Why Should Chain Wire Be Galvanized?

Today we will take a look at why it is important to use galvanized chain wire. There's not much mystery behind it. Galvanized chain wire lasts much-much longer! How so? Let's find out.

Using galvanized chain wire might be one of the most cost-effective fencing solutions as it fights the corrosion better. To understand why galvanized chain wire is studier and longer-lasting, especially in harses weather conditions and when affected by other environmental factors, we need to understand what galvanizing is.

During the galvanizing process, a thin coating of zinc is applied to a thicker base metal. In our case, chain wire itself. That thin layer of zinc helps to shield the fence from various environmental factors, such as moisture, sunlight, etc. Zinc will also give your chain wire fence that silver looking colour, which in many cases also gives it a quite nice look.

So how does galvanizing actually work? Firstly, as we have mentioned before, that thin layer of zinc coating gives it an extra protective layer, protecting it from the environment. Zinc stops the water and moisture getting to the base metal underneath it. Therefore, if you are planning to install a chain wire fence, especially in a wet environment, use galvanized chain wire as it will be protected from the moisture in the surrounding environment by the zinc coating applied during the galvanizing process.

One thing to remember when it comes to galvanized fences, be it chain wire fences or other galvanized steel fences, is the fact that if that zinc coating gets scratched and the scratch is deep enough exposing the base metal, then the fence will be exposed to the moisture, therefore to the corrosion as well.

Galvanizing your chain wire doesn't mean that it will never corrode. The zinc layer applied during the galvanizing process acts as anode and corrodes first, slowing the corrosion of the chain wire underneath. For a better explanation, when we have two metals, they have also two atomic structures where one is the anode (zinc) and another is the cathode (base metal). Therefore, zinc, being the anode, corrodes faster, keeping cathode (base metal) safe for time being. It all takes place when these two metals have different electrochemical makeup and they are in contact in the presence of an electrolyte.

Now, once we understand the necessity of using galvanized fencing materials, let's take a quick look at the two most used galvanizing methods.

The first and the most commonly used method is called hot-dip galvanizing. During this process, the clean base metal is dipped into a molten pool of hot liquid zinc. This is when a metallurgical bond is formed.

The second method is called pre-galvanizing. As the name says, the material that has already a particular shape is cleaned and then, just as during the hot-dip galvanizing process, it is put into a pool of hot zinc and then recoiled. One downside of pre-galvanizing is when those already shaped materials (large coil of steel sheets) need to be cut, then the area or edges where they have been cut, the base metal becomes exposed to corrosion, just as it does when the zinc layer gets scratched.

Diamond Fence knows the importance of using galvanized materials. Therefore, turn to us, and we will help you out with your galvanized fencing enquiries in Melbourne.

Diamond Fence is one of the trusted fencing companies in Melbourne, therefore don't hesitate, contact us today! We'll help you out! Call us on (03) 9753 4566, shoot us an email on info@diamondfence.com.au, or just get a FREE online quote.