alienzdive
Well-Known Member
Anode placement on a boat needs to be carefully worked out by surveyors trained in such practices.
They (If professional) should claim that there is no one solution and by adding, ommiting, changing location or size of an anode can not and will not guarantee that they will get it right first time.
It is somthing that needs regular/ annual or biannual monitoring. And each time they come and do tests will try and improve on the time before whilst trying to balance the continuity.
Then the boat owner changes antifoul, changing the copper compostion and then the electrolytical balance.
The boat in the nieghbouring marina berths start connecting to shore power more often.
You decide to connect to shore power less often.
etc, and the whole process starts again.
Usually a boat is manufactured and delivered with the anodes placed correctly by the manufacturer.
By adding a dangly thing in the water more often than not you will improve the performance of your anodes and destroy the anode on the string if connected correctly.
However sometimes electrolytical energy can be increased by changing what was in place by the manufacturer and this increased activity can have a negative effect on the precious items you were originally trying to protect.
On another note, I had a boat owner customer who after changing thier zinc anodes to lumps of steel, saved them selves fortunes as they no longer had to replace the zinc, the steel far outlasted the old zincs and he was surprised other people were not as wise as him. When I mentioned that his rudder pivots were shot and his prop had changed from bronze to pink was pitted and brittle, as a result of this he assured me it was because they had been on his boat for some time. Replaced them and relaunched. I am sure his steel is doing well and his new prop has yet again become an anode.
They (If professional) should claim that there is no one solution and by adding, ommiting, changing location or size of an anode can not and will not guarantee that they will get it right first time.
It is somthing that needs regular/ annual or biannual monitoring. And each time they come and do tests will try and improve on the time before whilst trying to balance the continuity.
Then the boat owner changes antifoul, changing the copper compostion and then the electrolytical balance.
The boat in the nieghbouring marina berths start connecting to shore power more often.
You decide to connect to shore power less often.
etc, and the whole process starts again.
Usually a boat is manufactured and delivered with the anodes placed correctly by the manufacturer.
By adding a dangly thing in the water more often than not you will improve the performance of your anodes and destroy the anode on the string if connected correctly.
However sometimes electrolytical energy can be increased by changing what was in place by the manufacturer and this increased activity can have a negative effect on the precious items you were originally trying to protect.
On another note, I had a boat owner customer who after changing thier zinc anodes to lumps of steel, saved them selves fortunes as they no longer had to replace the zinc, the steel far outlasted the old zincs and he was surprised other people were not as wise as him. When I mentioned that his rudder pivots were shot and his prop had changed from bronze to pink was pitted and brittle, as a result of this he assured me it was because they had been on his boat for some time. Replaced them and relaunched. I am sure his steel is doing well and his new prop has yet again become an anode.
