a little gotcha on putting together my storage tank - use marine grade stainless hose clamps!

[Work4latte]

Just thought i'd put in a word on the other little issue i have with my storage tank.

When i build the flow jacket i used a large hose clamp at the top of it, and i attached the float valve lines to a post with other hose clamps.

It turns out that a 'stainless steel' hose clamp isn't all stainless. the clamp body is, but the screw is not. So i have to replace them all with marine grade hose clamps, which are really all stainless.

Just a little gotcha for the next person to watch out for.

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

Just thought i'd put in a word on the other little issue i have with my storage tank.

When i build the flow jacket i used a large hose clamp at the top of it, and i attached the float valve lines to a post with other hose clamps.

It turns out that a 'stainless steel' hose clamp isn't all stainless. the clamp body is, but the screw is not. So i have to replace them all with marine grade hose clamps, which are really all stainless.

Just a little gotcha for the next person to watch out for.

The ones we buy made by Ideal are all stainless. An inspector on Whidbey Island thought he was going to teach a Mainlander a lesson and show me a new trick, but we've been using all stainless clamps for decades.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Valveman]

There are many grades of Stainless Steel. 300 series is very corrosion resistant, but not as strong as 400 series. 300 series is not strong enough to make a screw, so they use 400 series, which is still SS but will rust. Even the all stainless clamps have screws that are more likely to rust than the strap. The standard clamps work fine if you tape over the clamps and seal them off from the water. 30 years later when you remove the tape they still look brand new.

 

[Blue Oaks]

You can do a poor man's passivation with vinegar on stainless steel. It will dissolve iron particles on the surface, leading to better corrosion resistance.

 

[WorthFlorida]

As said by others the screw may rust some but until it degrades enough to slip from the strap groves, you're ok. You can smear some white lithium grease over the screw for protection.

google "rust protection"

 

[Tuttles Revenge]

There are many grades of Stainless Steel. 300 series is very corrosion resistant, but not as strong as 400 series. 300 series is not strong enough to make a screw, so they use 400 series, which is still SS but will rust. Even the all stainless clamps have screws that are more likely to rust than the strap. The standard clamps work fine if you tape over the clamps and seal them off from the water. 30 years later when you remove the tape they still look brand new.

Never thought of that being two different grades of stainless.

 

[wwhitney]

300 series is not strong enough to make a screw, so they use 400 series

There are lots of machine screws and wood screws made out of 304 and 316 stainless. So is there something about the screw portion of a hose clamp that demands more strength or other material properties than those other screws?

Cheers, Wayne

 

[Reach4]

There are lots of machine screws and wood screws made out of 304 and 316 stainless. So is there something about the screw portion of a hose clamp that demands more strength or other material properties than those other screws?

It seems to me that a regular screw thread is stressed around a full 360 degrees. A worm gear moving against a thin strap will have its stress concentrated on a much smaller part of each engaged thread.

https://roymech.org/Useful_Tables/Drive/Worm_Gears.html gets into it some, but I don't know how much of that could be applied to the clamps we are discussing.

 

[John Gayewski]

Just an ad on. 304 stainless steel isn't generally legal for ground contact or underground. It must be 316 stainless steel for underground piping and components.

304 is generally still magnetic and can be felt with a reasonably strong magnet. 316 would need a very very strong magnet to stick.

 

[Reach4]

There are many grades of Stainless Steel. 300 series is very corrosion resistant, but not as strong as 400 series. 300 series is not strong enough to make a screw, so they use 400 series, which is still SS but will rust. Even the all stainless clamps have screws that are more likely to rust than the strap. The standard clamps work fine if you tape over the clamps and seal them off from the water. 30 years later when you remove the tape they still look brand new.

https://www.idealtridon.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/literature/2021IdealCatalog.pdf page 7 has a table of materials. It talks of relative corrosion resistance, but not strength. They sure have a large number of combinations and selections of worm gear clamps.