Stainless steel anchor roller?

[MedMilo]

The nylon roller over which my 12mm anchor chain pays out has high edges in order to stop the chain popping off the roller and getting wedged between the roller and the housing in which it is mounted. I had this made by a mate who has a precision engineering business as the OEM Fairline roller had very low sides resulting in the chain slipping off regularly! The issue is that the roller's high sides make the edges a little weak and over the last few summers one or two chunks have been taken out of the outside edge of the roller. My mate is suggesting that he makes the replacement from stainless steel which will obviously be much stronger than nylon. Is it okay to have stainless steel chain running over a stainless steel bow roller? I guess it'll be a little noisier but I'm not too fussed about that really. But will it cause undue friction / heat and ultimately extra wear on the chain etc?

 

[Portofino]

No .

We have a metal bow roller albeit with galvanised chain .No adverse effects just a huge benefit of it never chipping or needing replacing .
Sounds ok too .
Anchor wash cools as well as washes .But I don’t think heat is an issue anyhow for those sans a wash .

 

[Portofino]

Here std fit on Itama - note the low none jamming or chipping sides - 2001 boat .


Had a few nylon ones on the S/Sker , chocolate fire guard .
As you say the edges chip when bring up the anchor if the boats moved .
Then the chain gets easijammed in the now bigger gap and the winch snaps progressively bigger chunks out .
Oh and get this there no universal DIN size .89 , 77 84 mm etc etc wide + much more so it’s a ball ache getting the right size spare part width wise .Once that’s established then the spindle hole where the bolt goes is a range of sizes .
I got the right width once only to have to drill out the hole for the bolt dia .
Anyhow those nylon roller nightmares are long gone and the therapy has help with the nightmares .

Why oh why wasn’t it SSteel to begin with ?

 

[MYAG]

Nah, SS roller the only way to go. You don't say what chain/anchor you have but get the heaviest your setup (motor) will run. Heavy gear will keep the chain central on the roller even in meaty crosswinds.

 

[MedMilo]

Thanks for these replies, really good to know and I'm sure SS will be a much more robust solution. Much appreciated. Will ask my mate to knock up one for me...

BTW - Ground tackle set up is 140m x 12mm stainless chain and a 55kg Rocna anchor (boat is Squadron 65). We cruise the Med for about 10/12 weeks each summer and anchor out 80% of the time - so far, so good in terms of holding etc!

 

[MYAG]

Your gear is plenty but I would not have a nylon roller with that setup, too heavy hence the break up.

 

[MapisM]

Hiya MYAG, it's been a while since your last post here in the asylum.
2+ years, in fact... What have you been up to?
I hope all is well, anyhow!

 

[Channel Sailor]

Are you sure it is Nylon. I would expect it to be Derlin. which I understand is more durable.

 

[vas]

mine is in ertalon, after 4 summers' light use, still intact.

V.

 

[MedMilo]

Hmm, not sure actually, but either way it's pretty chewed up! Have now briefed in the stainless steel roller and I guess that'll be stronger than any nylon type composite material. Thanks for the replies though, very helpful as ever...

 

[david_bagshaw]

Just a tip

If the stainless roller runs on a stainless bolt, have the roller bushed with bronze or something similar, as stainless /stainless rubbing together will suffer from pickup on the surface and quickly jam. The roller wont noticeably wear the chain, the sandy / rocky bottom will do that. (have a stainless roller at the top of the hawse pipe. had to fit a bronze bush as it jammed first use. tried a quick fix of increasing the clearance , bit it still was notchy and the roller didnt turn smoothly on lifting anch increasing winch loads). been used for 20 years now with daily anchoring on most trips.

 

[MedMilo]

Thanks for this, yes, the chap doing it for me is putting some kind of countersunk bronze bush inside the roller which will act as a kind of bearing against the stainless steel pin which goes through the roller. Hopefully that will stop it binding!

Just a tip

If the stainless roller runs on a stainless bolt, have the roller bushed with bronze or something similar, as stainless /stainless rubbing together will suffer from pickup on the surface and quickly jam. The roller wont noticeably wear the chain, the sandy / rocky bottom will do that. (have a stainless roller at the top of the hawse pipe. had to fit a bronze bush as it jammed first use. tried a quick fix of increasing the clearance , bit it still was notchy and the roller didnt turn smoothly on lifting anch increasing winch loads). been used for 20 years now with daily anchoring on most trips.

 

[Portofino]

I think even the plastic type had a bronze Bush for the pin .
Anyhow not sure if theses pics are of any use ?
The metal ones don’t necessarily need high shoulders .
The box it sits in needs to be rigid so the chain does not accidentally ( when it’s skewed ) twist the support of the roller .
The plastic high sided ones flex and give then eventually fracture / chip at the edges .

There’s no such wear with a metal , but skewing forces needs to go somewhere.
So the holder of the new metal roller needs to be up to the job , I would say .

 

[MedMilo]

Very helpful, thank you!