Wassup guys. I wanted to ask you if you've ever heard about anyone putting a sacraficial anode on a car? It's basically bolting a reactive piece of metal on to the metal you're trying to protect. What happens, is the sacraficial anode corrodes before the steel or aluminum does. So it basically protects it from corroding and rusting out. They put these on all kinds of things like the Alaskan oil pipeline made of steel, radiator caps to protect aluminum radiators, outboard motors on boats to protect the steel and aluminum metal, and even on the statue of liberty I think (it's made of brass or copper, can't remember which). Anyways, I was thinking about putting a sacraficial anode on my mav. If you do it right, it should eliminate rust problems all together, even in salt and snow conditions. I could use magnesium or zinc, both of which are more reactive than aluminum and steel. I work at an auto manufacturing plant and now they use galvanized sheet metal (steel sheet metal coated with zinc, which acts as the sacraficial anode), which is excellent at preventing rust. But with older cars and regular steel sheet metal, we need to find other ways to prevent rust in our cars. Let me know what you guys think.
Dont think it will work for salt I have installed many impressed current cathodic protection systems on underground piping, tanks and other metal structures. It has been a while though and I have forgotten some things (Ok...a lot). I am not sure how this will work on chemical oxidation but it should work on natural occuring oxidation.....differences in metals is one cause. I will have to do some research.
It's been looked at by many a corrosion engineer, I assure you. I don't profess to be an authority on the matter by any stretch. All I know is I've brought the subject up enough times to those guys to learn that it's impractical. 'Has to do with them thar el-lec-trons, pro-tons, newt-ons, tamp-ons and atom bombs and stuff. But everyone laughed at the Wright brothers also. Good luck - I wanna be your first customer, Rick
. It should work for salt or anything that causes corrosion. The reason is that the sacraficial anode will corrode first. I've seen personal demonstrations where nails are left in saltwater for twenty years with and without a sacraficial anode. The nail without is rusted out and almost completely eaten up, the one with the sacraficial anode is as good as new, only the anode is eaten up, so you just need replace that periodically. I know this stuff works, it's not really that complicated. The only issue I'm not sure about is how big the sacraficial anode needs to be, and how close it needs to be to the metal you're trying to protect. In other words, would you need little anodes all over your car or would you just need one like brick sized one somewhere and that's it.
Sacraficial anode..... ...that is why my wife runs me ragged! I get used up so that she won't !!! Sounds like a plan as long as you aren't the node! Seth
There is a possibility that it might work to prevent some problems, but most of the rust is caused by salt or moisture stuck in areas (like the lower quarters or inside rocker panels) and it can't dry out in there. It just does its job. If you keep those areas clean and oiled that will make a big difference right there. I don't know how the anode idea will help if salt is somewhere else in the car? But if it does work, I'm number 2 on the list after Rick!
They're been on the market for many years claiming to prevent corrosion in the cooling system. There's a part that goes in the radiator and acts to protect the system. I don't have any first hand experience with them if they really work, but they're been around a long time. The principle is based on scientific fact. Whether it would work with your intended application or not would be interesting to experiment with.
All Mavericks come with this sacrificial anode from the factory...it is called the rear quater panels. It keeps the roof from rusting....most of the time!!!
. They do work. They use them on critical things like the alaskan oil pipeline (thousands of miles of huge steel piping) to protect them against corrosion. These pipes are constantly wet from snow and rain and face pretty harsh elements. I realize they have these for radiators and I'm betting they work, but I want to do something for the whole car, just just the radiator.
10 years ago I had an electronic thing called Rust Evader installed on my Tbird. Similar principal, has a couple anodes that connect to the body and changes the ionic charge on the body so that the chemical ingredients needed for oxidation of steel are reduced. Supposed to protect the whole body. Seems to have worked ok, used to be able to buy them for about $100. The anodes you stick in the radiator are a little different item. Anytime you mix steel and aluminum parts the aluminum will get eaten away. Since your coolant is slightly acidic, it acts as an electrolyte between the iron and aluminum parts of the engine, escalating the process. The sacrificial anode gets eaten instead of your aluminum engine parts.
