Mate told me I should never leave the battery in the boat as it causes severe electrolysis and will stuff the boat in no time at all. Is this true?
Mate told me I should never leave the battery in the boat as it causes severe electrolysis and will stuff the boat in no time at all. Is this true?
As I understand it, if there happens to be a short to the metal hull (not glass) or the hull is used as ground (as in a car) then yes, electrolysis will occur. Boats should always be wired with both +ve and -ve wires going to apparatus.
Its a good idea to isolate the battery when not in use so as to prevent any leakage from left on switches that will flatten the battery or cause early sulfation from battery being left in a partially discharged state.
I am no electrician, but the above is what I have gleaned over the years. Hope it helps
Morlers
I think it does also! I have one patch that gets worse each time I forget to disconect the battery. Once disconected the problem are gets no worse even after a 3 month layup, it's quite dramatic and has sold me on the issue, No part of my wireing is earthed to the hull in any way except through the engine and control cables. nq
Just a hint when the boat is of a alloy make, place an anode on the keel below the water line this will help reduce any electrolysis that may accour from battery leakage
position just about the back some where .The other surgestions are good isolation switch diso the battery. If you would like more advise PM me .
BladeRunner
I remove the sounder from my boat when not in use. There was a green stain between the two terminals on the power supply plug and a fair bit of corrossion within the plug. The sounder supplier said that over time, moisture would condense out on the plug and start to short out the two terminals, leading to corrossion. Doesn't occur if you leave the sounder connected apparently.
Probably not quite what you are talking about, but still interesting
Regards
Whichway
whoops I thought you was refering to the boat and the electrics you ran .12 volts
any way if I can help PM me
Blade
Tell your mate it is a load of crap.Mate told me I should never leave the battery in the boat as it causes severe electrolysis and will stuff the boat in no time at all. Is this true?
Sounds like a load of crap as wellThat is if your boat is actually wired correctly.
And as for all those who might want to run out and fit an additional anode to the keel then take a step back a deep breath and think real hard about that one as too much protection in the wrong place of the wrong type can generally be worse than what is fitted to the standard outboard.
Cheers, Kerry.
Kerry please explain your theory so we can understand what it is you are trying to say .
The question was electrolysis in boats not as he then changed it ,to terminals on a what ever [smiley=hammer.gif]
BladeRunner [smiley=bandana.gif]
Well BladeRunner maybe we could start by not calling this issue what it isOriginally Posted by BladeRunner
electrolysis ??? the best place to leave electrolysis is in the hair studio.
Anyway in simpe terms too many anodes, "over protection", placed in the wrong places can have problems as does too few anodes, savvy.
So what's your point about to terminals on a what ever
Cheers, Kerry.
Gezz kerry your starting to scare me now[smiley=clown.gif]
Now I am simply confused!
Confused NqElectrolysis is a widely misused term, often used when referring to boat corrosion issues but generally used incorrectly. Electrolytic corrosion and Galvanic corrosion are NOT electrolysis and in most respects the placing of anodes on a vessel basically does absolutely nothing for Electrolytic corrosion, which can be caused by incorrectly installed battery systems.
Electroylic and Galvanic corrosion are also quite different based on the source of the current and prevention methods required.
Cheers, Kerry.
Kerry let me diverse a bit. Not knowing your back ground or knowledge of such maters, people still read these posts .So in reply to the boat electrolysis an anode attached to a aluminium boat where electrical system is being use say a 12 volt DC battery or a 3.5 Kw generator, mind you its aluminium we are talking
There is always a possibility of a reaction when in salt water wouldn’t you agree ? so I suggested he might like to fix an anode to the keel of his boat which would reduce the affect to aluminium and white powder
build up that would coat the hull on the inside of the vessel .Would stand out like dog b-lls .
As for a bad hair day. You wrote Electroylic and Galvanic corrosion are also quite different based on the source of the current and prevention methods required.
Tell me you prevention method ?why should / could current run through the boat?
Ever herd of a magnetic field . Electrolysis or what you call it Electroylic where
Galvanic fits in you tell me .
Now as for the terminals some one said they had corrosion on a sounder or something I didn’t expect to justify my comments and I apologise to that person sorry .
BladeRunner
Bladerunner, I would call the difference (in boat terms) between electrolyic corrosion (mind you no relation to electrolysis) and Galvanic corrosion is that one generates the current internally and the other the current has to be provided externally.
An anode as in (sacrificial anode) being the least noble will take the heat from the stuff one wants to protect and Galvanic is the big daddy of problems in tinnies.
Simply fixing an anode somehwhere on the keel might do what? I'm not even going to hazzrd a guess at that one but dwell on the side of caution as all this stuff can be black magic in some cases. If it's not the correct andode for the job or too many of them then problems can occur.
One thing with all of this is that the general thinking is that stainless is good in a saltwater environment and alloy is not quite so good and where the 2 meet the alloy is the weakest link.Well that all depends on the relative surface areas of the material in question.
A alloy rivet in a piece of stainless, the stainless will eat the alloy, no question, a stainless rivet in a piece of alloy, then the alloy will chew the stainless up into a white powered mess, no question.
Mate, if you don't think stray currents can't/won't/don't run through a boat then buy yourself a nice alloy boat and park it up in a marinaYou might wonder what the sizzle is and you not even cooking sausages
Corrosion on terminals in many instances can be bad maintenance but without seeing what the corrosion looks like then it's rather a wild guess.
Cheers, Kerry.
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