How To Protect Your Boat From Corrosion
Owning a boat means that you’re responsible for maintaining that boat to keep it in good shape for as long as possible. One of the challenges that boat owners frequently face is corrosion. Corrosion occurs on aluminum boats due to saltwater and debris causing the metal to break down over time. If left unaddressed, corrosion becomes permanent and irreversible, doing significant damage to your craft and rendering it potentially useless.
The Science of Corrosion
It can be helpful to understand exactly what’s happening when we talk about “corrosion.” There is some science to it, but it’s not terribly complex, so don’t worry!
Galvanic corrosion is what we’re talking about with boats. Two metals that have varied atomic makeups end up having electrical potentials that are not similar. Once these metals come into contact with a pool of electrolytes, such as saltwater, positive and negative charges are created which result in the creation of a battery. The negative metal is a cathode and the positive metal is an anode. The cathodic metal pulls electrons away from the anodic metal, which breaks it down over time.
Places Where Corrosion Occurs
Any place on your boat that has both steel and aluminum or steel and bronze is liable to corrode, especially if you take your boat out onto the Atlantic. The propeller or mast are common places for corrosion to occur. Sometimes, corrosion can occur in brackish (slightly salty) or even freshwater environments.
Tools To Prevent Corrosion
A sacrificial anode can help to draw corrosion to another material that isn’t a part of your boat. These items used to be made out of zinc, but because of its potential to oxidize in fresh water, magnesium and aluminum are the standard metals for sacrificial anodes. Bear in mind that you will need to replace the sacrificial anode over time since it breaks down just like the anode that used to be your boat part!
You should also invest in a multimeter to figure out your hull’s potential. Take a voltage reading and use American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) standards to determine just how much you’ll need to offset in order to prevent corrosion from occurring.
For more tips on how to prevent corrosion—as well as other helpful boating maintenance advice —visit us here at Club Royale Boats. Our expert technicians here in Waterford, Michigan will be happy to assist you with all of your boat’s important maintenance needs, and we look forward to serving those nearby in Birmingham and West Bloomfield, Michigan.