What is this for?

We bought our boat with all the tools and spares the original owner had on the boat when he was running it up and down the east coast and he spent a lot of time in the Bahamas. Found this in a tool box the PO left in the engine room. Can anyone tell me what this is and it's likely purpose?

Norm

An anode

That's a Rudder Zinc. With the wires and alligator clip the owner probably used it in marina's that had a lot of stay electricity in the water, it would have helped reduce the sacrificial load on his installed zincs.

Keysdisease said:

That's a Rudder Zinc. With the wires and alligator clip the owner probably used it in marina's that had a lot of stay electricity in the water, it would have helped reduce the sacrificial load on his installed zincs.

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Also

If you are in a marina with a lot of freshwater inflows that cause a thermocline of sorts you can lower this over the side down to the saltwater. In other words your boat floats in freshwater on the surface but say 6-8' below is saltwater.

still puzzling why two wires, black and red connected together. Only one wire would be needed for anything.

bayview said:

still puzzling why two wires, black and red connected together. Only one wire would be needed for anything.

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I thought maybe a Corrosion anode to measure Corrosion? The Red and Black wire connected together is what I don't get too?...

Homemade AED? See the alligator clips

Gmarr said:

Homemade AED? See the alligator clips

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Ok I'll bite... what is AED?

Spottsville said:

Ok I'll bite... what is AED?

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Birth control

Tom.B said:

Birth control

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lol, good one Tom!

Perhaps, just perhaps they are to make up for their small gauge by going to x 2. The kinds of currents these systems handle are very small, and a larger wire size helps reduce voltage drop and improve conductivity. Most bonding systems that I see are 10 ga, your boat probably has a bonding system, green wire connected to the transom zinc and daisy chained to through hulls and struts, etc.

Perhaps,

bayview said:

still puzzling why two wires, black and red connected together. Only one wire would be needed for anything.

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are you in aluminium hull ?

Hugues

Spottsville said:

Ok I'll bite... what is AED?

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Automated External Defibrillator... ;-)

Spottsville said:

We bought our boat with all the tools and spares the original owner had on the boat when he was running it up and down the east coast and he spent a lot of time in the Bahamas. Found this in a tool box the PO left in the engine room. Can anyone tell me what this is and it's likely purpose?

Norm

View attachment 64508

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Only the original owner would know what it is supposed to do. It's an ordinary sacrificial anode with two wires attached.

If it's supposed to be an auxiliary anode, the proper wire color would be green but electricity doesn't really care about the color of the insulation.

As for two wires attached to the same place, that's a mystery as well. I'll bet there's a good story behind this. Just don't laugh until he's out of sight.


BTW: It's interesting how he put the red clip on the black wire and the black clip on the red wire. Maybe a sign that you should get your boat's electrical system checked out by a pro.

101TUG said:

are you in aluminium hull ?

Hugues

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No Fiberglass

WesK said:

Only the original owner would know what it is supposed to do. It's an ordinary sacrificial anode with two wires attached.

If it's supposed to be an auxiliary anode, the proper wire color would be green but electricity doesn't really care about the color of the insulation.

As for two wires attached to the same place, that's a mystery as well. I'll bet there's a good story behind this. Just don't laugh until he's out of sight.


BTW: It's interesting how he put the red clip on the black wire and the black clip on the red wire. Maybe a sign that you should get your boat's electrical system checked out by a pro.

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I supect the rubber insulators are just switched -red on black and black on red...

The boat is wired fine.

And then again, perhaps, just perhaps, there are 2 pieces of underwater metal that were showing signs of electrolysis and the 2 wires are so both of those could have some extra protection?

Hanging Anode Over Side Re Electrolysis

BoatUS – BoatTech – Sacrificial Zincs by Don Casey

CPseudonym said:

Also

If you are in a marina with a lot of freshwater inflows that cause a thermocline of sorts you can lower this over the side down to the saltwater. In other words your boat floats in freshwater on the surface but say 6-8' below is saltwater.

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It would seem that if your boat was in fresh water ,you wouldn't need to worry about electrolysis in the first place.

That's a future disaster. Get rid of the red wire!

Keysdisease, Acheron2010 and Boomerang

Please define electrolysis.


ABYC Certified Marine Corrosion Analyst

boatpoker said:

Keysdisease, Acheron2010 and Boomerang

Please define electrolysis.


ABYC Certified Marine Corrosion Analyst

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Boatpoker, I'll call it galvanic corrosion if that sounds better but I'll bet everyone knows what is being implied when the term electrolysis is used regarding a boat & dissimilar metals.

It's not just semantics. Many (most) do not understand the difference between electrolysis, galvanic corrosion, electrolytic corrosion and stray current corrosion. Not to mention grounding, cathodic protection bonding, neutral neutral bonding,bonding, grounded conductor, un-grounded conductor. Throwing these terms around without understanding the difference can cause serious damage and even fatalities.
(Electric Shock Drowning)

Salt water battery charger. Same guy who makes those sells blinker fluid and duct tape for the inside of microwave ovens to increase the wattage.

One wire is red and one black cause that is what the guy had handy to use up in his contraption.

I suppose if it corrodes, and the wire is attached to your boats metals, it is doing something.

Its an immersion heater.