Boat zincs (.com)

[amber jj]

This what I found when we went to remove the anode in the top of the after cooler and all that came out was the plug.Obviously they had done this a couple of times.

[Serenity]

Picky picky picky. As I said I pulled a couple of them bad boys and they looked fine. As far as the electronic tomatoes, send mine to Good Windlass. They truly are the worst manufacturer in the marine industry.

[Pitou]

Max - No tomatoes, just some helpful information. A little off topic, but very related and may very well help you.

This was and still is my first boat that I plugged into AC shore power.

Speaking of anode degradation ... when I first took delivery of my Albin in 2004, year one I had a terrible time keeping zincs from getting gobbled up ... engine, rudder, trim tabs, prop nut, bow thruster. Splash the beginning of May and needed to replace everything by the beginning of August as anodes were getting to be less than 50%. Hauled the end of October to see it happening all over again.

I repeated this for 2 more seasons until I mentioned it to my mechanic and he asked if I had a "galvanic isolator". I called Ken at Standish, where I bought the boat, to see if Albin had put them in at build. He responded that only if the boat was custom ordered and requested. Mine was custom ordered, but it was unknown if one had been installed. At decommissioning, that fall of '06, I removed the port side rod storage panel and traced the green ground wire from the shore power connection to the AC boat ground looking to see if the 1st owner had installed a galvanic isolator ... sadly nothing there. Being new to all of this I had my boat mechanic who is very familiar with boat wiring and ABYC standards install a Newmar galvanic isolator inline under the port cover board. Wow, what a difference as my anodes lasted the season with the exception of the one in the bottom of the aftercooler and the one in the lower portion of the heat exchanger which were replaced at mid-season check. The following year a Sea Ray, two boats over, was also plugged in left the marina and my anodes were in even better shape. The isolater was a great addition. Not sure if you have one installed, but wanted to pass this along. Three seasons ago I moved to another marina with all new wiring and power posts and at the end of the season some of my anodes were in such good shape that they could probably get me through the first few months of the following season, but to make life easier I change them all out before spring splash. The isolator is a must have for marina berthed boats connected to shore power.

[Serenity]

Electrolysis is unseen enemy in the water. Before we renovated our marina, we had many 3 wire receptacles that were not grounded properly. The voltage leak into the water was incredible. At times, owners would plug their auto, 2 wire battery chargers in and charge the boat batteries. They could never understand why their zincs were disappearing.

[Russell]

I have a question about zincs that maybe someone can answer. If other boats can use your zincs through the ground wire why are multiple zincs required in an engine? I have only one in my Cummins located in the heat exchanger but have read on this site that Yanmars have five. It would seem that all parts are connected together either by bolts or through the salt water and one zinc would be sufficient.

[N4QC]

Don't know for sure but i would suspect that the engine zincs are located as close to the source of possible metal deterioration, from electrolysis, as possible...

Not all Yanmars have five zincs. Believe that the Yanmar 6LPs do. My 4lh-dte doesn't have any engine zincs. I do have zincs on the rudder and trim tabs, as well as an galvanic isolator on the 115v ac supply system.

Zincs will be consumed at various rates depending on varying conditions. Thus, it is prudent to inspect them on a continuing basis so that one can get a feel for what a regular change out time would be as preventive maintenance. This is not a guarantee of premature consumption identification in that a new vessel may become a dock mate and his/her boat may adversely affect the consumption rate of your zincs. Just another item to keep track of...

Have fun,

[HerBoat35]

Just bought a 2004 Albin 28 with a 315 Yanmar. Can anyone tell me where the engine zincs are located?