Winter anchor chain care

M

mjcp

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I have 60m of 8mm chain that's ~15 months old.

Boat is ashore on the west coast over the winter (Nov - Mar), what to do with the chain? Last winter it sat on a pallet under the bow. Is that the right process? Should it be treated with anything? Coated / stored in oil etc?

Cheers,
M
 
mjcp said:
I have 60m of 8mm chain that's ~15 months old.

Boat is ashore on the west coast over the winter (Nov - Mar), what to do with the chain? Last winter it sat on a pallet under the bow. Is that the right process? Should it be treated with anything? Coated / stored in oil etc?

Cheers,
M
Click to expand...
That is what we have done with ours - off the ground on a pallet and frequently rinsed with rain.
 
Apart from time when anchoring ... my chain rarely comes out of the locker.

If I do - then its laid out so that chain is not on top of itself ... I can then paint the links indicating amount of chain out ... and also inspect for wear.
 
I used to put mine in a barrel of water with cooking oil upon the surface.

The idea being the water would eventually lose oxygen and therefore ability to cause oxidation (known as rust).

Not sure if it is scientific.

But on a pallet there is a lot of oxygen and rain replenished regularly.

I have been accused of overthinking things, but my chain was expensive and my pockets are only of a certain depth and I hate wasting things.

A LATER DAY :

I should say my chain had little to no galvanising left (but was very oversized and thick links, so worth keeping and inhibiting rust if I could try), hence the barrel idea.

Post 6 for good chain looks an excellent idea.
 
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An air tight box would probably have been better (but more difficult) to set up than a simple barrel of water.
 
Cerebus said:
I used to put mine in a barrel of water with cooking oil upon the surface.

The idea being the water would eventually lose oxygen and therefore ability to cause oxidation (known as rust).

Not sure if it is scientific.

But on a pallet there is a lot of oxygen and rain replenished regularly.

I have been accused of overthinking things, but my chain was expensive and my pockets are only of a certain depth and I hate wasting things.
Click to expand...
Did it work?
 
Sea Change said:
Did it work?
Click to expand...
It is difficult to measure since I never used the pallet method.

It certainly did not rust very much and lose a lot of thickness rapidly or show pitting , but to be accurate I would have to have had two piles to compare, one in barrel and one on pallet.
 
In times of different environmental sensitivities, the first Glenans sailing handbook (end '60 early '70) advised to put it in engine oil, maybe even the used one the last change before overwintering. Must have been dirty hands and pretty rainbows on the water surface the following season.
 
A barrel of oil would be perfect (as far as I know - vegetable oil better for environment).

A barrel of water with antifreeze (that contain corrosion inhibitors) sounds good?

Post 6 allows the galvanising to do all the work without barrels of liquid needed, and possibly best solution.

Holding the tarp in place is an added bonus!
 
When raw chain is shipped from chain makers it is commonly packed in standard 45 gallon drums (which if in good condition are sealed) and the chain is doused in light oil, commonly diesel. Vegetabe oil would make a more environmentally acceptable alternative. But if you string it up, as Vyv suggests, it will mostly stay dry (and by carefully arranging the steel laundry it will not be exposed to rain except occasionally - and the suspended chain will have little opportunity rust).

On no account paint it.

Jonathan
 
Thanks for all the replies!

I think for the sake of a few ££, a large bucket (under cover / with lid) and 10 litres of veg oil might be the way to go. Alternatively, a liberal coating / spray of fogging oil could work? (noting the drawback of oil going into water the following season)

Cheers,
M
 
I wouldn't bother doing anything except dropping it onto a pallet, or the ground if it's clean, washing it with fresh water and when it's dried, returning it to the (cleaned out) chain locker.

In the unlikely event that I did get it into my head to waste time and money anointing it with something, I would spray it with that stuff I used to spray the underside of my British-made rotbox cars with: Waxoyl. That, too, was a waste of time and money.
 
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I have some new chain in storage and put a quarter pint of well thinned Waxoil in with it, moving the chain well to spread it around. It dries and when you get around to using it is ok to handle, just a bit tacky.
 
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