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Zinc Replacement 101
by John Temple
How often should my zincs be replaced?
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How often zincs should be changed depends on a lot of factors. The biggest one is whether you keep your boat in salt water or fresh water. Other factors include your marina and its efforts to keep stray power out of the water. Boats around you can affect stray power in the water and so can any industrial work in the area. So check your zincs often with a diver or when you pull your boat yourself. Err on the side of too often and keep a log.
In our saltwater marina, we get about five months from our zincs. It has changed over time from shorter to longer. Shaft zincs will deteriorate differently than the main plate and other locations, like the trim tabs. Also, there is a difference in the quality of zincs. Talk to your diver or zinc supplier if you do zinc maintenance yourself.
Talk to your marina manager and see what is done to test for electrolytic corrosion due to DC current running through the water. The people at our marina test often and look for any problems on their side; they notify boat owners if there is a marina-caused problem. They will come to our slip and test the area at any time if we express concern. Make sure your own galvanic isolators are connected properly and working.
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This article first appeared in the March 1, 2010 issue of Sea Magazine. All or parts of the information contained in this article might be outdated. |
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