Did this thing even work?

Looking at the size comparison between galvanic isolators. The little “Yacht Corrosion Consultants Inc.” Galvanic isolator is what was installed on my Mainship 350/390. I removed it and noticed it’s even smaller than it appears. Looking at the size comparison, I’m wondering if it even did it’s job, or is this new galvanic isolator by “Pro Safe” overkill.

The nice thing about galvanic isolators is, they just sit there and do their job. Dont even hmmm.

Is yours working? Well, how often do you have to change your zincs?
That is a good indication.

My zincs were more than half deteriorated upon the end of the season. I believe that’s normal wear. Regardless, I like the added insurance of the new unit. Thank you for the reply.

Zinc Saver likely did just fine. All they were were two good size diodes arranged polarity opposite so any AC leakage in the ground/green wire would be allowed through but it would block any DC leakage. Often it was two diodes in series in each path to get a slightly higher blocking voltage of ~ 3V. Plus a bit of a heat sink as diodes do produce heat when working.

Newer ones have warning lights built in and some other features so if there is a failure it can tell you .

The older ones had to be physically tested as there was no warning feature if the diodes had failed leading people to think all was well when it was not.

I can't comment if the new one is overkill but it should have warning provisions in case of a diode failure.

HMMM, Just looked it up. Supposedly fail safe????? [ but how] but no warning so do your research. Without some kind of warning it may be "safer" than the old ones but you won't know if it has a problem. I'm out of the loop now I guess.

Lol. From what I did read, I think the fan turns on if there’s a problem. I could be wrong. Thanks for the reply.

HeatherAlyssa said:

My zincs were more than half deteriorated upon the end of the season. I believe that’s normal wear. Regardless, I like the added insurance of the new unit. Thank you for the reply.

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You are in salt water?

I cannot advise you on how many and where to place them. Zincs are not designed to last forever. They are disposable items. I have been told if you add too many zincs, you will actually draw straw currents to you boat, not good.
I would encourage you to carry a complete set of zincs onboard.
If your zincs lasted forever, the divers would have very little to do.

I read somewhere about a zinc/aluminum alloy that some folks use instead of zinc. I suggest, any attempt to retrofit to this alloy without know exactly what you are doing and how many sq inches needed, might cause unwanted problem.

The builder usually does all the necessary calculations and installs the proper square inches of zincs.

I have actually had people talking about painting their zincs to make them last longer. They said this with a straight face too. LOL I, not wanting to start a fight, said nothing.

That’s straight craziness. Lol. When I purchased my boat I noticed the plate Hull zinc was painted. Not good. As for the rudder and trim tab Zincs, someone had foolishly applied bottom paint to the surface beneath the Zincs. I was like what the heck were they doing? Of course I remedied this.

I wouldn't use size as a judge. I work on high frequency inverters (to heat metal) an industrial diode that you can close your hand around and hide will handle a thousand amps .but have to be water cooled.

Thanks timb.

HeatherAlyssa said:

That’s straight craziness. Lol. When I purchased my boat I noticed the plate Hull zinc was painted. Not good. As for the rudder and trim tab Zincs, someone had foolishly applied bottom paint to the surface beneath the Zincs. I was like what the heck were they doing? Of course I remedied this.

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Ah but the zincs on the rudder and trim taps lasted almost forever. LOL

LOL. Exactly OldDan1943!