Anode Question

[brw0513]

My project to convert my J35TEL3EEM to power tilt continues

The leg mid-section I purchased for the conversion turned out to be in quite a poor state. The salt water had found its way under the paint in a lot of areas so I took all the castings to work and bead blasted them back to bare metal. I was quite surprised to see how much aluminium had been consumed particularly around the top of the swivel bracket.

My question is - should I paint the castings all over and then fix the sacrificial anode or should I mask off the area where the anode sits to maximise the metal-to-metal contact area? My preference is the former, but I'm assuming the fixing screws would be sufficient to provide the electrical connection between the casting and anode.

Thanks.

[Joe Reeves]

Go ahead and paint as normal. The screw is sufficient to attach the anode. The purpose of the anode is to have the material of the anode removed via the electrolysis problem.... and to leave your engine alone.

Many do not fully understand the scenario..... It is not your engine that has the problem... It is another rig that could be a hundred yards away (or more) at the marina and that rigs electrical problem would create a problem of having a current flowing in his direction that is drawing from your area. The "salt" simply magnifies the condition. That is why they call it electrolysis.

Find the rig that has a bunch of extra aluminum pilled up on it... and you've found the villain!