Zinc plated va stainless steel, anchors chains and quick links

kennoyce wrote: It sounds like it's exactly what it says it is, stainless steel plated with zinc. It doesn't give the type of stainless though, so who knows exactly what's under the zinc plating.

I thought that the stainless formed an outside layer that passivated by exposure to oxygen - i suppose this is pre-passivated, then zinc plated as a sacrificial anode. Seems redundant, but could limit the corrosion of the stainless.

At first glance that might seem useless, but perhaps this helps with SCC (stress corrosion cracking) recently brought up (mostly in europe) when discussing anchor and bolt corrosion in high Cl- and Ca+/Mg+ ion environs.

kennoyce wrote: It sounds like it's exactly what it says it is, stainless steel plated with zinc. It doesn't give the type of stainless though, so who knows exactly what's under the zinc plating.

It actually says
"Made of stainless steel and zinc platted. For industry use, mountianerring, climbing, and caving activities."

With those spelling errors, maybe there is also a description error as well. For example, it could be made of stainless-steel and zinc-plated parts, with the nut part different from the main piece. Or maybe it comes in either SS or zinc-plated versions. Who knows. They need to describe it more carefully and fully.

Jon Nelson wrote: It actually says "Made of stainless steel and zinc platted. For industry use, mountianerring, climbing, and caving activities." With those spelling errors, maybe there is also a description error as well. For example, it could be made of stainless-steel and zinc-plated parts, with the nut part different from the main piece. Or maybe it comes in either SS or zinc-plated versions. Who knows. They need to describe it more carefully and fully.

Correct. It's very likely just a typo written by someone who doesent know anything about the product. There is such a thing as stainless steel clad where carbon steel is plated with stainless steel, but I dont think that's what they are talking about.

Not at all sure what that product description means, but interestingly, Powers does zinc plate the stainless steel cones of their stainless sleeve bolts (Power Bolts), to harden them so the cone doesn't get gouged by the sleeve. No harm done to the stainless from galvanic corrosion, apparently ...

Morgan Patterson wrote: Zinc plated quicklinks on SS hangers is okay from my understanding...

TY, this is what I came to this thread to figure out.

I'm trying to do right by putting in SS bolts and hangers, but using in SS on a wearable anchor component that will need to be replaced at some point anyways seems unnecessarily costly.

So at some point the connection will need to go SS -> Plated and I can get certified plated mallons for half the cost of SS.

At the very minimum use SS hanger and bolts.  If you happen to put a plated quicklink on SS bolt and hanger it's not going to overnight turn into a time bomb.  In dry climates it won't be an issue at all, maybe a bit of surface rust.  It's a different story in damp or seaside climates, SS or titanium all the way.

Charlie Jonas wrote:

TY, this is what I came to this thread to figure out.

I'm trying to do right by putting in SS bolts and hangers, but using in SS on a wearable anchor component that will need to be replaced at some point anyways seems unnecessarily costly.

So at some point the connection will need to go SS -> Plated and I can get certified plated mallons for half the cost of SS.

Totally depends on the climate they will be placed in.  If it is a relatively dry climate, plated quicklinks and chain on a stainless bolt and hanger is perfectly acceptable.  If it's a wet climate, you should go all stainless since anything not stainless will corrode quickly, if it's seaside, you should probably go all titanium.

Brian in SLC wrote:

Yes PS turns pretty ugly pretty quick here in NC.

I definitely gets spendy using all SS hardware. I rationalize it as the ticket price for the day's activities. Where else can I go and spend $20-40 bucks and have such a good time? Eating out at a decent restaurant is just as costly. I also hunt down deals, and split costs with my partner. My current SS bolt and hanger cost is about $3.50, and a single anchor with one SS bolt, hanger, QL and ring is about $14. That's the full price, which I then split with my partner. I'm trying to get those numbers even lower. Drill bits don't add much, but are an additional cost.

I live in a dry climate, but I'm still going all SS, mainly for the longevity, but also, having gotten my costs pretty low, the difference isn't that big any more, so why not?

I never got to see the ruin that became of most of the PS bolts I placed in NC years ago, but I know most of them have had to be replaced.

NC is a god damn rainforest compared to where I am (Western WY; originally from Boone NC).  

We get lots of snow but it's quite dry the rest of the year.

Charlie Jonas wrote: We get lots of snow but it's quite dry the rest of the year.

Same as here.  Evidence of non stainless chain anchor here in the Wasatch:

Brian in SLC wrote:

Same as here.  Evidence of non stainless chain anchor here in the Wasatch:

Brian, you do need to remember that those rust streaks are there because of the trend back in the day to remove all of the zinc plating from them prior to installation so that the chains wouldn't look shiny.  Had the zinc plating been left on, the chains would have taken much longer to begin rusting and would have most likely been replaced before any major staining of the rock occurred. 

I use all SS on my routes.  After replacing  some 40 and even 50 years old hardware from some of the places I climb here in California I was surprised how well that old hardware looked and how hard it was to remove, it probably could have lasted another 50 years.   That obviously isn’t the case in most places and the closer you get to the coast here the worse it gets but I was really surprised how well it held up.  
And if you are wondering how I know some of that hardware was 50 plus years old?   I’m 53 and my dad placed the hardware before I was born.   I was just going back and repairing what my lazy dad should have done years ago lol

Ken Noyce wrote:

Brian, you do need to remember that those rust streaks are there because of the trend back in the day to remove all of the zinc plating from them prior to installation so that the chains wouldn't look shiny.  Had the zinc plating been left on, the chains would have taken much longer to begin rusting and would have most likely been replaced before any major staining of the rock occurred. 

Yep.  I remember that (soaked in vinegar if I recall correctly).  My point is that stainless chain won't do that.  And "most likely" wasn't really happening back then except for a few exceptions.  The chain on the tree on top of Callitwhatyouplease was super rusty as well.  Long gone now, mostly because the tree is dead and gone.

We kinda went the rounds on this at another area with a management plan that required a serviceable/replaceable anchor.  Bigger zinc hardware with paint but the paint can chip and the hardware still started rusting (zinc plating really doesn't paint well).  I think we've embraced the best practice of using all stainless for anchors.  Especially since there are number of climbing specific anchors available in stainless from folks like Bolt Products, Fixe, Raumer, etc.

Brian in SLC wrote:

Yep.  I remember that (soaked in vinegar if I recall correctly).  My point is that stainless chain won't do that.  And "most likely" wasn't really happening back then except for a few exceptions.  The chain on the tree on top of Callitwhatyouplease was super rusty as well.  Long gone now, mostly because the tree is dead and gone.

We kinda went the rounds on this at another area with a management plan that required a serviceable/replaceable anchor.  Bigger zinc hardware with paint but the paint can chip and the hardware still started rusting (zinc plating really doesn't paint well).  I think we've embraced the best practice of using all stainless for anchors.  Especially since there are number of climbing specific anchors available in stainless from folks like Bolt Products, Fixe, Raumer, etc.

For sure, I'm certainly not trying to say that we should use all zinc plated stuff, there are many cases where all stainless is the only responsible thing to do, but there are also many instances where plated works fine and won't cause any issues.