Plastic Classic Forum

Hey guys,

I just replaced most of the rigging on my allied Seawind 30 and am wondering what kind of maintenance I should be doing to keep the stainless in good condition. I wonder what kind of life expectancy these turnbuckleS have compared to the old solid bronze norsemans that we’re on the boat when I bought it.

Also should I put anti-seize on the threads (on the turnbuckles) since it’s stainless to bronze?

The only maintenance I do on the rigging is to rinse off the lower part of the wires, sta-loks, and turnbuckles with fresh water when it's available after a hard wet sail. Otherwise, the rain will do the job. I'm assuming you have 316 wire and not the more corrosion prone 304. One reason chromed bronze is used for the turnbuckle bodies is because it works well with the stainless threaded studs as opposed to the threads galling on all stainless turnbuckles. I only occasionally apply a teflon dry lube such as used on sail slides to the threads to reduce friction if I notice it. Otherwise, I leave them alone. I expect 20-plus years of life from good quality turnbuckles, assuming their are not stressed from being undersized.

I couldn’t find any dry lube locally so I put a thin coat of tefgel on the threads of each turnbuckle. I also wiped the toggles and turnbuckle bodies down with water. As far as the wire, it’s suppose to be 316 certified stainless imported from South Korea but I really don’t know, that’s just what the local guy said who “accidentally” got a spool of the wrong size wire (1/4”). I will probably send a piece of the wire out to get tested to make sure it’s real 316, But for now it’s going to have to work.