Propeller Zinc Life

[Timothy]

What is the normal life expectancy of the prop zinc on a 31 in salt water?
Mine is eaten up in 2 1/2 months! The other zincs are fine. I keep my boat at my dock and the electrician checked it out and there is no stray ac. However, he did note a very small flow between the shaft and ground and suggested I brush to the shaft in case the transmission was not making sufficient contact through the gears to the engine. Seems a little far out there. Anyone else having this problem? Tim 561 670 8640

 

[dencarst]

Hi

My boat does the same thing.

Dennis

Tug of my heart 11

 

[Lobo]

Consider installing a shaft brush. Available at most marine stores, and with an appropriate length of wire to ground, should cost less than $30. When I put mine in I didn't want to drill holes in the bottom of the hull. I formed a small piece of wood, put several coats of epoxy on it over a week, then cemented that wood to the hull using 5200. Installed the shaft brush with screws into the wood. Remember that you shaft goes into a lubricated part of your transmission and lubrication is an insulator, the shaft brush gives your shaft and prop a good connection to your grounding system.

You might also want to install a "grouper anode" -- West Marine part number 485144 -- into your system. Hook it to a good ground point and toss overboard when at the dock. An alternative is to look in the waste of a boat yard and find an old commercial zinc and hook that into your ground system with wire and save the $60+ that West Marine wants for the grouper.

I'm going to check if the link to the electrolysis notes is still live, and if it is I will also find my original post and bring it to the front of the home page. Lots of information from a smart dude on this topic.

Dave
Lobo

 

[M.V. Echo Bob/Gay]

We also previously posted our fix for this "foreseeable" problem on our Ranger Tug; maybe our experience might be of help to you.

Try these links:

http://www.rangertugr27forsale.com/trai ... ting-notes

http://www.rangertugr27forsale.com/r27- ... outfitting

Take care,

Bob Lynch