Re: Anodes -- NarrowBoat Chat

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Date Posted: 12:21:50 09/23/04 Thu
Author: Ian Lay
Subject: Re: Anodes
In reply to: Steve 's message, "Anodes" on 20:10:56 09/22/04 Wed

They are correctly called sacfricial anodes. You normally have two (one on each side at the front of the boat). They are there to help prevent damage to the hull (They are about 12 inches long). The anodes will deliberatley corrode thus helping to prevent the hull corrode. They work in tandem with the blacking of the boats hull to keep the steel hull of the boat which is under water in good condition. You normally change the anodes every two years (usually at the same time whn you get the boat blacked).

I found the following definition on the net:
(though it talks about seawater, it is just as important for fresh water boats)

"Any time you have two different metals that are physically or electrically connected and immersed in seawater, they become a battery. Some amount of current flows between the two metals. The electrons that make up that current are supplied by one of the metals giving up bits of itself-in the form of metal ions-to the seawater. This is called galvanic corrosion and, left unchecked, it quickly destroys underwater metals.

The most common casualty of galvanic corrosion is a bronze or aluminum propeller on a stainless steel shaft, but metal struts, rudders, rudder fittings, outboards, and stern drives are also at risk. The way we counteract galvanic corrosion is to add a third metal into the circuit, one that is quicker than the other two to give up its electrons. This piece of metal is called a sacrificial anode, and most often it is zinc. In fact, most boaters refer to sacrificial anodes simply as zincs.

It would be hard to overstate the importance of maintaining the zinc anodes on your boat. When a zinc is gone, the metal component it was installed to protect begins to dissolve-guaranteed. "

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Ian

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Replies:

Re: Anodes -- colin biggs, 15:45:12 09/26/04 Sun
- Re: Anodes -- Ian Lay, 16:29:20 09/27/04 Mon
- Re: Anodes -- John Forbes, 00:19:58 09/29/04 Wed