Rusting Rocna

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Thanks for your response Grant, I'll write later today - it's 01:00 here and I'm tired. As I'm cruising the Italian Adriatic and the integrity of the anchor's functionality is not in question, there is no hurry. Subject is closed from my point of view.

Best, B.

[/ QUOTE ]Two comments but at least the mfr is going to sort you, which is good news....

1. I don't think that a repair to the galvanising is acceptable. You have no way of knowing if there are other bad areas. Galvanising only works if bonded to the steel. It needs to be re-galvanised.

2. Meanwhile, buy a can of zinc-rich cold galvanising (spray or can). Sand off the rust with Wet or Dry and passivate the exposed steel with whichever passivator you keep in stock. Wash carefully and dry, and spray several coats of Zn cold galvanising over the 'wounds'. It will give you considerable protection and, more importantly perhaps, an excellent cosmetic finish. I use Zn spray around my anchor connector and where the (old) chain has started to rust. It works really well and has lasted two seasons of fairly heavy use.
 
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Galvanising can chip or be removed by any number of reasons,

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Galvanising should never chip, it should be bonded. The coating can be damaged -- that is inevitable with an anchor at some time -- but the nature of galvanising is such that even quite large damaged areas heal and are protected. That is why galvanising is such a good technique for steel used in a outdoor environment. But it should never chip.

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we have no control over the treatment and processes applied during galvanising. We can only set the specifications for the contractors and trust that they will adhere to those specs.

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I think you need to recruit someone with experience of manufacturing. There are long-established techniques to ensure that standards are met for both in-house and subcontracted manufacture. It sounds to me as though you need a Quality Manager and probably an Inspector though one bod could do both in a small outfit.
 
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Of course it matters if the item is made in China. Would you expect a Chinese car to be as good as a German one? No you wouldnt, and part of the reason would be that the materials used are not yet of the same quality. Ultimately they will be as has happened in Japan. But for ther moment its cheap and cheerful.

Plus I very much doubt that the anchor has been galvanised to a recognised standard like the Euronorms. I might be wrong in saying that and would be delighted to be corrected. But thats the reason why the galv shackles you buy these days are so cr*p.

[/ QUOTE ]I was in contract manufacturing (Far East) for a (short) while. My job was to interface between car manufacturers in Europe (Peugeot, VW, BMW,....) and the factories in the Far East at a sales level, but also as company rep handling quality issues, delivery issues, etc. I can assure you that many, many components in your 'German' car are made in the Far East and often in places far more primitive than today's China.

Chinese factories can produce to world-class standards if you ask for that quality. They can also produce junk if that's what you want. Junk costs less. The reason why your 'Chinese' shackles rust after a fortnight is because someone gave the manufacturer a spec that cut costs (typically thin zinc - zinc is expensive). The reason this happens is because us lot, in the chandlery, always go for the cheap shackle for €1 rather than the high quality or certified shackle for €3. The chandler has no alternative if he wants to sell shackles....so someone has to make this junk. It is both unfair and misleading to suggest that this is anything to do with China.
 
I was in UK metal manufacturing for a 40 years, exporting all over the world including China, and I can assure you that the standards prevailing there (admittedly a few years ago when I was working) were not the same as those in the West whether UK Germany France or Italy. Even the very best they could do.

There may be less difference these days where we have exported the technology and set up subsidiary factories in the economic zones, but thats hardly the sort of plant an anchor would be made in.

I agree with you about price level but it doesnt help when (unlike evry other country in Europe) we write off British goods and buy without any loyalty.
 
Well, I hear what you say but on anchors, my Delta is made in China and I know for a fact that the (Spanish) chandlery had had it in stock for several years so it was made in around 2003/4 at the latest. It is well-made and no signs of problems. So the Chinese can make perfectly good anchors. The company that markets Delta presumably has a professional engineering purchasing department, as practically everything it sells is out-sourced. That might be the difference?
 
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I don't think that a repair to the galvanising is acceptable. You have no way of knowing if there are other bad areas. Galvanising only works if bonded to the steel. It needs to be re-galvanised.

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I think that is what will result and, as you rightly comment, is the only solution.

I have since examined the impacts from yesterday and found the galvanising is indeed chipped off exposing the fresh steel - no bonding whatsoever.

Thanks for your support and tips.
 
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Thanks for your response Grant, I'll write later today - it's 01:00 here and I'm tired. As I'm cruising the Italian Adriatic and the integrity of the anchor's functionality is not in question, there is no hurry. Subject is closed from my point of view.

Best, B.

[/ QUOTE ]Two comments but at least the mfr is going to sort you, which is good news....

1. I don't think that a repair to the galvanising is acceptable. You have no way of knowing if there are other bad areas. Galvanising only works if bonded to the steel. It needs to be re-galvanised.

2. Meanwhile, buy a can of zinc-rich cold galvanising (spray or can). Sand off the rust with Wet or Dry and passivate the exposed steel with whichever passivator you keep in stock. Wash carefully and dry, and spray several coats of Zn cold galvanising over the 'wounds'. It will give you considerable protection and, more importantly perhaps, an excellent cosmetic finish. I use Zn spray around my anchor connector and where the (old) chain has started to rust. It works really well and has lasted two seasons of fairly heavy use.

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Thank you for your comments Lemain, I will have to choose my words carefully in the future as the only acceptable "repair" that we would entertain is complete regalvanising as opposed to just a local touch up.

We will be doing this at a time and place suitable to the owner, at our cost.

You are totally correct with one main point, that being that the galvanising is faulty and should not have chipped like that in the first place and should have bonded fully with the steel.

It is a fault, we fix it and everyone should be happy.

Your comments on cold galv spray and treatment are exactly what we recommend to arrest the corrosion until the anchor is regalvanised.
 
must admit I'm surprised at regalving it. The cost of doing that one off has to be more than the cost of throwing it away and giving out a new one.
 
As a Rocna owner I'm extremely dissappointed. I think that in such a short time to see this damage to the galvanising should mean a replaced anchor... full stop!
For the price we are paying for the supposed 'best' that are now made in China with a huge profit margin, then Rocna have got it dreadfully wrong. Perhaps I should have looked at alternatives more seriously?
What a crasse statement by their representative!
Come on Craig, extract the digit man!
 
...we have no control over the treatment and processes applied during galvanising. We can only set the specifications for the contractors and trust that they will adhere to those specs....

Grant King
Production Manager
Rocna Anchors
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Have you worked in manufacturing long?

:D

Andy
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My thoughts exactly. Whilst in some consumer products it may be acceptable to use the customer as the final QA inspector, in something like an anchor I would hope that the brand owner would do a trifle more than 'trust' the subcontractors. What other aspects of the production process are done on 'trust' with no verification?
 
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