How to Choose Quality Lifting Chains: A Practical Guide

Lifting chain is a safety component, not a commodity. Two chains of the same diameter and the same nominal grade can differ by a factor of two in how long they survive in service — and a chain that fails, fails over a person. That difference almost never shows up in a photograph or a price per kilogram, which is why buying on price alone is the most expensive mistake in this category.

What follows is the order in which quality is actually decided: grade first, then diameter, then how the chain will be used, and only then material, finish and paperwork. The last two sections are the ones to use on the day — questions to put to a supplier, and the checks to run when the chain arrives.

1. Decide the grade before anything else

The grade is the steel's strength class, and it settles most of the market immediately. The number is the mean stress at which the chain must break, expressed in hundreds of newtons per square millimetre. Grade 80 chain therefore reaches approximately 800 N/mm² at its minimum breaking load — the same as 80 kgf/mm², which is where the number comes from.

It describes the material, not the chain. An 8 mm and a 20 mm Grade 80 chain are the same grade but differ by roughly 6.5 times in working load. Grade tells you what the steel can do; diameter tells you how much of it there is.

Two consequences follow. First, a lower grade is not a cheaper way to lift: grades 30, 43 and 70 are not designed for the dynamic loads of lifting and their markings are not lifting ratings. Second, grade is not a colour. There is no colour code for chain grades. A painted chain is painted for corrosion protection or for a customer's own identification, and nothing more. The grade is the number embossed into the links themselves — 8, 80 or 800 for Grade 80, 10 for Grade 100 — together with the manufacturer's mark.

One caveat worth knowing before you specify Grade 100: there is no dedicated Grade 100 part in the EN 818 series. Lifting chain and chain slings are covered by EN 818-2 (chain) and EN 818-4 (slings), and those are the documents a Grade 80 supplier should be quoting. If a supplier advertises a "Grade 100 standard", ask which document they mean.

2. Match the diameter to the load you are actually lifting

With the grade settled, the working load limit is set by diameter alone. These are the standard figures for Grade 80 chain in the common sizes, for a single leg used vertically:

Read the third column against the second and you have the safety factor: the breaking load is exactly four times the working load limit. That 4:1 margin exists because lifting loads are dynamic — a load that is snatched, jarred or dragged can momentarily weigh several times its static mass, and the chain has to absorb that without yielding.

Two habits worth forming now. Never treat the breaking load as a working figure: a chain that has been loaded anywhere near it has already been damaged and must be withdrawn even if it looks intact. And never treat "proof tested to 2.5 times" as extra capacity — that describes a test carried out in the factory, not permission to lift more. The full set of Grade 80 figures, including how the three strength values relate, is set out in our guide to what Grade 80 chain actually is.

3. Single leg or sling? The mode factor decides the real capacity

The table above is for one leg hanging vertically. A chain sling is rated by multiplying that figure by a mode factor that depends on how many legs are in use and the angle they make with the vertical. This is the calculation buyers most often get wrong, usually by multiplying by the number of legs.

A two-leg sling at 45° gives 1.4 times a single leg, not 2 times. The legs share the load between them, and the further they splay apart the less of their strength acts upwards against gravity. Sixty degrees from the vertical is the limit — past that the legs must not be used at all, whatever the load. The three- and four-leg figure of 2.1 already assumes that only two legs are carrying the load, which is why it is not 3 or 4: a rigid load may well be shared by more legs, but the standard will not let you rely on it.

Two rules follow, and both overload quietly because the tag still shows the bigger number. Using fewer legs than the sling was built for? A three- or four-leg sling picked up on two legs is rated at two-thirds of the marked WLL, and on a single leg at one-third. Is the lift asymmetrical? The mode factors assume the legs are within about 15° of each other with the centre of gravity between them; if the load hangs off to one side, nearly all of it goes onto one leg, and you should derate to half the marked WLL or have the pick calculated. We build these chains into finished slings rather than selling them loose — the single, two- and three-leg configurations and their component specifications are set out on our G80 chain sling assembly page.

4. Check the material and the manufacturing process

Grade sets the target; the process is what actually reaches it. Four things to establish:

• Material. Lifting chain is made from alloy steel — typically 20Mn2 or 23MnNiCrMo54 for Grade 80. Ask for the specification, not the description. "High-strength steel" and "imported steel" are not specifications, and chain made from unknown or recycled stock cannot be certified to a grade at all.
• Heat treatment. Quenching and tempering is what produces the combination of strength and ductility the grade requires. A chain that is through-hardened but not tempered is strong and brittle, which is the worst possible combination for a lifting component. The heat treatment is invisible in the finished product, so it has to be evidenced on paper — which is what the batch certificate is for.
• Flash welding. Every link is flash-welded and the weld is the weakest point in it. Look for a smooth, consistent weld with no visible grinding: heavy grinding usually means someone is removing a defect rather than preventing one, and it thins the link exactly where the load concentrates.
• Calibration. Links should be uniform in pitch and diameter. Measure the pitch across ten links and the diameter at several points on a random sample; variation beyond the tolerance class means the tooling or the process control is drifting.

5. Surface finish: what it does, and does not, tell you

• Black (quenched and tempered, no coating). The finish as it leaves heat treatment. It allows the most complete visual inspection, because nothing is hidden, and it is the finish to specify when the chain will be inspected closely. It offers no corrosion protection.
• Zinc plated (gold or yellow). The common finish on Grade 80 chain, and the one most buyers picture. It buys corrosion resistance in damp or outdoor storage. It is a coating, not a grade code — a gold chain is not automatically Grade 80.
• Painted. Paint is for identification, usually a customer's own colour. Treat it with caution: paint fills and hides surface defects, so a painted chain is harder to inspect than a black or plated one.
• Smoothness. Run a gloved hand along the chain. Rough spots, sharp weld flash and pitting all accelerate wear, because they abrade the neighbouring link every time the chain flexes over a hook or a sheave.

