How To Clean Rust From Anchoring Equipment
Here’s how to clean rust from anchors, chain, etc. and maintain them.
Tags: Cleaning Anchor, Cleaning Chain, Cleaning Rust, De-Scaling, Descaling, Galvanizing, Re-Galvanizing, Regalvanizing, Rust
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October 2nd, 2009 at 2:12 am
A surface dusting of rust indicates constant moisture, so brush it off and take care of the problem. Use a brass brush: Steel brushes wear and cause even more rust that won’t appear until it rusts on deck with dew. It then decides it really likes your decks and hangs on for dear life… Or your Saturday afternoon of scrubbing it all off. Rust is most easily and safely removed with a strong surfactant soap – Soak the area and keep it wet for five minutes and then scrub with a brass brush in different directions, cleaning completely a few square inches at a time.
If the rust causes flaking or deep pits, replace the corroded pieces. Anchor chain can easily be cut and welded so a section of chain is easy and inexpensive to replace. Don’t pay for more than half an hour’s time welding. The welded piece should be galvanized and any metal plating company ought to be able to do that quite affordably. With the one section needing replacement, it’s a good idea to galvanize the rest. My anchor chain’s sixty feet at $6/ft, so it’s worth some maintenance. Anchors can similarly be cleaned and re-galvanized. Here’s how to remove a threaded rusty pin in a shackle:
(1) Twist with a crescent wrench. If that doesn’t work,
(2) Bang pin along long axis with a hammer but not hard enough to wreck it. If that doesn’t work,
(3) Heat the female side of the threads with a butane torch until too hot to touch, evenly, but not hot enough to make it glow. Bang it evenly around the circumference, dunk it in water to suddenly cool it, bang it around again. If it doesn’t come loose,
(4) It won’t. Cut it with a hacksaw or a cutting blade on a grinder.