Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

[makonnen]

Hello everyone,

I'm a first time BravoIII owner, is it normal to have the zincs "chalky" after only 10 hours in the salt water?

Does this have anything to do with the massive stainless steel dual props?

Does this mean my Mercathode is not working? (Everything looks hooked up, it has power and ground).

I know there is an in-water test for the Mercathode, but is there any out of water test?

Would it help if I added more zincs?

I don't remember having this problem on my Trophy. But then, it was an Alpha 1 and I didn't have a stainless prop.

 

[MarkSee]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Do you know if that is the recommended Merc salt water anode set on there or some other brand?

There is a difference in materials used between vendors so if that's not Merc or you're not sure, might want to order a set from Merc and see how those do.

Mark

 

[makonnen]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Do you know if that is the recommended Merc salt water anode set on there or some other brand?

There is a difference in materials used between vendors so if that's not Merc or you're not sure, might want to order a set from Merc and see how those do.

Mark

I'm going to have to assume they are the correct ones. It came from a Merc dealer, I gave him the engine # and I bought a bunch of other parts at the same time. I know them, and they know I'm in the salt.

Maybe this is normal, I don't know.

 

[theBrownskull]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

They can depending upon the salinity of the water. Even in fresh or brackish water they will get chalky. Mine did that just yesterday, not to the degree yours did, but it was fresh water. I would replace them with new ones from Mercury and see how they do.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Looks like you are missing a fastener on one side of the anode. Since you have stainless steel props there is more work for the anode to do. Wait until you see what they look like after an entire season.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Hello everyone,

I'm a first time BravoIII owner, is it normal to have the zincs "chalky" after only 10 hours in the salt water?

Does this have anything to do with the massive stainless steel dual props?

Does this mean my Mercathode is not working? (Everything looks hooked up, it has power and ground).

I know there is an in-water test for the Mercathode, but is there any out of water test?

Would it help if I added more zincs?

It's possible.
Yes, of course.
It's possible.
No.
If you don't already have the propnut anode, you could add that. But you have to buy a new rear propnut and they ain't cheap.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

that looks normal. is the boat trailered or kept in the water?

 

[Don S]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Very normal wear in salt water.

 

[Thalasso]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Hello everyone,

I'm a first time BravoIII owner, is it normal to have the zincs "chalky" after only 10 hours in the salt water?

Does this have anything to do with the massive stainless steel dual props?

Does this mean my Mercathode is not working? (Everything looks hooked up, it has power and ground).

I know there is an in-water test for the Mercathode, but is there any out of water test?

Would it help if I added more zincs?

I don't remember having this problem on my Trophy. But then, it was an Alpha 1 and I didn't have a stainless prop.

Your missing a bolt (pic). Do you leave boat in the water? If not don't worry about it. If so A silver chloride tester will tell your anode protection. It should be 900-1100 on the ohm scale. When you don't see what you have in the pic that's when i would be concerned. That is normal. You can double your Mercathode protection by adding another controller. Wire it in series with the existing one. What has the drive been painted with? Looks like bottom paint

 

[makonnen]

Re: Bravo III zincs, chalky after 10 hour in the salt???

Thanks for the responses guys.

I know about the missing bolt, looks like an old bolt broke below the surface ... and someone already tried to extract.

This boat lives on a trailer but when we take it out, we usually go on bigger trips ... ie: week or two week-long trips.

Thanks for all the advice, I'll be working through them one by one with my Merc dealer.