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#1
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive.
The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
claus wrote:
We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive. The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj I had the same engine many years ago. At that time I was amazed to discover the prop was made of cast iron. Could that have anything to do with the problem? I am no expert on galvanic corrosion, but could it be that zinc and cast iron should not be in direct contact with each other? |
#3
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
The (folding) prop on our boat is made of Bronze.
"Dennis Pogson" wrote in message ... claus wrote: We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive. The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj I had the same engine many years ago. At that time I was amazed to discover the prop was made of cast iron. Could that have anything to do with the problem? I am no expert on galvanic corrosion, but could it be that zinc and cast iron should not be in direct contact with each other? |
#4
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
claus wrote:
We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive. The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj Hello Claus, I'm on my way out, so just a brief post for now. First, it would not be surprising to find that the small zincs mounted on the prop go first. After all, they're right there. If everything is OK, then the other zincs will begin to work when the little ones are depleted. At this point, you can easily verify that the larger zincs are indeed connected electrically to the prop shaft and prop. Sometimes good contact is not made through shaft couplings, etc. and that would prevent the larger zincs from working. Of course the small ones on the prop are bonded electrically by definition. You can check the voltage between the engine ground and the prop side of the shaft. If you see nothing, even on the lowest DC voltage setting, chances are good they're bonded. Using an ohmmeter might be troublesome given the galvanic potentials that might be floating around. Good luck. Chuck ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#5
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
One more quick thought. If you know the
approximate surface area of the prop and the weight of the zinc lost in say 2 months, it is fairly easy to figure out whether that is in the normal range. Let us know and we'll try to tell you. Chuck ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#6
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
claus wrote: We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive. The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj .. You mention a Galvanic Isolator. Not sure what that is i.e. does it isolate the shore power earth/ground from the ocean earth/ground of the boat? Am no expert on this but when we had a boat survey done, many moons ago the surveyor seemed most interested in whether some slight corrosion could be due to electric current from the shore supply going to ground/earth via our boat. In other words not 'galvanic' corrosion but that caused by electrical supply 'leakage' through the metallic parts of our fiberglass boat that were in the water? Another way of putting it might be that our boat could providea better 'ground' through its immersed metallics into the seawater than a five foot ground rod some distance away driven into dryish granular soil! One answer is apparently to use an 'Isolating transformer'. Each side of which has its own ground/earth. An isolating transformer can be quite small if it supplies just a small amount of power for the long periods that a boat is unattended/unlived in to operate say a small battery 'refresher' trickle charger and/or one tenth of horsepower tiny bilge pump. But nothing 'heavy' though, such as a fridge etc.. Suggestion anyway. |
#7
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
chuck wrote:
One more quick thought. If you know the approximate surface area of the prop and the weight of the zinc lost in say 2 months, it is fairly easy to figure out whether that is in the normal range. Let us know and we'll try to tell you. Chuck ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- Yet another thought. If your larger zincs really do look "new" (i.e., they are shiny) then they are probably active. An inactive zinc usually looks dark and tends to acquire a film characteristic of submerged matter. Chuck |
#8
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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HELP: Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
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#9
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
I installed a galvanic isolator to protect my saildrives/zincs, and I
believe it works. I have heard of someone w/ a saildrive who installed a battery disconnect switch in the ground cable to the engine , which he switched off when docked or even anchored. Seems to me this is a good idea, but I'd like to hear what others think of this. "claus" wrote in message ... We have a Volvo MD22L engine equipped with a sail drive. The hull and prop are "supposed to be" protected with: 1) A Large Zinc block attached to the hull just forward of the sail drive and electrically connected to the engine block through the hull. 2) Round Zinc around the propellor shaft - attached to the sail drive 3) 3 small Zincs attached directly to the propellor The problem is that the 3 small zincs erode rapidly - sometimes within 2 months - and sometimes within 4 months...no regular pattern. The other zincs (1 and 2) look brand new after 2 years in the water and obviously do not protect the propellor at all. When the all the zincs were installed at the last haul-out 2 years ago I made sure they were free of any surface oxidation. I have also installed a Galvanic Isolator in an attempt to alleviate the problem - and the boat has been inspected for any stray currents and none found by the Marina staff. The boat next two ours is a derilict without any maintenance whatsoever - but is is also hoohed up to the same shorepower circuit as ours. The Marina staff dioes not think that is the culprit. Any suggestions? cvj |
#10
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Zinc problem Volvo Sail Drive
"claus" wrote
The (folding) prop on our boat is made of Bronze. Are you trying to protect the prop or are you trying to protect something else from being corroded by the prop? Bronze is way up on the cathodic end of the galvanic scale, meaning it *should* corrode zinc fairly rapidly. And of course it will also corrode other anodic metals like aluminum or iron if there's no zinc handy. What other metals are involved? Is there a problem other than the prop zincs eroding? |
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