Therefore, the utmost care must be taken to ensure these systems remain in good working order. But what exactly does that mean, and can it really be the cause of so many of these issues? The battery negative is also connected to the engine negative terminal or its bus. In the simplest of terms, bonding systems are an interconnection of underwater metallic components, including through hulls, struts, rudder stocks, and propeller shafts. Tel: 207–359–4651 I've had zincs last as long as 1 1/2 years before needing replacement. Some bonding system faults can create dangerous situations leading to fire, electric … The bonding system is used to interconnect, among other things, underwater metals such as through-hull fittings/seacocks, rudders, and stuffing boxes (including the rudders). ➤ 41 WoodenBoat Lane A properly bonded and isolated system should not require zinc changes more often than 6 to 8 months at a public marina. Unfortunately, a connection between any of these systems and underwater metal can, and probably will, give rise to serious electrolytic corrosion problems. An isolated bronze thru-hull doesn't need protection because it is not in electrical contact with another immersed dissimilar metal. Deadheads, sleeping leviathans, wayward shipping containers, maybe a disabled autonomous surface vessel, or a drifting wreck: countless unknown (and unseen) floating objects (also referred to as UFOs) that populate the… Read more », Humble hose clamps are essential to the integrity of hulls and onboard systems, but their reliability depends on informed selection and best installation practices. In the old days, the technique of bonding everything together worked okay. To put it simply,the engine is connected to the inner gimb… Having said this, metal corrosion can still occur even if there is some anode left, a frequent occurrence with sterndrives for instance. Honey is a highly decorated competitive sailor with a sublime record as an ocean navigator. They are all supposed to be wired together so in a perfect world they will all have the same voltage when referenced to … In the simplest of terms, bonding systems are an interconnection of underwater metallic components, including through hulls, struts, rudder stocks, and propeller shafts. Wire "bottle brush" static dissipaters may be useful to dissipate seagulls, however, but that is beyond the scope of this article. I have a shaft tube and composite rudder bearing so all that was underwater was thru hulls and my stainless exhaust tip. But zinc only protects metal that is part of what’s called a bonding system—a network of wires that interconnects rudders, shafts, trim tabs, and struts, as well as interior components, to a transom zinc or zincs. Thirdly -- a major point here -- the AC power system on the boat (green wire) is also grounded to the boat’s common ground point, usually established at the engines. See Practical Sailor, August 15, 1995 for a detailed treatment of the green wire. These capacitors will be transparent to the RF, which will be happily grounded by the ground tape system, but they will block any DC currents from running through the RF ground system, and will avoid any resulting susceptibility to hot marina electrolytic corrosion. Never use the mast, engine, or other metal object as part of the return circuit. Bonding: A separate system electrically connecting all metal fittings on the boat that are in contact with the water, including the sacrificial anode (s), and connecting them to the earth ground, so they are all at the same voltage potential, zero. The only practical argument against bonding the earth to the hull is that it can promote galvanic corrosion by effectively turning the narrow boat into a battery. Your stainless steel propeller shaft will be protected from itself, by the same shaft zinc that protects the propeller from the stainless steel shaft. If stray current corrosion is the hare, galvanic corrosion is the tortoise, taking months and years to do its dirty work. Given that you have grounded your mast solidly to the ocean, your mast will be at exactly the same electric potential as the ocean. Sintered bronze ground plates (e.g. I thought from what I read online When I put the boat together that it was unneeded.. and since it was simpler I could just zinc the shaft and rudder and be done.. A piece of approved rubber fuel hose in the fuel lines to the engine solves that connection, and a well designed fuel level sensor will not make electrical contact with the tank. 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