Albin 36 Zinc

[Fireant4040]

I have a '78 Albin 36' and I'm not sure which zincs to buy. I'm new to the trawler lifestyle. Can anyone help me out?

[Parrot Adventure]

Hi Fireant, we have a 1981 36 DC Albin, and it has four zincs as follow: one 1-1/2" collar zinc attached to the shaft, two 5" flat round zincs on the rudder, and two zinc blocks on the transom. I will send photos when I next go to the boatyard. Thanks, Mark

[jleonard]

I use only 1 zinc on my rudder. And there is a zinc in the main heat exchanger, I don't remember the size.

IMG_5077.JPG

[Parrot Adventure]

Hi Fireant, here are several photos showing the locations of the zincs on our Albin 36 transom and running gear. We have one collar zinc on our propeller shaft, two pancake style zincs on each side of our rudder, as well as two block zincs on our transom. As you can probably tell, there should be a flat copper bonding band or wire throughout the inside of your boat which is connected to the transom blocks, to which are also attached all of your thru-hull bronze connections, propeller shaft, and stuffing box, as well as grounded to your negative terminal lead on your fuse block. When next I am aboard the boat, I will send you the location of the zinc in our Lehman engine heat exchanger, as well as our Northern Lights genset. Thanks, Mark

[jleonard]

Parrot that is one zinc on your rudder

[Fireant4040]

Mark, Thank you for your reply and pics. Helps a lot. I have a big learning curve ahead of me.

[Parrot Adventure]

Hi Fireant, glad to help. I'm a relatively new comer to this forum, although have owned our boat for four years. There are plenty of interesting topics with folks far more knowledgeable than I am. I am very much into doing my own maintenance and repairs. Here's a couple photos of our 1981 Albin. We're the third owners. Thanks, Mark

[kjg1951]

where is the zinc located on the generator?

[mike66]

The heat exchanger should have one.

[Slow Ride]

Timely post as this relates to me as well. Recent owner of a 36 D/C. Not sure of the last change of zincs.

Question - I have read that leaving a boat plugged in to shore power slows the decay of the zinc plates. Can anyone verify this?

mike

[mike66]

The opposite is true, being plugged in connects you to all the other boats around you to form one big battery. You can be affected by any of those boats and their electrical systems. There are galvanic isolators to help with this problem, as well as isolation transformers.

[mike66]

Also a further comment on your zincs. If a boat is new to you, than you will have to check your zincs on a regular basis to find out how long they last. My transom zincs go three years, my Lehman and Westerbeke about three months. I like to change the engine zincs when they are about half gone and crumbly; they usually come out easily at that point. My propshaft zinc collar barely lasts the six month season.
Congrats on your 36! Very cool boats but I am a little biased.

[Nepidae]

My experiences is that Aluminum may last longer.

I get my anodes at Marine Anodes (http://marineanodes.com/), on-line and they also carry a SALCA which is a collar anode that has teeth. I put it right behind my prop and it is a cutter for anything that would attack the prop.

What is great about that is that you get an anode and a cutter in 1 package and if you've ever looked at cutters you know how expensive they are.

The SALCA for our 1 3/4 shafts is less than $50 ea.

There prices on anodes is the best and they can help with any questions.

Very satisfied customer for the last 3 years. I just call them and tell them to send my last order again.