C28 - trim tab zincs or no?

[mferguson]

Talked with CW parts for replacement zincs, they quoted me and I bought some for the tabs as well as the others. I get to my boat and there's no zincs on the tabs and no holes drilled in the tabs to mount them. Was this quote a mistake or did you forget to install the zincs on my tabs on my 2018 version?

 

[BB marine]

The trim tab planes are not required to have anodes. If used in fresh water Bennett says the anodes are not needed. If used in salt and brackish water Bennett recommends installing and maintaining anodes on the trim tab planes. The trim tab planes are stand alone ( they are not bonded) the anodes installed on the planes are only protecting the planes. When installing the anodes be sure to clean the mounting surface so there is a good connection between the anode and the metal it is protecting. (Continuity). The word zincs is used loosely. Zincs are one of 3 types of sacrificial anodes. Magnesium (fresh water), Aluminum alloy (fresh water, brackish, salt water) and Zinc (Salt water). All anodes are a mixture of alloys. It has been my personal experience that the Aluminum Alloy perform well in all environments. If the boat is used in a wet/dry use ( launched left in the water and then trailered and relaunched I recommend the use of Aluminum. The Zinc anodes form a oxidized coating when used in fresh water and when exposed to air after being in the water. When this coating is present the anode no longer acts has a sacrificial anode. The Aluminum alloy anode is also safer for the environment. I think of Zincs as the old school sacrificial anode and Aluminum as the go to now. Just my opinion!

 

[Ralf H]

Hi mferguson,

We used to install trim tab zincs as an option on the 28. So they were not forgotten, but apparently the boat was originally not ordered with them. That's why they were still available through us. As Brian mentioned, they are not required in freshwater, but recommended in salt. Seeing that you apparently are in Colorado, they may not be needed (unless you take trips to the coast or similar) Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ralf

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

Put zincs on. It’s a 20 minute job with a good drill bit. We trailer our R-23 and this is after about 5 weeks total in brackish ICW water.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[rheimb1]

I'm told it's not whether you are in salt water or fresh water, it how much electricity is flowing through your marina waters. I have my boat on Lake Coeur D'Alene and have changed mine 3 times in 6 years. I went through a set last year alone, so that tells me that someone is leaking a lot more juice than in previous years. So I would put them on it's cheap insuance.

 

[Bob/Bradenton]

Our "new to us" 2019 C-28 was used in a TX fresh water lake, therefore no trim tab zinc. But it's now going to be used in the harsh, salt water of mid-Gulf FL (and close to electrically leaky docks and boats) so we just installed 3 3/4" pancake zincs on the tabs.

Easy to do. Used a good cordless drill (Ryobi) starting with a 1/8" bit and moving up. That Stainless Steel used for these tabs is very very hard, so take your time.

The tabs already had bottom paint on them so I used the Ryobi cordless 6" polisher equipped with a 50 grit stick-on sanding disk(s) to remove the top and bottom paint. Just enough room between the side upright edge and the cylinder for the 6" sander to fit. (The polisher/sander uses the same battery as the drill, a very good Ryobi system).

I also installed two donut 1" zincs on the inner SS supports for the swim platform, plus another 3 3/4" pancake on the bronze rudder. For the rudder installation, I had to use a corded drill, not the cordless. That bronze is hard and it took about 30 minutes to drill through it. The pancake is now located on the front lower edge of the rudder.

The reason for all the zincs is that I had read that the prop zinc on the tail end of the shaft has a tendency to work loose as it wears, and sometimes fall off. (I used Loctite on the bolt thread). So a bit more zinc protection is better than less.
Bob/Bradenton