fresh and salt and sacrificial anodes

[beyond kelp]

What do folks do when they are moored in fresh water like Lake Washington but travel into the Puget Sound. Do they have two kinds of sacrificial anodes, one for fresh water and one for salt water? I want you guys to keep your minds on boating :D !

[Salmon Troller]

We use standard zinc anodes. Both boats are moored in fresh water in Salmon Bay, and see regular use in Puget Sound. After a number of years, no ill effects that we can detect.

[voyager]

On the same note I tried to change mine last weekend but they are very rusted. I am wondering if using a torch to heat them up some will loosen the rust?

[Salmon Troller]

What exactly rusted? Neither Zinc nor Aluminum will rust and any anode should have stainless fasteners. Was this a divers special with non-stainless bolts?

[voyager]

I am not sure where the old zincs came from they were on the boat when I bought it last year. It is the bolts that have rusted, I tried some wd40 on them but it did not seem to have much effect but maybe I did not give it enough time. I was just thinking if I took my torch and heated them up maybe I could loosen the rust and get them off?

[beyond kelp]

There are better products than wd for that IMHO. BreakFree is one of them. CRC makes a couple of good ones too. Good luck.

[Salmon Troller]

I'm not much of a torch kind of guy. The gel coat, fiberglass, paint, aluminum etc on a Bayliner does not play well with flame. I like some proper penetrating oils, Liquid Wrench or others. They work much better than WD-40. If this still fails, I then go to a BIG wrench or impact tool and break it loose or simply break it. A dremel with a cut-off wheel is another excellent tool.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Kroil is best!

[voyager]

OK I'll try some better penetraing oil, and if that does not work I think I am going to drill the bolt out. They are on the trim tabs so I should just be able to drill straight through the bolt and then use some pliers. That may be the best route to take since the head is an allen wrench fitting that is also rusted so once I break the rust down the wrench will probably not fit anymore.

[Salmon Troller]

Voyager, I have some allen head sockets & live in Sammamish. If you and the boat are in the neighborhood, it would be no big deal to swing over and give it a try. After all, you have nothing to loose if we strip the head out on the fastner.

[voyager]

Thanks for the offer. I keep the boat in dry storage at Dagmars I will be going to the boat next weekend and hopefully will get the job done. If I can get them loosened it should be a quick and easy change.

[Go Aweigh2452]

Well, if you take a screw extracting drill set and a hammer, it will all come out easily. If you don't, you'll be making a second/third trip to the hardware store. At least that how it works at my house...

[voyager]

two or three trips is doing pretty good :D I have made many more trips than that is just depends or where I left my brain on that day.

[voyager]

Well I got all of them changed except the port rudder. I tried the penetrating oil with a wire brush to clean the threads. Then I tried a utlity knife to clean the threads with no success. I finally used a hack saw and cut them off as close to flush as I could and the used brute force to get the remainder of the bolt out. I found that by using the oil filter pliers I could hold the zinc while I twisted the bolts out. I will take my electric drill with me next weekend and try drilling the remaining one out.

[pkrogh]

And grease the heck out of the bolts when you put them back!

I think a Oxy/Acet torch is a boat mechanics best friend.

Pete