Anode replacement

Cableguy Greg

We all preach it and here is a picture of my Magnesium anodes after one season in the river. The moving water takes it toll on them.

Handymans342

Thats normal

Michael T

....maybe for salt water or near a boat with bad electricals but in the 6 months I was usually in the water mine was not that bad. I did however, replace them yearly, anyway. But Greg's ....those would be GONE for sure!

Handymans342

They are called sacrificial anodes for a reason.  

Michael T

Steve, there's a difference between a sacrifice and a slaughter LOL..... and remember their ability to protect once degraded by 25% drops off rapidly!

Handymans342

Better them than the drives

Cableguy Greg

I replaced them today.

raybo3

I change mine half way through the season (about 3 1/2 months). Greg are you in salt water? If yes then you should be using Zinc......

Handymans342

No salt water in Pittsburgh Ray RLMAO!!!!!!!

raybo3

Really Handy really??????? I think you should check on that bro.......LOL

frenchship

Here is mine after one season in fresh water.So it is hard to believe that yours are in this bad 
condition. Somebody close to you or the marina is leaking electricity......

bella-vita

Started working on mine drives today.

Cableguy Greg

The rivers have cleaned up a bit. I might want to check the salt levels. I could be using the wrong anodes.

randy56

Hey let me know if you find any salt up there. looks like electric to me. 

LaRea

@Cableguy Greg -- your anodes look like mine after a season in fresh water.  But you make a good point:  moving water will corrode the anodes faster than still water.  

@frenchship is one of the lucky few!  To have anodes like that, I think you'd need everything just right: still water, no stray electrical current and perfect water chemistry (not to mention a relatively shorter boating season).  

jme097

Magnesium in fresh water right?

Cableguy Greg

jme097 said:

Magnesium in fresh water right?

Yes, Magnesium is for fresh water.

Michael T

Fresh=Magnesium, Brackish= aluminum, Salt=zinc.

jme097

Thats what I figured! My anodes look pretty good actually. @Cableguy Greg what kit did you purchase for yours?

Cableguy Greg

@jme097, I got the magnesium kit from boatzincs dot com. My anodes on my alpha looked the same at the end of each season at two different marinas.

Michael T

Agreed, Al! ..... and that's what I've been posting on here for years. Why take a chance for a few bucks? Look around any marina at the crappy drives (corroded).

craigswardmtb

I wish that was what mine looked like after a season.  I change most of mine half way through the season.  Mine are much more deteriorated than any of those picts above after 4 months in salt water. 

I saw this guy working on compounding his boat in the yard the other day and went and chatted with him.  I noticed his drive was completely corroded.  The skeg was half of what it should be and there was massive corrosion all over the upper and lower, especially at joint areas.  He was complaining about his drive and corrosion.  I talked to him about zincs, drive paint, and whether his mercathode was functioning.  All of which was like I was speaking a different language to him.  I looked at his trim rams and he couldn't even install the anodes there because the screw holes were corroded out.  There is a real lack of knowledge out there.  People should be required to join forums like this to get a clue....

Cableguy Greg

The boat that is on the hard next to mine has been buffing and waxing like crazy. He painted the bottom of his boat two weekends ago and it looks great. If you look at his drive, he hasn't touched it in years. The anodes are in bad shape as well. It amazes me how many people either don't care or are totally clueless. I guess that have money to burn.

Dream_Inn

I may change mine this year, we'll see.  I only have 4 seasons on them right now!    Sure helps having it on a lift (right Handy??)!  sorry guys, had to do it.  When I was wet slipped I had to change them yearly as well.

Handymans342

Yes sir! I can even install a bronze thru hull for my new electronic upgrades!

Cableguy Greg

Here are a few boats, including the one next to mine that don't take care of their drives... Must have boat bucks to burn...

Michael T

.....certainly more boat bucks than brains! I was certainly ocd about my boats ...but those pictures, geez, that's "boat abuse".

LaRea

@craigswardmtb - your anodes are done after 2-3 months?  You might be overprotecting, which can cause its own problems.  You might need a different type of anode.  

jme097

Jesus. Those drives look brutal!

jme097

You guys made me nervous so I replaced mine. I'm in freshwater. 

Michael T

You might have gotten another season out of them but imo they are starting to go.

So much depends on where you keep the boat and its shore power and other boat electrical systems and how many marinas you visit.

 n my 2013 EC 310 mine were like that in August - I had put on my tanks for a look. So, I thought they're okay for a couple more months.

When I hauled it out in September they were way worse. I had visited a number of marinas from August to September and I have to assume at one or more of them there were poor electrical systems that took the start of erosion of the anodes and really accelerated it.

A very big marina near me, Kingston City Marina, has some terrible dock areas for electrical leakage and they know they have to do something. When we visit that big marina the visiting boaters and the regular slip renters are always talking about the iffy power supply. At first the marina denied it As boaters we knew there was a problem because we could see the low voltage and even worse the fluctuating voltage on our panels. At times our breakers would trip and we would have to run our shore power cords to another pedestal. So we knew the voltage was leaking from a lot of the pedestals. I guess that's what ate my magnesiums.....and at least we were lucky as the problem was obvious. The power is not reliable at a LOT of marinas but isn't that obvious so boaters wonder but aren't really sure.

BTW an "old salt" told me - "when you hook up to a shore power pedestal, have a look at your 110 volt meter in your panel. Is the voltage different from what it should be and normally at your home marina? Does it fluctuate? If so the location probably has iffy electrical source power and that is not good for your electrical equipment or your anodes/drives/underwater metals."

@jme097 - I'd rather replace my anodes a bit too soon than a bit too late.