Cheap Stainless Steel Fittings???!!! Beware!

[Nodak7]

As I am sure many of you have I like to go to big Boat Shows. On a number of occasions there has been a booth there with very "reasonably priced" stainless steel fittings. I have purchased a number of those items and come away from the purchase very pleased at the cost. However I want to relate a very interesting experience we had on our Bahama's Trip last month. I had purchased four stainless swivels for use with our Dinghy Davit system. While in the Bahamas I was inspecting my dinghy suspension system and noted some discoloration on the swivel. I decided to remove it to check it out and when I started to unscrew the pin it fell apart in my hand. Fortunately it did not fail while we were transiting or it could have been a disaster. This happened twice! Needless to say I removed all of them and replaced them with high quality (and expensive) swivels. I have attached a picture. Just wanted to warn you away from those cheap stainless fittings......

 

[thinwater]

Even more to the point, why would you need a swivel. Ditch them, they cause more twists than they solve.

But yeah, cheap parts are trouble waiting to happen. I dropped a dinghy with the chute up once (sling chafed through), and it was "stimulating" for a few minutes, as I attached a jack line to the dinghy while standing in the sugar scoop at speed and winched it back up. There are cheaper brands (Garhauer), but no-name is pointless.

 

[agprice22]

Wow. That thing really came apart! It pays to check fittings and equipment.

 

[John Nantz]

And that’s not only true with stainless steel fittings.

Several years ago I was in a hardware store to get a pair of Vice Grips. On their shelf there was a “made in America” (Milwaukee, I think) pair and nearby there was a package of three “made in China” (small, medium, and large). Price for each, the single (USA) and 3 pack, was almost the same. It was a really difficult decision, the middle one looked identical, almost right down to the texture of the sand casting parts, and I went out the door with the 3 pack.

Went to use the medium sized one and you know how they work, adjust the thumb screw on the end until the clamping pressure is tight, and ….. snap! The lower jaw broke off!

Back to the boat. When I looked at the shackle on the anchor/chain connection it read “China”. Well, after the Vice Grip experience I had no trust in it so off to (at that time) West Marine and found that all their shackles were made in China. Talked to the store salesman about my experience and then called their Watsonville headquarters and talked to someone there. Time goes by and some time later I was in their store and checked out their shackles. Lo and behold, “Made in Japan.”

In the US there are requirements for weight handling, I think OSHA (it’s bee years since I read one of their books), and the gear used must meet certain requirements. Perhaps someone reading this with more knowledge about weight handling equipment could comment.

Anyway, bottom line, it doesn’t pay to be cheap with a nickel-dime ($5 - $10, (inflation)) item when your boat worth several thousand and the soles on board could be at risk.

 

[Dalliance]

Cheap stainless steel is never a good value in the long run. For anything going on a boat, if it's not type 316 stainless (higher nickel content than 304), don't buy it. If it's type 316, the label will say so. If it doesn't say, then it's suspect. If the price is to good to be true.... you get the idea.

 

[Roland5048]

Have a friend who purchased a less expensive Chinese SS plow anchor for his motoryacht. Looked real pretty sitting there on the bow. We took the boat out, anchored, and while retrieving this anchor only the shank came up. WTF! Flukes had separated. Fluke and shank were not one piece but two pieces pressed together and not welded very well. The company in Calif. did refund his money, however. Get what you pay for, usually.

 

[dennismenace111]

Take a magnet with you...if the magnet sticks to any part of it... dont buy it. I learned this the hard way when I bought a stainless steel barbeque grill.. after a couple of years, it rusted out.. go figure.. I was trying to reconnect some parts and was using a magnetic flashlight.. the damned thing stuck to the grill.. theres alot of ferrous metal and alot less chromium in some cheap stainless... a magnet will not stick to a good quality piece of stainless.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

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You get what you pay for (usually).

 

[gettinthere]

The only big display of low priced SS hardware I see at the boat shows is Garhauer. Is this swivel from someone else?

 

[DaveJ]

I think they use a special type of stainless steel, I refer to it as Chinesium.

Cheers

 

[Rick D]

The only big display of low priced SS hardware I see at the boat shows is Garhauer. Is this swivel from someone else?

I'd be shocked if it were Garhauer. Their equipment is sailing world wide. Actually, I just checked and there is no such item listed on their site.

 

[seadaddler]

I get most my stainless from Marine Depot good stuff and good prices.
Nick

 

[dLj]

Take a magnet with you...if the magnet sticks to any part of it... dont buy it. I learned this the hard way when I bought a stainless steel barbeque grill.. after a couple of years, it rusted out.. go figure.. I was trying to reconnect some parts and was using a magnetic flashlight.. the damned thing stuck to the grill.. theres alot of ferrous metal and alot less chromium in some cheap stainless... a magnet will not stick to a good quality piece of stainless.

This is not necessarily true. Austenitic stainless steel (304, 316, etc) is often cold worked to increase mechanical properties. In many cases, the piece of stainless steel hardware you are looking at may have an amount of cold work performed on it which will make the part magnetic. It may be quite advantageous to have hardware produced with cold worked material as that can substantially increase the mechanical properties of the base austenitic stainless steel.

dj

 

[Gene Neill]

"You get what you pay for."

"Better to spend too much, than too little."

"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price fades away."

"Buy once, cry once."

 

[Steverhnm]

I get most my stainless from Marine Depot good stuff and good prices.
Nick

Got news for you, Marine Part Depot is Chinesium. I buy from them too, but only stuff that is not critial if it fails. If you will get hurt if it fails, get real 316.

 

[Sanfelice]

RE:Marine Part Depot
Their description of themselves is interesting. Doesn't say what type of stainless and as to origin of part somewhat interesting.

Welcome to Marine Part Depot, which is dedicated to providing customers with high quality stainless steel marine hardware, low cost and excellent service. Marine Part Depot is the stainless steel marine manufacturer and produce a wide range of top quality stainless steel marine hardware for marine parts brand name and marine parts manufacturers in US. We also sell the extra general stainless steel marine parts in our Yahoo Online Store at very reasonable price. Explore our store and discover great values!

I agree I would only buy non-critical parts from them. However if you buy a part from a brand na me etc. , how do you know what you are getting anymore?

 

[dLj]

Got news for you, Marine Part Depot is Chinesium. I buy from them too, but only stuff that is not critical if it fails. If you will get hurt if it fails, get real 316.

The real advantage of 316 type austenitic stainless steel is pitting corrosion resistance. If you are sailing in a salt water environment, then the added corrosion resistance of 316 is desireable. However, if you are sailing, say on the Great Lakes or other fresh water location, then 304 is fine. The mechanical properties of these common austenitic stainless steels are the same.

If you are looking at a fitting and it appears that it may have been welded as part of it's construction, or if you are making your own parts from stainless steel and welding, then you really want the part made from the low carbon forms of these alloys.That would be 304L or 316L. It is not usually easy to see if a part has been welded as they usually buff the welds. But look carefully, there can be tell-tale signs.

I personally would be more concerned with the construction and design of the fittings rather than the source of the raw material as these austenitic alloys are commodity alloys and are produced all over the world with excellent quality. The design and construction of them however is much more varied...

dj