OMG I wasn't barnacles.

Gary, do you have shaft zincs? And did you when you took delivery of your boat (I think you bought new)?
 
With the boat in the water and charger on touch the running gear. You may feel a small shock, or a big shock. That would be the easy way to test but not recomended. All joking aside these chargers were known to "soft" fail and put current in the water. When mine went I started getting a buildup of salt on the bonding block on the bottom of the hull. It also started consuming zincs very fast. As the above post says "Throw it away!" It served you well for a long time but it's time to let go. : )
 
I'm no expert, but had plenty of problems with my bonding and zincs before we did a major overhaul of the entire engine compartment and systems. We had several bonding wires corroded through or simply missing. It looks to me like more than one issue is going on here though. Could be a combination of broken bonding wires, stray current in the water from the boat itself and possibly another boat or shore power. I was eating up zincs at a rate of nearly every 3 or 4 months. Once all of the issues were resolved, we are getting 6 months +/- out of the zincs and nearly 12 months out of the hull zinc.

Serious question for you guys in the NE; do you have divers to clean your hulls regularly or do you just not get that much growth up there? I need to have mine cleaned monthly, sometimes twice monthly down here depending on the location/water temps (up to 92F in summer). My diver was the one who found my original zinc problem. A diver checking your bottom now and then is cheaper than a haul out, and certainly cheaper than these repairs will be.
 
kevin27 said:
With the boat in the water and charger on touch the running gear. You may feel a small shock, or a big shock. That would be the easy way to test but not recomended. All joking aside these chargers were known to "soft" fail and put current in the water. When mine went I started getting a buildup of salt on the bonding block on the bottom of the hull. It also started consuming zincs very fast. As the above post says "Throw it away!" It served you well for a long time but it's time to let go. : )
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Thank you for the heads up. I'm having a certified ABYC electrician come take a look as soon as soon as the bottom work is completed. He seemed to know about this problem because he assured me he will have a replacement with him when he comes.
 
We need to be careful in identifying what we actually have going on here. Most boats above canoe status, with engines and electrical systems will have an have an Electrical grounding system or "earth" (also for lightning protection). This a separate and distinct system from a galvanic bonding system. This bonding system is designed to tie all metal on the boat in to a unified system, a circuit if you will, that links these more noble metals to a zinc anode under water. This anode will be consumed sacrificially hence protecting the more noble metals in the system such as engine blocks, pumps hear exchangers shafts, props, rudders, struts, transmissions, sea cocks, thru hull fittings. Both of these system require some maintenance to assure tight clean connections.

KatznDogs vessel has shown extensive damage from electrolysis. There is also damage in the ER, it just has not been found or reported yet because it hasn't caused failure. Suspect will be the shaft most likely inside the strut bearing and the log. The transmission coupler as well. The props must be inspected very close and perhaps just replaced. All the metal thru hulls must be replaced, shafts & rudders removed and inspected. All raw water circuits in the ER internally inspected for destructive corrosion. AC water cooling coils inspected. The bonding system repaired and tested. Zinc placed properly. This is a major repair no doubt.

As to why the tab zinc seemed to withstand the onslaught is they were installed over paint and had no connection to the underlying metal, hence the galvanic erosion seen. Zincs must be installed on clean bright metal in tight surface contact for any meaningful protection to be obtained.

The cause is two fold. Lack of routine anode (Zinc) maintenance and a failing galvanic bonding system. There is a lot of work to be done and money to be spent to bring this dock queen back from the brink. Go here for more information about nobility and corrosion.

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Forms-galvanic/galvanic-corrosion.htm
 
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The problem with just throwing it away is that you will not know if it was bad and the cause of the problem. Anyone can be an old school parts changer, the fault needs to be found.
 
There has to be a way to test the orig blue pro charger ? Anyone have any ideas?
 
Katapult said:
The problem with just throwing it away is that you will not know if it was bad and the cause of the problem. Anyone can be an old school parts changer, the fault needs to be found.
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My sentiments exactly! As i have said before, diagnosis is 85% of the job. Just about anybody can hang parts.
 
A complete and comprehensive test of all battery's including a base voltage test, a proper load test and hydrometer test is also in order. Then testing the output voltage and amperage of both the on board battery charger/ac converter and the main engine alternators.
 
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To start yes I do have the promariner charger. And I plan to find out what happened here after I get the boat back together.

I know everyone likes the carnage pics so I'll shoot some more tonight after I get home and post them.

So I need all new thru hulls, props I have(which the prior owner left
onboard ;-), rudders, I'm also changing the struts. I can't take a chance. It seems as if the voltage makes the bronze soft and brittle by dissolving the copper first.

It's unreal the damage. Lucky for me the shafts are usable and have been checked into Bossler & Sweezey(our local prop shop) along with the couplers for a checkup. They are also making me up a set of oversized rudders. They were able to order the struts for me from the OEM supplier and believe it or not they had a set on the shelf so I'll be getting them next week.

Glass beaded the south bay strainers and they are ready to go. I setup and cleaned the thru hulls and valves today at work so they are ready to go.

I ordered the SS rudder supports to replace the rotten old steel ones so thats and upgrade and am considering going dripless since the whole thing is apart.

I have about 8-10 hrs into disassembly which was a fight the whole way. Thanks God its in my driveway and not marina yard. I could never foot that bill.

By doing everything myself and with the help of Tom at B&S who is saving me some money in a few ways I hope to be just north of $2k. But I'll let you know as I plan to take pics the whole way and pass the project on so at least this mess might help someone else.

TTYL
 
:smt001Big job, and there is not a whole lot of room down there. I'm glad you caught it, if you had not, she probably went down. This has opened my eyes to corrosion, electrolosys, grounding plates, and grounds ! I have been systematically checking all of my grounds, and will be doing some current testing once she hits the water. Good luck on your project, and thanx for sharing. Dave
 
Would your insurance have covered the damage? Not sure if you have, but it looks like some pricey repairs. Hopefully your dock neighbors don't have a similar issue. If the stray current was coming from your boat they may want to talk to you and your insurance company.
 
KatzNDogs said:
To start yes I do have the promariner charger. And I plan to find out what happened here after I get the boat back together.

I know everyone likes the carnage pics so I'll shoot some more tonight after I get home and post them.

So I need all new thru hulls, props I have(which the prior owner left
onboard ;-), rudders, I'm also changing the struts. I can't take a chance. It seems as if the voltage makes the bronze soft and brittle by dissolving the copper first.

It's unreal the damage. Lucky for me the shafts are usable and have been checked into Bossler & Sweezey(our local prop shop) along with the couplers for a checkup. They are also making me up a set of oversized rudders. They were able to order the struts for me from the OEM supplier and believe it or not they had a set on the shelf so I'll be getting them next week.

Glass beaded the south bay strainers and they are ready to go. I setup and cleaned the thru hulls and valves today at work so they are ready to go.

I ordered the SS rudder supports to replace the rotten old steel ones so thats and upgrade and am considering going dripless since the whole thing is apart.

I have about 8-10 hrs into disassembly which was a fight the whole way. Thanks God its in my driveway and not marina yard. I could never foot that bill.

By doing everything myself and with the help of Tom at B&S who is saving me some money in a few ways I hope to be just north of $2k. But I'll let you know as I plan to take pics the whole way and pass the project on so at least this mess might help someone else.

TTYL
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I appreciate you sharing. Your misadventure has been a wake up call for me too. Good luck to you, I hope the repairs go smoothly and that beautiful boat of yours is back in the water SOON!
 
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