Stuck turnbuckles - HELP

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cmedsailor

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I have two turnbuckles that got stuck. I think they are not S/S like the shrouds (Sparcraft rig on a 2002 Beneteau Oceanis 361 - anybody knows what metal these turnbuckles are?).
Any ideas how to make them move? WD40 doesn't seem to work. If I put more pressure on them I am afraid that I will eventually brake them (I wouldn't mind changing them, but I first need to get them off without breaking the shrouds).
Thanks
 
could be chromed bronze or similar. Have you tried heating them ? You could be fairly dramatic with a small flamethrower or paint stripper, to use thermal expansion to try and break whatever is holding them together.

As they cool, use some WD40 so that its gets ingested into the cracks.


If it is a galling (sort of welding by movement) then you have a big task ahead, and maybe will end up rigging a jury shroud or stay, then hacksawing through the turnbuckle prior to replacing the unit.
 
Yes, if they are open body they are most likely chromed bronze bodies with SS studs. If they are closed body they will be all SS. Heat should help if a penetrating oil fails.
 
Why do you think they are not stainless steel? On a modern production boat I would have expected them to be. It does sound very much like galling, assuming they are stainless steel. One of the big advantages of bronze is that they are not susceptible to this particular problem. Unfortunately there is no solution, they are scrap. It may well be that the threads on the shrouds are seized, in which case the shrouds will need to be replaced also.
 
They are open body and I remember somebody telling me (a long time ago) that they don't look like S/S (how do you tell anyway? Everything looks like S/S to me as long as it shines!!).
But I don't remember what they are. Probably chrome bronze as you say.
The shrouds are 8 years old.
Thanks
 
My open body ones are stainless steel. There are loads of open stainless ones around, eg http://seascrew.com/browse.cfm?OPEN-BODY-STAINLESS-RIGGING-SCREW&l=0000000869

If you examine yours closely you will almost certainly see a few dings and surface marks. In a plated bronze screw you will be able to see a colour change beneath the surface. A stainless one will be the same colour all through.
 
I have to say that in my experience stainless open body rigging screws are quite unusual - Hayn, Johnson, Plastimo and Hasselfors are all CB or B, although the latter offers a SS version.

If the trend is toward SS with SS studs I think it's a retrograde step for the reason Viv mentions - galling.
 
I agree.

Stainless steel bodied turnbuckles are usually used on safety lines NOT rigging.

Galling is possible between two stainless steel threads when there is no tension in them, let alone when you have rig tension. It happens with good quality gear too. The best way to guard against it is to lubricate the thread. But once the oil dries you have a galling problem again.

I doesn't surprise me that some boat manufacturers (..... eh ..... we used to call the boat builders) ...... use stainless steel bodied units as they can save a few quid.

Silicone Bronze bodies are what you should have .... and heat and WD40 should sort you out. Do have a close look at the threads though, and make sure your turning them the right way. If you twist the body or damage any other part of the fitting, buy new.
 
Salty John said:
I have to say that in my experience stainless open body rigging screws are quite unusual - Hayn, Johnson, Plastimo and Hasselfors are all CB or B, although the latter offers a SS version.

If the trend is toward SS with SS studs I think it's a retrograde step for the reason Viv mentions - galling.
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My rigging screws are 13 years old - Hasselfors - stainless steel. They replaced an identical set. My previous boat was also SS (original rig), so quite surprised that SS are considered unusual.

Had one that suffered from galling, and will change to bronze when next done. Fortunately it stuck on the boat side of the rigging screw so was able to change it.
 
lubricating stainless screw threads with ordinary oil will not greatly reduce the risk of galling. Liquid PTFE, aluminium or copper nanoparticles, and similar are available in anti-seize compounds.
 
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Pye End, I think Hasselfors must have come late to the concept of bronze rigging screw bodies, they now say:
"Aluminium bronze, like stainless steel, is very strong and highly resistant to corrosion. By making the body of the rigging screw in chrome plated aluminium bronze and the terminals in high grade marine stainless steel, it has reduced the risk of the thread seizing up under heavy loads. A design feature which gives you a product that lasts even longer".

They do still offer their stainless open body screws which they say are pre-lubricated with their own special oil.
 
An active chemical penetrant is better than oils, water displacements and solvents.
Have a search for ACF-50 or Corossion block. It really is far better when it is corossion that has caused seizure which applies to most things on salt water.
 
Wight Dawn said:
I saw a thread that recommended using Coppaslip (used for stopping squealing of brake pads) as a lubricant for SS rigging screws. Has anyone any views on this?
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Very many years ago Shell marketed a special anti-galling grease, although they did not make it themselves. Withdrawn a long time ago I think. However, it was molybdenum-disulphide based. A MoS2 based grease is probably the best that can be used but even this will not always work.

Galling is a welding process, on a micro scale. Whereas it is straightforward to weld metal to metal it is far more difficult to weld metal to its sulphide. Hence a sulphide based lubricant stands some chance, but the likelihood of forming the sulphide in the first place is not high. Similarly Copperslip helps as it gets between the two stainless steel components.
 
I have had lanolin recommended to me to stop galling. We used when installing several hundred M25 x 450 anchors on a construction site and never experienced any problems. The brand we chose was Boots lanolin hand creme and on completion our hands were as soft as a baby's bottom!
 
ghostlymoron said:
I have had lanolin recommended to me to stop galling. We used when installing several hundred M25 x 450 anchors on a construction site and never experienced any problems. The brand we chose was Boots lanolin hand creme and on completion our hands were as soft as a baby's bottom!
Click to expand...

That's an interesting one, new to me. Before the days of synthetic compressor oils they used to be mineral oil with additions of 10% wool fat, which is presumably the same thing, or nearly. It appears that it has good boundary lubricating properties.
 
hi folks,
i used to work in the ultra high pressure water jetting industry, using water @ 2800 bar to remove paint, tube cleaning,cold cutting steel etc.
all the uhp joints on the hoses,jets, guns etc were stainless steel. we always used a nickel anti seize paste on all scew threads because of the galling problems with s/s. the nickel paste was made by chetra in germany.
 
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