I've been using stainless hardware for a while with an aluminum chassis. I know there's risk of galvanic corrosion, but I just don't see that as a big risk.
I really use SS because of the strength, but I am using low grade 18-8 from McMaster Carr, and I'm wondering if it's really any stronger than zinc plated. Anybody thing a #10 transformer bolt, for example, would really snap before a stainless one? I'm basically just trying to figure out if I'm wasting my money here
I do not think you need to fret about what might happen between plain steel and Aluminum as my 1966 1484 silvertone has a Aluminum chassis and it has no hardware issues, in fact all the Aluminum chassis amps I have worked on in 40 years have never had any issues that I could not deal with even if they have spent time under water on one side of the chassis!
But if you still want to be build conciderate do what I do and head to a auto parts store and pick up a little tube of Pematex antisieze and apply a dab to bolt threads and your good!
It's messy stuff at times and I apply a dab with a tooth pick.
It's way cheaper than stainless hardware and the small tube will last you the rest of your life unless you start using it on your car and or ATV!
When I die, I want to go like my Grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming like the passengers in his car!
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The risk of corrosion is only important for chassis connections like the ground bolt. Use an ordinary steel or brass screw and nut. Use NoAlOx on it to prevent corrosion however remote the possibility. One bottle of NoAlOx will last a lifetime unless you are a factory.
Some grades of plain steel bolts are quite a bit stronger than stainless. McMaster Carr gives properties, strength, Rockwell hardness, etc. in the product description.
I was wondering about the strength of SS a while back and found out the common grades aren't as strong as I thought they were.
SS has poor shear rating, by comparison. You hope things never take that hard a knock, but I'd rather the fasteners not be stainless if it happens. Stand up transformers take that most of that torsional force in a spin..
*POP*
Dunno, buddy.. I like softer metal.
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
SS has a real nice luster. For very visible things like handles ss looks nicer than just generic steel bolts or screws, unless you have proper nickel plated ones, so it's a good substitute and Home Depot has a pretty broad choice of ss. I wouldn't worry too much about chassis to cabinet but it does look nicer to a client if you're selling than plain steel or zinc'd, though I started using hex heads now (in steel) as a box of 1/4 hex heads in ss are way too expensive.
I use ss for all the 4-40 and the bigger #8 or #10 ones on the trannies, purely an aesthetic choice - you want your kids to look good don't yah? I'd use brass Marshall style but ss is actually easier to find these days.
It is softer, same as brass pretty much, but you'd really have to go pretty crazy to break an #8 or #10 bolt. I've broken 40-40s. Go easy.
Ron Worley wrote:Thanks Phil, I'd never heard of that stuff!
Your local big box store (Home Despot, Blowes) sells it in the electrical supply aisle. Really, if you use aluminum, which many of us do, you should goop your ground connections with it.
I use stainless for 18-8 on all of my fasters. But truthfully, I only need them for fasters at or below #6... I tend to be a little ham-fisted and snap the zinc plated fasters (especially if it is the cheap Chinese steel that Home Depot stocks). I'd have to eat a can of spinach to snap a #8 or above...
I love the look of SS Allen cap screws if they are gonna be visible... Has a cool industrial look. I buy 6-32 screws in 1/2" and 3/4" by the thousand. They are pretty easy to get to stay on the driver when installing. Occasionally I use the black oxide type but they have to be coated with something or they will rust.
"Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned" - Enzo
Reeltarded wrote:SS has poor shear rating, by comparison. You hope things never take that hard a knock, but I'd rather the fasteners not be stainless if it happens. Stand up transformers take that most of that torsional force in a spin..
*POP*
Dunno, buddy.. I like softer metal.
SS is more brittle than normal steel and will break easier unless it is formulated for that type of application.
I stamp my own corner protectors, normally out of regular cold rolled steel sheet and then triple chromed (copper>nickel>chrome) but once I did a run out of stainless steel.
It was harder to cut so dies will wear faster but real problem was that finish does not look "good", while triple chromed is expensive but the lush real deal, so I never repeated the experience.
*If* I ever do it again, I'll load the corner protectors inside a slowly rotating drum for a few hours (maybe overnight) so they uniformly "scratch" each other and give me a uniform "brushed" or "satin" finish; polishing them one by one on a buffing wheel the way chrome finish is done is not economically possible.
Reeltarded wrote:SS has poor shear rating, by comparison. You hope things never take that hard a knock, but I'd rather the fasteners not be stainless if it happens. Stand up transformers take that most of that torsional force in a spin..
*POP*
Dunno, buddy.. I like softer metal.
SS is more brittle than normal steel and will break easier unless it is formulated for that type of application.
