. If you can't get help from EYE, then send me a pm or email. Note that 100m of 10mm weighs 230kg, so freight is going to be expensive, if you can't collect it yourself.
Cheers, Andy