Which Loctite for an Anchor shackle?

[J Neeves]

If one were to use Loctite, or an equivalent, to secure an anchor shackle pin which of the myriad of products (of Loctite) work and which do not. I do not want something that is permanent (say requiring a blow torch to release) but something that is known to last in the defined application with security but can be opened on the foredeck using an adjustable spanner or mole wrench (do you still call them mole wrenches).

Volvo have a similar adhesive (I think for their props) but it is not provided for quite the same 'abusive' application - but might be perfectly adequate.

Jonathan

 

[dancrane]

Aren't you better off wiring a shackle tight? wire through the hole in the pin, and tie it through the shackle as well. There'll never be enough turning force on the pin to break the wire, and it's much easier than glue, to remove when you want to.

 

[fergie_mac66]

Aren't you better off wiring a shackle tight? wire through the hole in the pin, and tie it through the shackle as well. There'll never be enough turning force on the pin to break the wire, and it's much easier than glue, to remove when you want to.

+1 monel wire

 

[sailorman]

+1 monel wire

+2

 

[sarabande]

engineering grade UV-resistant cable tie ? If they are good enough for mooring shackles, they are more than OK for anchors. Easy to fix; easy to check; easy to replace.

 

[colind3782]

Wire or cable tie

 

[[3889]]

Wire or cable tie

 

[dancrane]

View attachment 41991

Is such a shackle as that, much inclined to work loose in use? Maybe it needs a tad more tightening?

 

[KellysEye]

Monel wire is standard nothing else.

 

[[3889]]

Monel wire is standard nothing else.

Not a universally held opinion.

Jimmy Green: "Shackles are an uncomplicated link between your anchor and chain (providing the pin is secured shut by either Monel seizing wire or locktite)."

Wichard: " Self-locking twisted shackle with allen head pin forged in grade 316L stainless steel
The pin is locked into one of the indentations....Ideal to link chain and anchor"

Personally, I'm looking to move away from my wired bow shackle as it catches on the entry to the chain locker and I have suffered needle injuries from the wire. I'm inclined towards the Wichard shackle but would prefer galvanized and £25 for a shackle isa bit OTT.

 

[dancrane]

Surely the benefit of using wire is that even if the pin works loose from its intended secure tightness, it cannot continue unscrewing because the wire holds it in the thread?

Whereas, having applied Loctite, the pin is a bitch to shift when you want it out, and if, in extremis, the pin is loosened, there's nothing to stop it unscrewing and dropping out?

 

[vyv_cox]

Loctite 242. Today I disassembled my Kong swivel that was Loctited at the beginning of the 2013 season. The countersunk screw that holds it together was just as tight as on the day it was made up. Before I recommended using Loctite I carried out a series of torque tests that showed it to perform extremely well despite immersion in seawater.

I also use it on my countersunk Wichard shackles and have now done so for about five years. Every time I have undone one it has been notable that the torque was high.

 

[lustyd]

Wire will eventually shred your hands unless you have a self retrieving set up which works every time. You don't need to hold the pin tight because nothing is trying to turn it, all the force is sideways. All you need to do is prevent it performing a full turn and pretty much any string or twine will achieve this. Regardless what you use, the important thing is to regularly inspect it. While wire will encourage you not to inspect due to its hard wearing nature, cord will have the opposite effect

For what it's worth, I use nothing at all. I attach the anchor every time I stop since it lives in a locker, and never stay in one place more than one night.

 

[Dockhead]

Loctite 242. Today I disassembled my Kong swivel that was Loctited at the beginning of the 2013 season. The countersunk screw that holds it together was just as tight as on the day it was made up. Before I recommended using Loctite I carried out a series of torque tests that showed it to perform extremely well despite immersion in seawater.

I also use it on my countersunk Wichard shackles and have now done so for about five years. Every time I have undone one it has been notable that the torque was high.

I think a number of folks missed the fact that the OP was talking about a socket headed Wichard shackle, which has no place to put the Monel wire.

I also use the Wichard shackle and am very pleased with it. I remove and retorque the pin every year and my experience is the same as yours -- the Loctite non-permanent type (red? can't remember) seems to work very well.

The Wichard shackle is the only type which doesn't foul my bow roller. It has the same WLL rating and a higher UTS rating as my 12mm G40 chain has.

