www.iFourWinns.com

Hi all,

I have a 2006 258 Vista. I love the boat and hope to have some pics soon. When I got the
boat late last year...the "Galvanic normal lite" dose not lite. Do you think the lite is just burned out?
I have the shore power plugged in all at my house keep in salt water, and I didn't see any sings of
Galvanic Corrosion when I hauled it last year. The PO kept it in Brackish water at a marina water and plugged in
all the time too.

I also am not sure on the AC panel there is a breaker that says panel lights. I read the Description in the
manual, but I don't under stand. I'v turned it on and off and I don't see anything happening.

so if anybody knows.... Please help

Mine are worthless. SOmetimes it shows normal, sometimes fault, and sometimes nothing at all.

It's low on my list to handle, but I will be before the warranty is up.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Thanks.....that's what I thought.

My green status light is only faintly lit up. Didn't think it was working until I had a look at it at night. The manual doesn't really go into much detail on it.

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2010 278 Vista
5.7 GXi DP

Past:
1999 225 Sundowner
5.7 GSi SX

In regards to the active corrosion protection I noticed that the block mounted on the rear of the engine compartment has both the red and green light illuminated. I've inserted a photo to show you what I am talking about. The manual says that the system is working but is drawing current to protect the drive. I didn't find out what this was until I got home today and searched through the manuals. I'm going to check the anodes next weekend. Does this system work off of the DC circuit? Does this draw power when I am on battery only? I intend to check further next weekend but thought someone on the forum might have experienced this before.

My light on the panel also shows only faint green also. I do get a flashing red light when I'm off shore power but I assume that is normal. Perhaps I am incorrect on that assumption. You are right the manual is not very clear.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

I have the same unit installed in my Sundownder 255. I've had the boat for a year (second owner), and never really knew what this unit was for (newbie to VP Outdrives). The unit is disconnected from the battery with the wires just tucked away behind the battery area. I'm totally new to this, so excuse the ignorance on the subject

I'm guessing the previous owner disconnected it either because it kept draining the battery, or it was faulty. Does anyone have a manual on this unit, or an installation guide perhaps? Also, I'm guessing that the anodes are mounted on the stern drive itself (I think I have identified them), but do they need replacing at some stage? How does one tell?

All help greatly appreciated

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2006 Sundowner 255
Volvo Penta 5.7L GXi 320HP DuoProp

Your anodes (you have two) should be replaced when they get down to 50% of their original size. They're made in a choice of zinc, aluminum, and magnesium.

Fresh water use = magnesium
Salt water use = zinc
Brackish water = aluminum.

The boat probably shipped new with aluminum but those are not optimum for most boaters. The factory ships them because they don't know where the boat will be used and aluminum is better than nothing for all water types.

ACPS - The system draws very little current from the batteries, but its possible that's why the previous owner disconnected it. Volvo intends the system to be used primarily for salt water, so if the previous owner boated in fresh water that could be the reason he disconnected it. I boat only in fresh water and mine has always stayed connected with no issues.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

It is possiable the bulb is burned out. Mine is barly visable in daylight hours. On shorepower it should be green and off shorepower it should be red. The unit in the bilge is probably Volvos protection system for salt water use only. It affords more protection. It is similar to Mercs Mercathode system.

Here is an explanation of how to test your galvanic isolator: Galvanic Isolator test procedure.
Galvanic isolators are a bit difficult to test. New standards are being developed that will specify self testing isolators, but there are some technical difficulties that remain to be overcome and in the meantime they have to be tested by hand. There are a number of methods that can be used, the one that follows is one that I found most useful.

Unplug the boat from shore power before starting the test.
Disconnect one lead of the isolator so that you are testing it only. Get a digital multimeter set to the diode test function. Put one lead on one side of the isolator and the other lead on the other side.

As the capacitor starts to conduct current the reading should rise to approximately 0.9 volts. Remove the test leads, short the two wires of the isolator together to discharge the capacitor and repeat the test with the test leads reversed. You should get the same answer.

Interpreting the readings:

* If the reading is instantly 0.9 volts then the capacitor is defective or there is no capacitor.
* If a voltage of 0.45 volts is observed one of the diodes is shorted.
* If there is a reading of 0 volts then both diodes could be shorted.
* If there is a reading in excess of 0.9 volts then one or both diodes are open (not conducting) in which case you should stop the test before the capacitor reaches 2.0 volts or you will damage it.

Well, I thought I'd take a closer look at mine, and decided to re-connect the + & - leads to do the tests - no lights at all, so I suspect the unit is likely dead, hence why it was disconnected. My next question is do I really need it if the boat is always on a trailer out of the salt water, i.e. not moored in a marina? thanks again

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2006 Sundowner 255
Volvo Penta 5.7L GXi 320HP DuoProp

The galvanic controller you should be checking out is behind the electrical panel. It will have the green wire from shore power hooked into it and then green to your panel. Check the bulbs

Ah, I see I was looking at the ACP panel in this thread, and thought they were one in the same. The ACP is the unit that is disconnected, and no lights when I re-connect it. So can I assume then that if my boat is out of the water on a trailer, I don't need to check behind the shore power panel? Sorry about the dumb questions - this is all new to me.

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2006 Sundowner 255
Volvo Penta 5.7L GXi 320HP DuoProp

There will be no LEDs illuminated on the ACPS control box when the boat is out of the water. The reference/ active electrode pack is held in place by the bolts holding the transom sacrificial anode(s) in place. Mine was originally directly wired to only one battery, I modified the wiring so it's now permanently connected to both batteries (via the diode pack on the back of the battery selector switch which prevents one battery running down the other; that diode pack also supplies the bilge pump)

When in the water;

Only the green LED illuminated: OK, drive is protected (this is what mine's usually like). Current draw 3mA or less.

Green and red LED illuminated: Unit is drawing max current (3 up to 150mA) to protect drive ( so sacrificial anodes not protecting drive as well as they should)

Only the red LED illuminated; drive not adequately protected.

When water got into the potting compound of the reference/active electrode pack and started to corrode the copper wire , both LEDs lit up on mine even though the sacrificial anodes were OK and in good electrical contact with the drive.

Graham

thanks for the info - excellent! I'm putting the boat in the water tomorrow, so I'll see what happens then. How do you tell if the anode packs need replacing? Is it by a visual inspection after unbolting the packs from the transom? I'm also in a saltwater environment, so they should be zinc anodes?

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2006 Sundowner 255
Volvo Penta 5.7L GXi 320HP DuoProp

Yes, zinc. Best way to tell is to order the new ones, then compare them to the existing ones. If they're getting close to 50% of the new size, it's time to change them. When mounting them be sure they make good metal-metal contact with the drive.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

If you trailer your boat ( don't leave in the water ) don't worry about it. The galvanic isolater i refered to, is something you need when hooked up to shore power only.