Volvo Tamd75p anodes (or lack of!)

[adey]

I’ve received the service history of the boat I’m interested in and it seems the engine anodes were last replaced in 2018! At least there’s nothing on any bill that I have since then.
I presume this is going to be a problem?
If I get a Volvo engineer to do an engine survey will they be able to tell me if they’re ok?
I’ve already paid a deposit on the boat and organised a pre-purchase survey.

 

[Boaty_Pete]

Every boat/engine combination will be different. Salt water vs brackish, vs Fresh.
Also whether the particular engine/installation drains down a lot. As a point of ref my Tamd63p uses the heat exchanger and aftercooler anodes in about 8 or 9 months and the oil cooler which always almost completely drains in 14months.
Basically they all get changed every year.
I've never had a time where I would not need to change them.
It's anyone's guess how much and how quickly stuff gets eaten in the absence of anodes. I'm not looking to find out by myself, but am interested to hear others' comments.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Same here; 73Ps, anodes changed religiously every year. They’re usually gone or nearly gone. Def wouldn’t last two years.

 

[volvopaul]

I’ve received the service history of the boat I’m interested in and it seems the engine anodes were last replaced in 2018! At least there’s nothing on any bill that I have since then.
I presume this is going to be a problem?
If I get a Volvo engineer to do an engine survey will they be able to tell me if they’re ok?
I’ve already paid a deposit on the boat and organised a pre-purchase survey.

Broom 450?

 

[adey]

Nope. Astondoa 464 (Med based)
I think I’m going to ask a local marine engineer to do an engine survey with pressure test and maybe take the aftercooler out to check it.
It’s hard to believe that a boat servicing company wouldn’t fit anodes but here we are…

 

[oldgit]

Yanmar .
5 fitted. Each Engine. Checked every 12 months regardless. Usually about 30-40% wasted. Just buy the zinc pencils reuse the existing brass "holders"
A set of 5 on ebay about £20.00 delivered to your door or Anodes Outlet in UK

 

[kashurst]

Nope. Astondoa 464 (Med based)
I think I’m going to ask a local marine engineer to do an engine survey with pressure test and maybe take the aftercooler out to check it.
It’s hard to believe that a boat servicing company wouldn’t fit anodes but here we are…

any other paper work re the engines. Could be they were done by the owner? Ask if you/they will take one out. Its easy enough.
Having paid all that money for oil and filters it is unlikely the anodes didnt get changed.

 

[adey]

The other bills look similar. Let’s hope they were done but I have my doubts. The liferaft was due a service in 2022.

 

[oldgit]

Suspect that if you checked the dates on many liferafts the rearm date will be long gone, sometimes by years ?

 

[bowler]

Suspect that if you checked the dates on many liferafts the rearm date will be long gone, sometimes by years ?

Including mine...

 

[oldgit]

Including mine...

Ours merely 12 months OoD , chum has one only 5 years out of date.
Get to the stage where what with the aggro of getting off boat and to the menders and the cost of referb and then limited life, less faf to buy a new one ?

 

[jon and michie]

The Earth Bonding at the marina would have to be taken into consideration ie - if the supply was badly grounded or your neighbouring boats werent good then your anodes would have been eaten away

 

[Tranona]

The Earth Bonding at the marina would have to be taken into consideration ie - if the supply was badly grounded or your neighbouring boats werent good then your anodes would have been eaten away

Not tyhe anodes in the engine though. They are effectively in a different electrolyte )water) from the other boats

 

[jon and michie]

Not tyhe anodes in the engine though. They are effectively in a different electrolyte )water) from the other boats

Interesting - I would have thought that the inlet water via the sea cocks would still conduct the elctricity hence why having anodes in the engine to protect the softer metals. Volvo must have thought there was a need for them or they wouldnt have put then in

 

[Tranona]

Interesting - I would have thought that the inlet water via the sea cocks would still conduct the elctricity hence why having anodes in the engine to protect the softer metals. Volvo must have thought there was a need for them or they wouldnt have put then in

No. The opposite. The cathode and the anode have to be in "line of sight". That is why anodes protecting things like propellers must be close by or even physically attached to the metal they are protecting. Anodes in engines are there to protect metals in the engine cooling system. Effectively the heat exchangers are self contained batteries. Nothing to do with the bits and anodes on the outside of the boat. For example my Beta engine has a yellow metal tube stack in an aluminium housing so has an anode . On the other hand my last boat had a Volvo D1 30 engine that did not have an anode in the cooling system presumably because the materials they used for the stack were either closer on the scale to the aluminium housing or isolated from it.

Big engines like the ones used in MOBOs tend to have a real cocktail of metals in the cooling system hence the importance of replacing the anodes regularly as they do erode quickly.

 

[jon and michie]

I'm with you on that

 

[oldgit]

Big engines like the ones used in MOBOs tend to have a real cocktail of metals in the cooling system hence the importance of replacing the anodes regularly as they do erode quickly.

Neglect.... and big money and grief.
If left too long the heat exchangers will become very difficult to dismantle and then damage caused to casings etc.
New parts if still available are eyewatering £KKK even to the extent that an after market replacement could prove financially sensible.
Other than that its rebuilding up any corrosion with weld and retapping threads and machining .
Would help of course if you could actually see or get at the heat exchangers especially on any twin engined MoBos.
One of them will be real pig to get at to change anodes, hence nobody either wants to do or pay to get it done.
How many owners even know they are in there, somewhere.