Prior to that I used the giant Kong swivel, but despite the torpedo shape, this always fouled the bow roller.

 

[colind3782]

I think a number of folks missed the fact that the OP was talking about a socket headed Wichard shackle, which has no place to put the Monel wire.

No mention of that in the OP, I even went back and checked! But, since I now know, I guess it's Loctite.

 

[NormanS]

I think a number of folks missed the fact that the OP was talking about a socket headed Wichard shackle, which has no place to put the Monel wire.
.

A lot of us missed the bit about the Wichard shackle in OP, because it wasn't mentioned. In fact he specifically talked about using a Mole wrench or adjustable spanner.

 

[RAI]

I have had a lot of success using plumbers PTFE tape on the threads and shaft (head end). On galvanised shackles it stops the pins from rusting in place and increases the friction enough to prevent accidental unscrewing. Just make sure to use enough.

 

[Malo37]

I have had a lot of success using plumbers PTFE tape on the threads and shaft (head end). On galvanised shackles it stops the pins from rusting in place and increases the friction enough to prevent accidental unscrewing. Just make sure to use enough.

Oh dear - PTFE is a lubricant , albeit sometimes in tape form, and should not be used on the basis that it provides any locking ability. It is used by plumbers as it prevents flow through the thread. Loctite was developed originally by the military and provided you can get the appropriate version works very well in water. However you can't see it working and it is therefore unverifiable unless you test it by applying torque to the screw or pin. Far easier and more satisfactory to provide a mechanical lock such as Monel or stainless wire or cable tie that you can check by looking at it.

 

[Mistroma]

I have had a lot of success using plumbers PTFE tape on the threads and shaft (head end). On galvanised shackles it stops the pins from rusting in place and increases the friction enough to prevent accidental unscrewing. Just make sure to use enough.

Interesting that it increases the friction. You'd expect PTFE to do exactly the opposite as it has an extremely low coefficient of friction. In fact, I've always believed that Teflon tape only serves as a lubricant in threaded joints. i.e. It makes it easier to tighten them.

 

[J Neeves]

Sorry, my fault with regard to the spanner and mole wrench. I am actually using normal shackles with a lug and Loctite and a mole wrench to undo - see below.

Many people have the problem that the shackle pin protrudes so much that it catches on the bow roller. Given they are described as 'anchor bow shackles' one might have thought they would be a bit more streamlined. But there are shackles, that are rated, with counter sunk heads, as posted above or you can take a normal stainless bow shackle (of the correct strength) and cut the end of the pin off and also cut a slot to take a flat screw driver or cut the end off the pin of a gal shackle, slot it and then paint the head, where you cut through the gal.

All of these solutions attempting to make a streamlined shackle finish with a shackle pin that is hard to mouse, if you cut the end off the pin you can leave enough of the end to allow you to drill a fine hole through which you can mouse but the allen key solution does not offer this opportunity.

But mousing is a fiddle and in my experience as difficult to remove as needing an allen key or screw driver to remove an 'adhered' pin.

Vyv has mentioned a number of times he has successfully used Loctite and he uses it over a prolonged period of time. His post above should re-assure anyone who is sceptical.

So the question was which Loctite?

Someone has mentioned 'red' loctite, which reduces the choice to, I think, a lot and Vyv uses 242 (though does not mention whether this is red). The Volvo stuff for props is, I think, blue.

I'm running a series of tests on chain where I need multiple shackles, 13 in total. And using monal is really time consuming (and expensive). I'm using small shackles with the normal protruding lug. I've used 609 but only for a month at a time. I then need to open the shackle to check the chains. The 609 is fine, it needs a mole to undo the shackles. But it made me think of Vyv, in the nicest possible way, and I wondered what he used, was it the best choice were there other alternatives.

Personally I'm impressed with the 609 and I would follow Vyv's lead and use Loctite in the future - but which Loctite? Are there others, apart from 609 and 242. n I'm not advocating 609 at this stage - it works for a month I have not used it for longer.


I do not know what Vyv does but whatever one uses the shackle should be checked, even mousing does not last forever. But there is no way you can undo the shackles I am using with 609 by hand - so a simple hand check regularly ought suffice.

But from the posts so far - it looks as if monal sales are secure for the foreseeable future!

Jonathan