grounding cable.

[jimschu]

I just had the zincs changed out on our R-29. The diver called and informed me that the tramson plate was in perfect shape and he thought the grounding may not be connected inside the engine compartment. Can you give me some guidance on this.
He also recommended using aluminum rather than zincs. Any thoughts on this?

Jim

 

[Andrew Custis]

Best way to tell is to look at the inside at the transom. Make sure the wires are connected. You could also take a volt meter and check continuity from the zinc plate to the ground.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Regarding the suggestion of using aluminum vs zinc anodes it all depends on the type of water you're boating in. For one complete description I've attached a link to Defender's web page that takes you directly to the what and why's of proper anode selection.

https://www.defender.com/html/zincs_info.html

Jim F

 

[Levitation]

It is likely that Aluminum is the best for salt water but zinc gets all the attention.

My zincs took a beating being in the marina for just 5 weeks in Florida. I watched my guppy melt away more than 50%
(yeah, I have checked for a cross wiring of the battery common to the dock neutral - it's not cross connected)
I am likely going to switch to aluminum when I get a round tuit this summer.
And I have the parts on hand for building a galvanic isolator - item# lebenteen on my to do list.

The only question being does the heat exchanger plug come in aluminum? (150 Cummins)

 

[Newtugnut]

Some other considerations for pre-mature zinc wear.

1./ a galvanic isolator

2./ a shaft brush for the prop shaft inside the boat

We have 'zinced' all our boats (salt water) with zinc and its worked well for us. From other posts, aluminum may be a consideration in special circumstances.

Another link to peruse.

http://www.performancemetals.com/anodes/AnodeFAQs.shtml