Mercathode trouble shooting

[Ralph vaughn]

Any idea how to check and see if the mercathode system on my 2008 SR 290 is working ok. Just put my boat in the water after changing out all the zincs and there is a lot of wear on the zincs. I am in freshwater in Atlanta Georgia on a new dock with GFI. Anyixea what could cause the premature wear.

 

[paulswagelock]

Check mercathode power on two center screws for 12volts.

Mercathode System Testing

When the boat is in the water, disconnect the orange wire that comes from the anode at the mercathode controller. Set the digital reader to show milliamps. Connect the black meter lead to the terminal on the controller. Connect the red meter lead to the end of orange wire. If using the blue or black Mercathode controller, the reading should be 25 or less milliamps, to as much as 200 milliamps in saltwater areas. If using the red Mercathode controller, the readings should be less than 25 milliamps in fresh water areas to as high as 400 milliamps in saltwater areas.

Excess wear on your anodes is usually stray current form another source, or your boat being the source of stray current. Fresh water can be tricky to isolate the issue.

 

[Ralph vaughn]

Thanks for the info

ralph

 

[Cocktail Time]

Ralph, hey there, what marina are you at? I know the guys at Holiday where we are are really good about offering to test your dock and the water surrounding your boat to help identify potential sources of stray current. They bought some expensive gear to help track down those potential issues. Not sure about the other local marinas. Best- Dan

 

[radscoot]

Thanks for the info

ralph

You need to get something like this
https://www.boatzincs.com/corrosion-reference-electrode.html