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Stainless steel issues
caen fred	#1  Posted on 12/18/12 - 11:35 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 76 Comments: 0 Joined: 10/01/12	As I took everything off the boat and then apart I am now left with 2 boxes full of fasteners. I have made a strange discovery. In fact two! First in 30 years most parts of the boat have been worked over and I must say it wasn't always top engineering. I hate when for example the both sides of the Bimini top are secured by different types of fasteners on port or starboard! Hex on one side and not on the other. It is doing the job, but it's disturbing, at least for me (aging Fred?). It would be nice to work on an article with the detail of the nuts, bolts and screws with their size and their placing, wouldn't it? I certainly will need from you guys help on this matter. Second if I could re-use most of the screws after a good brushing, almost all the stainless bolts are corroded? No matter their size and the part they were fastened to. They are not far from being useless, even after a seance of wheel cleaning they look like they would snap on torking? Is it a reaction between the nuts and the bolt?
wing15601	#2  Posted on 12/18/12 - 1:35 PM
Member Posts: 699 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/14/12	I always say that stainless isn't. it always corrodes and the degree of corosion is related to it's environment. I think the best practical grade for use on a boat is maybe 316 but when buying fasteners you have to take what you can get. If a stainless screw is used in a boat with a wood backing plate as in Boston Whalers, and no sealant is used, water will always get into the wood and that moist dark environment with little or no air circulation will corrode the stainless not to mention the rotting of the backing plywood. Replace your screws from a reliable marine retailer and use a marine sealant when installing fittings. Use 5200 if you don't plan to remove the parts again or use 4200 if you do.
Joe Kriz	#3  Posted on 12/18/12 - 1:47 PM
Site Owner Personal Page Personal Album Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 11447 Comments: 452 Joined: 03/18/05	I hate when for example the both sides of the Bimini top are secured by different types of fasteners on port or starboard! The boat is 32 years old. Any of the previous owners could have changed the bolts/nuts many times through the years. I would suggest replacing the hardware so all bolts/nuts are the same. One thing I also can't stand is someone rewiring the boat and using all one color of wire for everything. Drives me nuts. How's the wiring on the boat?
fishrswim	#4  Posted on 12/18/12 - 4:08 PM
Member Posts: 168 Comments: 7 Joined: 05/25/11	It's worth paying for the best quality stainless hardware. If your local shops don't have it you can find it on line. Go for 316 if you can find it De-oxygenated water in screw holes will create crevice corrosion in even the best stainless. So use a sealant to keep them dry.
Gamalot	#5  Posted on 12/19/12 - 6:22 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	I feel your pain Fred. When I began dismantling my 1974 Montauk I was meticulous with all the screws I removed and placing them into labeled containers so I know where they go back. Most of these screws I removed are no longer useful so I have spent major dollars on all new fasteners and usually bought these in bulk/ 100 count boxes. I avoid buying hardware from the big box stores that say stainless steel with no actual rating of the steel used. Always go for hardware specifically designed for the marine environment. I have found the hardware from this supplier to be very good and reasonably priced. http://www.bosunsupplies.com/
Dave Wheeler	#6  Posted on 12/19/12 - 7:30 AM
Member Posts: 31 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/07/08	When stainless steel was invented in the 1930's, it was named STAIN LESS Steel. The inventors named it that because it stained (corroded) less that other steels known at the time. Our wonderful use of the English language corrupted the spelling and pronounciation to stainless. It was and should be thought of as two words meaning that it stains less that other steels.
Gamalot	#7  Posted on 12/19/12 - 7:53 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	Many of the screws I removed do not appear to have been stain less and instead seem to be a chrome or nickle plated brass. With SS screws it is important to buy the best grade of metal available as mentioned above. SS comes in various number grades such as 316 and in these numbers you can find both the corrosion resistance as well as the tensile strength or brittleness of the screw. If you have ever broken or rounded off a SS screw then you know just how difficult they can be to remove. No fasteners can be expected to last for ever and in boats that are 30+ years old I find it a good practice to just replace rather than re use. My experience has been, if a part has 4 screws holding it then one of them will round over or break when removing them.
Dave Wheeler	#8  Posted on 12/19/12 - 10:12 AM
Member Posts: 31 Comments: 0 Joined: 01/07/08	I recall that my 1962 Currituck had many chrome plated bronze screws. Bronze is much stronger than brass.
kamie	#9  Posted on 12/19/12 - 10:55 AM
Member Personal Page Project Albums Posts: 2975 Comments: 3 Joined: 11/04/05	wing15601 wrote: Use 5200 if you don't plan to remove the parts again or use 4200 if you do. neither is required, i suggest a good quality caulk, like boat life that will seal out the water. adhesive caulk is not required, the screw should hold just fine.
wing15601	#10  Posted on 12/19/12 - 3:23 PM
Member Posts: 699 Comments: 0 Joined: 07/14/12	Kamie, I mentioned 5200 and 4200 because they are both specifically sealants in addition to being adhesives which are suitable to the purposes of Caen Fred in this project. Either would adhere to the glass and metal very effectively eliminating the water from causing corrosion to the metal or rotting the wood. BoatLife is a company name and they make many different kinds of caulks and sealants, some of which would not be appropriate to his purposes. If it were me I would want to use the best sealant I could get with the longest expected life span and that would be either 5200 or 4200.
Tom W Clark	#11  Posted on 12/19/12 - 6:00 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 4280 Comments: 7 Joined: 09/30/05	For sealing screw holes, any polyurethane caulk like 3M 5200 or 4200 would be fine as would a polysulfide caulk like BoatLIFE Life-Caulk or 3M 101