None of these finishes changes the working load limit. A chain's capacity comes from its grade and diameter; the coating only decides how it survives the environment.

6. Testing and certification: what a real certificate contains

A grade claim is worth nothing without a document behind it. A genuine batch test certificate should state:

• Heat or batch number, so the chain in your hands can be traced back to the steel it came from.
• Diameter and grade, and the standard the chain was made to — EN 818-2 for lifting chain, with EN 818-4 covering the sling assembly built from it.
• Proof load, applied to every link during manufacture at 2.5 times the working load limit. This is a factory test, not a capacity.
• Minimum breaking load, the figure the grade is defined by — four times the WLL.
• Elongation at break, which is the evidence of ductility: a chain that meets its breaking load without stretching is the brittle one you do not want.

Two further points separate a careful supplier from a casual one. First, magnetic particle inspection of the links detects surface and near-surface cracks that a visual check cannot, and on a lifting chain it should be part of the routine, not an extra. Second, traceability marking: grade and manufacturer identification should be embossed on the links at regular intervals, so a chain can still be identified years later when the paperwork has been filed away.

A word on CE. CE marking is a manufacturer's self-declaration that the product meets the applicable directive or regulation. It is not a third-party test report and it is not evidence that a specific chain was tested. If what you need is proof of the chain's mechanical properties, ask for the batch certificate — a supplier who offers only "CE certified" has not answered the question.

7. Inspect the chain when it arrives

Do this before the chain goes into service, and again at every periodic inspection. The interval is set by your jurisdiction: in the UK, LOLER 1998 puts chain slings and their attachments on a six-monthly thorough examination; in the US, OSHA 1910.184(e)(3)(i) requires sling inspection at intervals of no more than twelve months, with a record of the most recent inspection.

Discard criteria matter as much as the checklist, because the decision to withdraw a chain is the one people postpone. Withdraw it when the link diameter has worn by more than 10% of nominal, or when the pitch of any single link has elongated by more than 5%. Hook opening is the other one to watch: an increase of more than 15%, a twist of more than 10°, or more than 10% wear in the bowl all mean the hook is finished. And a chain with no legible grade mark and no identification tag cannot be identified, so it must be treated as unknown rather than assumed to be Grade 80.

8. Questions to ask a supplier — and what a bad answer sounds like

9. Five mistakes that cost money

• Buying on price per kilogram. Chain is priced by weight, and weight is the one thing a low-quality chain gets right. Cutting the material cost is exactly what produces the failures you cannot see.
• Assuming the grade is the capacity. Grade 80 at 8 mm and at 20 mm are the same grade and differ six-fold in what they will lift. Specify both, and specify the configuration too.
• Using hoist chain as sling chain. They look similar and are not interchangeable: hoist chain is a precision-tolerance chain made to feed a chain wheel, and it is neither rated nor marked as a sling. If you are buying chain for a chain block, you want load chain to EN 818-7 Grade T — see our manual chain hoist page for that specification.
• Accepting "CE certified" as a test report. It is a self-declaration, not a laboratory result. Ask for the batch certificate.
• Mixing chains and losing the paperwork. Once two chains are on the same rack with no tags, neither can be identified, and an unidentifiable lifting chain has to be withdrawn. Tag on receipt, and keep the certificates with the tag.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Grade 80 the same as G80?

Yes. "Grade 80", "G80" and "grade 8" all refer to the same chain, and you will see any of the three written on the links or in a supplier's catalogue. The different forms come from different standard editions and from common usage rather than from any technical difference.

How do I choose between Grade 80 and Grade 100?

Grade 100 gives you the same working load limit in a smaller and lighter chain, which matters when the sling's own weight is a significant part of the lift or when the hook has limited space. It costs more, and it is less widely available in every size and fitting. For most general lifting, Grade 80 is the practical default.

What is the working load limit of 10 mm Grade 80 chain?

2,500 kg as a single leg used vertically, with a minimum breaking load of 10,000 kg. That is the straight-lift figure. Put the same chain into a two-leg sling at 45° from the vertical and the assembly is rated at 3,500 kg (1.4 × 2,500), not 5,000 kg.

Does a certificate mean the chain has been individually tested?

Not in the sense most buyers assume. Every link is proof loaded to 2.5 times the working load limit during manufacture, and the batch certificate records the mechanical properties of the heat lot the chain came from. It does not mean each finished length was pulled to destruction — that would destroy it. What the certificate gives you is traceability to a tested batch, which is what a competent inspector will ask to see.

Can I use lifting chain outdoors?

Yes, within its temperature range, but the finish decides how long it lasts. Zinc-plated chain resists damp and outdoor storage far better than uncoated black chain, and either way the chain should be inspected more often in a corrosive environment than the statutory interval requires. Grade 80 chain is rated from −40 °C to +200 °C; above 200 °C the chain must be derated using the manufacturer's table.

How long does lifting chain last?

There is no service life in years, and any supplier who quotes one is guessing. Chain is withdrawn on condition, not on age: diameter wear beyond 10%, pitch elongation beyond 5%, cracks, or an unreadable grade mark. A chain in light indoor use may last many years; the same chain dragged across a concrete floor and run over a rusty hook may not last one.