Harper
Recognized Leader Triumph 191/195 Forum
- State
- Republic of Texas
For the short time that I've had my boat and motor, I've about twice a year pulled the internal anodes from the engine for inspection. I've been doing it this often because the first time I pulled them, I noticed a great deal of salts built up on the anodes. At first I thought that it was build up from salt water, but then it had no salty taste. So I thought that maybe it was lime deposits from flushing with my hard water here in the Hill Country of Texas. I ruled that out, too, since it just doesn’t run long enough on the muffs to warrant that much build up.
So I’ve decided that it must be zinc salts formed as the anodes do their job at protecting my engine. They haven’t worn down enough to need replacement yet, but it seems to me that the performance of the anodes would be degraded somewhat by the coating of these salts. Thence the need to pull them and clean them off periodically. Also, in inspecting the water jacket with a flashlight, I see no deposits anywhere else inside the engine. So it’s confined to the anodes themselves. I would appreciate anyone’s knowledge/experience/expertise in this matter to either debunk or confirm my theory about it being zinc salts, and comment on the need to remove the salt build up periodically. I’ve found nothing in my Suzuki manual that suggests that the anodes be cleaned periodically, only to check and replace when warranted.
So I’ve decided that it must be zinc salts formed as the anodes do their job at protecting my engine. They haven’t worn down enough to need replacement yet, but it seems to me that the performance of the anodes would be degraded somewhat by the coating of these salts. Thence the need to pull them and clean them off periodically. Also, in inspecting the water jacket with a flashlight, I see no deposits anywhere else inside the engine. So it’s confined to the anodes themselves. I would appreciate anyone’s knowledge/experience/expertise in this matter to either debunk or confirm my theory about it being zinc salts, and comment on the need to remove the salt build up periodically. I’ve found nothing in my Suzuki manual that suggests that the anodes be cleaned periodically, only to check and replace when warranted.
Correction...in checking a few things, I find that these anodes and one of the exterior anodes on the tilt bracket are actually aluminum. The other three exterior anodes on the motor are zinc. Same basic question applies.
