Hello Mike,

Yes, the galvanized coating on the chain will be sacrificed
to protect the stainless anchor. It is generally not
recommended that you use galvanized chain with a stainless
steel anchor. Used continuously as a mooring would be
particularly bad.

If you must, here are three things you can do:

1. Use nylon rode for the first 50 feet from the anchor. At
that distance, the stainless will not corrode enough zinc to
notice. You could probably skip the next two steps if you
did this.

2. Attach a sacrificial zinc directly to the anchor, making
good electrical contact. Easier said than done, perhaps. The
problem with this is that it will need to be replaced maybe
once per year. Worse, you may have to pull it up more
frequently at first to verify that the zinc is working and
your chain is surviving. It would also be good to devise a
system to prevent the chain from touching the anchor. You
want the zinc anode to be closer to every part of the anchor
than the chain is.

3. After attaching a sacrificial zinc to the anchor, paint
the anchor with an epoxy paint intended for such use. There
are some epoxies designed for painting props that would
work. Be careful not to paint the zinc anode! Buried in
seabed muck, the anchor might have a long a productive life.

Of course, you could use stainless chain. It might be cheaper.

Good luck!

Chuck













wrote:
Hi,

I just found a 90 pound stainless steel plow to use as a mooring
anchor. The guy I got it from said that he thinks there is an
electrolysis issue if you use galvanized chain. He said that there was
something I needed to do, but couldn't remember what.

Anyone have any clues for me?

Thanks,

Mike.
Beaufort, NC