Galvanized Turnbuckles and Paint

[Jak Mang]

I had already sand blasted and re-galvanized these. I will skip the paint on the threads and lubricate them well.

I believe that the parts are in generally good condition and I am replacing some adjacent shackles that had more wear. The rust was only surface stuff. My understanding is that high quality galvanized fittings that are properly sized and maintained will last a very long time. While cheaper than bronze and stainless, US-made Crosby galvanized is quite a bit more expensive than the Home Depot/imported stuff.

[Stumble]

Jak,

All kidding aside if you are seeing rusting and pitting in a turn buckle particularly at the thread, then it is time to replace them. While it is true that galvanized metals can last decades if done properly the parts you are talking about have already started to fail. Assuming that you are not talking about large commercial turnbuckles (for example the ones holding up the denver airport roof) they are just not expensive enough to justify risking the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of equipment relying on them.

Compare the price of a new stainless steel turnbuckle at westmarine (about $40) to the cost of a mast (depends on size but for a 30' boat including shipping about $10,000) Not including the sails (say abother $5,000) and the likelyhood of additional hull damage or personel being injured. For me this amounts to risking the entire boat, the people on board, and pretty much all the equipment you have with you to save a few bucks. For me it just isn't worth it.

the part you were talking about repairing you said had corrosion evident at the threads. This is particularly concerning since it is very hard to propery protect threads in a screw/bolt assembly. The problem is that any anti-corrosion coating is limited in thickness by the necessity of being able to fit into the properly sized matching part. If the thread is now too thick then it won't fit the bolt. Forcing you to use non-matching parts which accellerates the likelyhood of failure due to cyclical stresses due to movement between the parts.

Finally I will warn you that should someone be injured as a result of this part failing the potential legal liability is much greater reusing refurbished parts than replacing them with new. Depending on the juridiction you could reasonably be looking at between 3 and 5 times the actual damage being awarded in punative damages.


All in all the risks of the actions you are undertaking seem to be to be unreasonably high particularly when compared to the cost of replacement. Though you are of course entitled to your own opinion.

Stumble
100 ton Captains License
Attorney specializing in Maritime/Admiralty law, licensed in La, and Fed Court
30 years of boating experience


Note: This post is not intended as legal advice and should not be contrued as such. No attorney/client relationship has been formed by way of this post. The poster recommends speaking to an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction for legal opinions.