I’m trying to put zincs on the outside of the alum. hull. No one seems to know how to do it. I can only go by what little was in your book, do they need to be tied together with wire on the inside from the bolts, and should the zincs be against the alum. Hull or can I put them on after the 3 coats of 2000e, or not have them on at all. I would appreciate any help. Thanks, Dale
Hi Dale: The key issue is the zincs must be electrically connected to the aluminum. If the zincs are on the outside, they can be bolted to angles which have been welded to the hull, or they can be welded directly (cast the zincs with an aluminum strap through the center and then tack weld the strap to the hull). An alternate approach is to use a piece of heavy wire which is bolted to the zinc, and then hang the zincs around the hull, with the wire bolted or clamped to the toe rail. We have four zincs on BEOWULF in this fashion–plus the one on the prop shaft. For zincs placed inside the hull, the sumps where saltwater collects, these can be attached with electrical wire. Note–the wire should be tinned. Regards–Steve Dashew
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
January 16th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Steve,
I hope all is going well on Wind Horse. I ran into you at Rebecca Spit in British Columbia a couple of years ago. We were delivering a friend’s Grand Banks trawler home from Alaska. You were rowing around the cove and we spoke briefly. I did not realize that it was you and you’re wife on Wind Horse. Probably good for you, I would have kept you for much longer than a brief conversation.
Oh well… My wife an I recently bought a Garcia 48. I wanted to know if you have an opinion on impressed electical cathodic protection systems like Electro-guard. Are these worth considering or more risk than benefit?
January 16th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Howdy Chris:
We prefer passive anode protection. Impressed current systems, if they go badly wrong, have the potential to do a lot of damage quickly. We have been using anodes since the early 1980s with good results.