Over galvanizing

[cabo_sailor]

I ordered 200 ft of 5/16 " chain from Acco which was apparently made by Peerless in China. The dealer just called to say it was in but looked strange. Parts of the chain are the dull gray of hot galvanizing and other parts are silvery as though they were electro galvanized. The distributor assured it was a cosmetic problem due to over galvanizing and didn't harm the chain. Fine for him to say but his butt's not hanging on the end of it !!

Anyone have any useful input on over galvanizing?

Rich


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[sailorboy1]

I don't think there is a danger if the chain is "over galvanized" as that is just more corrosion protection. .................................. BUT how do you know that is what it is? Why pay for a new chain that the distributor is "assuming" something about?

[cabo_sailor]

I tend to agree Sailorboy. I've still got a lot of work to do before leaving the slip, including engine work. One of my concerns is that it won't fit the chain gypsy properly. I'm tempted to wait for the next batch. Let them cut this into 10 ft length for West Marine's little premade anchor rode for small fishing boats.




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[colemj]

Are you sure it was the China product? This is even less quality than the US product. I would just refuse delivery and get your money back. From this thread and the other, it sounds like you are getting a lot of weasel words and misinformation about something that you will need to rely upon with confidence.

Give Maggi a call in Ft. Lauderdale. Maggi chain is among the best made.

Mark

[cabo_sailor]

The local chandlery handling the sale is also suspicious. They're going to investigate further on Monday and get back to me. I might be willing to take it if it very, very heavily discounted. We'll see what he says and I'll tell him about Maggi


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[UNCIVILIZED]

I''d figure on going to Plan B (Maggi), but hold your cards close. If they're weaseling, don't give them any info, room, or evidence to use against you.
Why have ANY tolerance for someone who's wasting your time, & potentially putting both your Life and Home on the line... Knowingly.

[Cheechako]

Galvanizing can look dull or bright. Although usually it dulls most with exposure. A brand new piece of galvanized steel may actually be pretty bright over most the surface and a bit dull on the same piece in places. (I used to drive truck loads to and from a galvanizing shop when I was young)
None of the above means the chain in question is good though.

[Kenomac]

Refuse it, buy some good stuff. Sounds like you're learning a lesson regarding Chinese quality.

[roverhi]

There is no such thing as too much galvanizing unless the accumulation affects how the part fits. The more zinc/galvanizing, the better the part is protected. Sometimes galvanizing appears very bright and shiny. Don't think that really tells you much at all about the quality of galvanizing, however.

[RaymondR]

I brought about 40 metres of 3/8" Chinese made chain a few years ago. I generally cut off the same amount on the used end so the new stays in the locker. The gal on the Chinese slowly went dark brown and flaky and when I started using the chain the gal fell off.

The galvanizing on the chain looked good when I purchased it and I suspect they used recycled scrap zinc with lots of impurities in it. Since there is no practicable way for me to check the quality of the galvanizing I have gone back to using locally manufactured chain.

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Refuse it, buy some good stuff. Sounds like you're learning a lesson regarding Chinese quality.

I didn't have to refuse it, the chandler did. He looked at it for about 2 seconds and told the distributor "I'm not going to sell crap like this to my my customers ". He ordered 200 ft of new, upgraded (whatever that means) for the same price. Should be here early next week.


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[cabo_sailor]

I picked up 200 ft of Acco chain. Looks good. Uniform galvanizing, links seem uniform. I want to splice on 100 ft of 8 brait for backing and then install an updated windlass. That will let me tack on a 45 lb CQR. Then I'll load the chain. Lordy is that chain heavy!!

Thanks for all the input,

Rich


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[colemj]

Is this the same Chinese Acco chain as before, only a different lot?

Mark

[cabo_sailor]

Apparently not. The prior lot was Chinese through and through. This batch is all Acco. That's what he meant when he said better quality for the original price.

I looked at the first lot and told the guy they appeared to have a serious QA/QC problem. The new lot looks like I expected.

I checked on some of other brands that were suggested. For each brand you could find people that either swore by it or swore at it. So I guess it's pretty much a crapshoot.

Rich


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[leftbrainstuff]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I ordered 200 ft of 5/16 " chain from Acco which was apparently made by Peerless in China. The dealer just called to say it was in but looked strange. Parts of the chain are the dull gray of hot galvanizing and other parts are silvery as though they were electro galvanized. The distributor assured it was a cosmetic problem due to over galvanizing and didn't harm the chain. Fine for him to say but his butt's not hanging on the end of it !!

Anyone have any useful input on over galvanizing?

Rich


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Depending on the material and temp control hot galvanising can result in undesirable microstructure changes in the chain material. Fracture toughness can be significantly degraded not to mention the poor performance of the galvanizing.

Personally I will only buy chain that is documented for material, proof loading and galvanising.

As a rule I wont buy anything safety critical that is Chinese. It's not that they can't make quality kit. They simply chose to sell any old crap to the west because minimum cost overrides all other factors.

I have a welding, engineering and materials science background so I'm more than happy to make ignorant sales people cry.

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