How to choose rivets suitable for household appliances?

Guide for complete selection of rivets for household appliances

The core logic of home appliance selection: working conditions (vibration/humidity/load-bearing) → thickness of base material → appearance requirements → production and assembly methods → cost control, and step-by-step selection, covering all categories such as seahorse rivets, open rivets, closed rivets and stainless steel rivets.

1. Step 1: Determine the rivet structure type according to the service conditions of household appliances (the most critical).

1. High-vibration equipment (required structural seahorse rivet/closed core-pulling rivet)

Applicable products: washing machine, wall breaker, range hood fan, air conditioner inside and outside machine, fresh air fan, compressor bracket.

Requirements: Long-term high-frequency vibration without looseness, abnormal sound and high shear and tensile strength.

Reason for selection:

Hippocampus rivet: the lock core tooth pattern is locked to the nail core, which is double-locking, the stress area of blind riveting bulge is large, and the thin plate does not collapse;

Fully enclosed pull nail: the nail head is sealed and waterproof, giving consideration to sealing+earthquake resistance;

Prohibited use: ordinary open-ended nails, which are easy to loosen after long-term vibration and produce abnormal after-sales noise.

2. Wet/kitchen and bathroom water-related household appliances (waterproof and rust-proof is preferred)

Application: Dishwasher, electric water heater, water purifier, bathroom yuba, range hood, washing machine.

1) Waterproof and impervious: closed core-pulling rivet (blind end is completely sealed after riveting, and water vapor cannot penetrate into interlayer);

2) Only rust-proof and no sealing requirements: 304/316 stainless steel seahorse nail and stainless steel split nail;

Prohibited: ordinary carbon steel galvanized nails rust in water vapor environment for 1-2 years, polluting paint surface and corroding sheet metal.

3. Dry small household appliances with low vibration (low-cost common open-ended nails)

Application: small fan, humidifier, TV shell, oven decorative panel, plastic shell of small household appliances.

Working conditions: no continuous vibration, dry indoors and small load.

Selection: aluminum open-ended core-pulling rivet, with the lowest cost, light weight and labor-saving assembly.

4. There are dual requirements of waterproof sealing and load bearing (stainless steel closed seahorse rivet)

Water heater liner bracket and metal frame of water purification equipment meet the requirements of sealing, earthquake resistance and rust prevention at the same time.

2. Step 2: Match the rivet material according to the riveting base material (electrochemical corrosion prevention).

Comparison table of common base materials for household appliances:

Galvanized cold-rolled steel plate+galvanized steel plate

Dry air conditioner interior and refrigerator shell: galvanized carbon steel rivets (the most cost-effective)

Aluminum plate+aluminum/galvanized plate

Aluminum bracket for air conditioner and lightweight small household appliances: pure aluminum rivets to avoid electric corrosion of different metals.

Stainless steel plate/kitchen and bathroom damp sheet metal

Range hood, dishwasher, water heater: 304 stainless steel rivets; Upgrade 316 stainless steel in seaside high salt environment

Plastic parts (ABS/PC), foamed insulation board, thin composite board.

Priority shall be given to the large brim seahorse rivet/large flange pull nail, so as to increase the contact area, and riveting shall not be fractured or sunken; Don't use small cap narrow edge rivets.

Heterogeneous combination: steel+aluminum, steel+plastic

Uniform stainless steel rivets in wet environment; Dry environmental aluminum rivets to reduce potential difference corrosion.

3. Step 3: Determine the rivet specifications (length and diameter) according to the total thickness of the plate.

Selection of rivet diameter (according to load bearing)

Light decoration and plastic shell: φ2.4 and φ3.0.

Sheet metal frame and cover plate of conventional household appliances: φ3.2 and φ4.0 (household appliances are the most common).

Bearing bracket, motor base and fan frame: φ4.8 and φ6.4 large-diameter seahorse rivets.

Calculation of rivet length

Total riveting plate thickness = T, effective rivet length = T+1.0~1.5mm allowance.

The allowance is used to form a blind end bulge, and the rivet is not tight if the allowance is insufficient. If the allowance is too large, it is easy to bulge and pierce the thin plate.

4. Step 4: Select the rivet head type according to the appearance requirements.

Round head (standard flat round head)

Universal, shell, internal support, large stress area, not easy to crush the plate; The vast majority of household appliances are the first choice.

sunk head rivet

Decorative panels, air outlets of air conditioners, and exterior cover plates of refrigerators have flat surfaces after riveting, and can be directly sprayed, without bumps or scratches.

Large flange/wide brim rivet

Special for thin iron sheet, plastic and foam board, which disperses riveting force and prevents the board from collapsing and cracking.

5. Step 5: Select the model according to the assembly conditions of the factory production line.

Auto production line (Large Batch Household Appliances Machine Factory)

Priority is given to seahorse rivets, industrial-grade closed rivets, and fully automatic riveting equipment, which ensures stable riveting and high yield; Do not choose cheap open-ended nails that are easy to break and have poor bearing capacity.

Small manual assembly, small household appliances in small batches

Light aluminum open nail, with ordinary pneumatic nail gun, low equipment investment.

Closed interlayer, narrow single-sided operation space (back plate of household appliance box)

All blind rivets (seahorse/closed/open rivets) are selected, and there is no need for back nuts and turnover tooling to improve the speed of the assembly line.

6. Step 6: Selection scheme of cost and life balance.

High-end kitchen and bathroom, export household appliances (10-year warranty, damp and vibration)

Scheme: 304 stainless steel seahorse rivet, with high one-time investment, rust prevention and earthquake resistance, and extremely low after-sales failure rate, is suitable for exporting high-standard products.

Domestic conventional household appliances (air conditioning, refrigerator drying sheet metal)

Scheme: Galvanized carbon steel seahorse rivet/closed pull nail, giving consideration to strength and cost.

Fair price small dry small household appliances

Scheme: Aluminum open-ended core-pulling rivet can reduce the material cost to the extreme.

Seven, household appliances rivet selection points to avoid pit

Don't use the common opening to pull the nail for the vibration motor bracket, it will loosen and make abnormal noise after short-term use;

Carbon steel rivets are prohibited for wading equipment, and rust will cause perforation of sheet metal and yellowing of paint surface;

Small-diameter small-cap rivets are strictly prohibited for thin plastic parts, which can easily crack the workpiece;

Spray exterior parts as heavy as possible to reduce polishing rework in the later stage;

When different metal plates are mixed, stainless steel materials must be unified in wet environment to prevent electrochemical corrosion.