www.iFourWinns.com

I have my 89' 245 Vista in a wet slip year around on a fresh water lake.

It's always plugged in to shore power (keeping my beer cold).

Is electrolysis existent in fresh water as it is in salt water? I was once told electrolysis only exists in salt water and sacraficial zincs aren't needed in fresh water.

Any input?

Thanks in advance.

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Vic
"Byte Me"
1989 Vista 245
Lake Norman, NC

you will get electrolysis anytime you have 2 dissimilar metals in an environment except pure water. It isn't as bad in fresh water but your zincs are very much needed, some of the new thought is to have aluminum or magnesium instead of zinc in fresh water. The bigger problem is stray electrical current in your moorage that can eat your below water metal faster than anything.

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2000 268 Vista "Reely Nauti"
http://www.facebook.com/#!/rivercruiser

230Mike explains it best ~1/2 way down in this thread: http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3116&hilit=anode

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'99 Horizon 200

Yep electrolysis (more correct term is galvinism) can happen in fresh water too depending on the amount of dissolved minerals in the water....just because it's fresh water does not mean that there are no dissolved minerals that can cause galvinism when you submerge 2 metals that are different on the nobility scale (like alumium and stainless or aluminum and copper). In fact if I remember right when the Merc Bravo III was having its corrosion problems...some of the worst ones were in fresh water regions. Plus in a marina if there is shore power you have to watch out for stray currents....Even though I am in salt water....I am on a mooring...no shorepower...so corrosion is really not such a big problem...but marine growth is for outdrives...the anti fouling paint does not last all season so you have to pull the boat and re-paint about the end of July...

There are actually ways you can test your drive to make sure it's adequately protected....I think there was something about this on
http://www.boatzincs.com
Anyone who tells you that you don't need anodes because you're in fresh water....is just guessing....and may be guessing wrong....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II