stainless steel hardware and how to prevent corrosion?

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KRS62

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I am replacing my on board charger with a new one and the previous owner installed it under the front deck on a small piece of sheet aluminum using stainless screws/washers/bolts to secure it. The stainless washers corroded some against the aluminum. Is there different hardware that I should use to fasten it. (I know that they have aluminum hardware, but suspect it's soft.) Or, is there anything I can apply to limit this?

KRS
 
KRS62 said:
I am replacing my on board charger with a new one and the previous owner installed it under the front deck on a small piece of sheet aluminum using stainless screws/washers/bolts to secure it. The stainless washers corroded some against the aluminum. Is there different hardware that I should use to fasten it. (I know that they have aluminum hardware, but suspect it's soft.) Or, is there anything I can apply to limit this?

KRS

Stainless certainly isn't the best solution for aluminum, but for most purposes on these boats, it is the most practical. Aluminum rivets can be an option, so you may want to look at them, but for all else, stainless is the best of the commonly available options.
 
Usually stainless is the right choice, I suspect that maybe one of the components might not have been stainless. The project that I am working on had a lot of the rivets replaced with what I thought were regular old bolts. After removing them I found that some of them were stainless but the washers and / or nuts were not. This was the case with some of my issues, might not be with yours. Also, the aluminum rivets are a good option as well. I would use the pop rivets, if the holes are through hull connections make sure you used closed end pop rivets as they will provide a water tight seal.

On the preventing corrosion you might use some 5200 in between the points of contact on the bolts / screws.
 
Thanks for the posts. I thought about rivets, but thought that I might want quicker access to it and don't want to drill out rivets each time.
 
I was thinking 5200 as well or even nylon hardware since it's a charger. I'm sure there's electrolosis between the charger and the boats hull.

Jamie
 
Didn't think about the electrolysis, maybe one of those sacrificial anodes will curb it.
 
Ranchero50 said:
I was thinking 5200 as well or even nylon hardware since it's a charger. I'm sure there's electrolosis between the charger and the boats hull.

Jamie

I missed that it was a charger the last time. I had to mount 2 Minn Kota 330 (3 banks) in a tin rig recently. They DO have to be electrically isolated, and they are real heavy, which eliminates the nylon fasteners. As such, what I did was make an isolator out of some plastic, and flange bolts. Use two layers of plastic (cutting board material), and drill the outer layer, so when the flange bolt head is between them, the bolt acts as a stud. Now, mount the stack of plastics to the boat. The plastic completely isolates all the mounting fasteners, as the cases on most onboard chargers are not isolated from the factory.
 
I bought another Guest/Marinco Pro Charger. I went with that one as it was the same as the one I replaced. It bolted right in place of the existing holes. It does seem to be completely encased in plastic, so I don't suspect electrolysis. The amount of corrosion I was speaking of was on surface and not that much. (I suspect it happened over 4-5 years.)

KRS
 
I used to help my friend do the scut work on his plane during the annual under the supervision of an A&P mechanic and he made us dip the SS bolts or screws in zinc chromate primer and install them wet anywhere they went into aluminum. Never had any corrosion at the fasteners in a 1949 plane that sat outside all year a few miles off the beach in S. Carolina.
 

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