bravo III prop nut anode kit $$$

skennelly

Why are these kit's so expensive to retrofit an older Bravo III with a prop nut anode.

Seriously $80 for the kit that includes a new nut that accepts the anode.

Are they made of solid gold?

Cableguy Greg

I agree that they are expensive, but it is a one time buy. After that, you can get the new anode kit without the new nut.

Liberty44140

How often do you guys change your anodes? Every spring? 

Cableguy Greg

I change mine every spring.

Black_Diamond

Usually an annual job for me. 

raybo3

I do mine in the spring and then mid-season. 

rasbury

do you trailer or sit in the water? I trailer my boat so not sure when I should change mine....I'm running 100 hours probably a year but I sit some in marinas as well so it's hard to judge the time in the water...

frenchship

The most expansive ones are Magnesuim for Bravo111 2004 and up.

J3ff

What are you talking about specifically? My prop anode fell off this past season  maybe this is why? I wasn't aware of 80 dollar nut.. 

skennelly

@J3ff My bravo 3 doesn't have a nut on it that I can attach an anode to.

https://www.offshoremarineparts.com/70782m.html

This kit comes with the special nut and anode.  This one is $99 but I thought I saw one for $80.

Cableguy Greg

Here is where you found the $80 kit...

http://www.boatzincs.com/mercruiser-magnesium.html

Liberty44140

I am in a Lake Erie freshwater dock all summer. My gut was telling me annually so thanks for the confirmation. They were new last spring and definitely are pretty bumpy now but probably not more than 10% deteriorated. Looks like zincsforboats and boatzincs have similar pricing. Just ordered 2 new magnesium kits for B3 from zincsforboats. Used this 10% off code that came to my email last week. Looks like it still works: 121ZKVA5WHDC

Cableguy Greg

J3ff said:

What are you talking about specifically? My prop anode fell off this past season  maybe this is why? I wasn't aware of 80 dollar nut.. 

2004 and newer B3 drives have the prop nut anode. Pre 2004 B3 drives did not have it, so you need the different prop nut to be able to add it to the drive.

jhofmann

The 04 and newer also have a second round anode above the prop. When my 2000 Bravo III blew, and was not rebuildable, I located a used one that was of the newer style, and has the extra 2 anodes. 

califco

I installed the pro nut anode last spring, purchased from Amazon for $55.85

Martyr CMPNDAF14UNS  Alloy Bravo 3 Mercury Prop Nut Assembly Aluminum https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N9FXBE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4EdGybY6RZRR7

craigswardmtb

Those anodes look to be in good shape to me.  I guess i'm jaded as by the end of the season, mine are far worse being in salt water.

skennelly

@califco - I notice you are in Michigan so freshwater boating?  They say magnesium anodes are the recommended anode for Bravo III in freshwater.

The Amazon listing says "not recommended for freshwater"

http://www.boatzincs.com/pdfs/Which_Anodes_Should_I_Use-Chart_Merc-B.pdf

Magnesium is more expensive than Zinc or Aluminum for some reason.

Cableguy Greg

Magnesium is for fresh water. Here is a good chart from boatzincs.com

J3ff

So a BIII in salt water with our Stainless steel props should be all Aluminum.. hmm

califco

@skennelly correct I need to use magnesium, I had two days from when the boat came out of heating storage to when the marina wanted to put the boat on the water. I was not able to get the correct one at that time. I asked my mechanic and he said it will be okay for the season considering that there was nothing before. I'm planning to replace with the correct zinc this year by reusing the nut. When the boat came out last season, I noticed that the anode actually shows degradation and the outdrive looks the same as before it went in the water.