Armstrong Bracket Anode

[FishWhisperer]

I am going to change my anode on the bracket and have read posts, maybe here or other sites, that say to sand the bracket down to the paint where the anode contacts? Is this correct? I’ve always thought that once you puncture a hole in the powder coat then it will start to peel. Mine has spots peeling anyways but are you really supposed to sand the powder coat at the anode?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brent]

I would contact Armstrong


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[warthog5]

Contacting Armstrong is not necessary. Get your hands on a Rudder zinc.

Take the bolt out and separate the 2 half's. What do you see?

1 half has a hole....The other half has a threaded hole.....It also has a brass crush sleeve area.

That goes on the inside where there is No paint or powdercoating. It's the part that makes the electrical bond to the bracket.

So No sanding on the outside.

You will also need to seal the hole from water intrusion.

 

[FishWhisperer]

Contacting Armstrong is not necessary. Get your hands on a Rudder zinc.

Take the bolt out and separate the 2 half's. What do you see?

1 half has a hole....The other half has a threaded hole.....It also has a brass crush sleeve area.

That goes on the inside where there is No paint or powdercoating. It's the part that makes the electrical bond to the bracket.

So No sanding on the outside.

You will also need to seal the hole from water intrusion.

Thats what I bought. But my question was if I need to remove the paint as I have seen this recommended in past posts. The inside of the pod is painted or powder coated also and the zinc that was on there has never changed. And the rudder zinc does not have a threaded side to it, has a nut that can go on either piece.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[grouperjim]

Bobby is correct. You can use the half of a rudder zinc. Also know that zincs come in different metals. Do your research to figure out which is better for you. You can also sand the existing zinc if it has enough meat on it and reuse. A rudder zinc (smaller one) also works on the trim tabs. The inside of the bracket of course is bare aluminum. I think Bobby is referring to the nut/hardware making the connection between the internal bare aluminum and the outer exposed zinc. I have had mine off once and if my memory serves me correctly there was some bare aluminum around the edges of the hole that makes direct contact with the zinc.

Armstrong brackets on Parkers are painted. Imron paint I believe and if your hull is the vintage Parker beige the paint is a lighter shade than the hull.

 

[FishWhisperer]

Well I use aluminum zincs everywhere and I assumed my bracket is powder coated as it is really thick and when a scratch happens, it tends to start peeling off in chips. Underneath the thick outer layer is a white painted layer it appears. The inside of the bracket is white painted it not thick like the outside. When you seal the bolt then it is not touching the metal for the most part. Maybe a random thread or two. My other anodes tend to dissolve quicker and change those a couple times a year. The bracket anode I have never changed because it has never gotten any worse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[grouperjim]

The bracket zincs seem to last a long time compared to the others.

I parked in a marina in the Keys for 10 days and there must have been a lot of stray electricity as I lost about a third of all my zincs except for the one on the bracket. I sanded it.

 

[warthog5]

I've never seen a bracket painted inside..... I'm not saying yours isn'y.....But I've seen and messed with a bunch of brackets and never seen that.

Now... my first reply was with the idea that there is No paint on the inside of the bracket.

The crush sleeve would make metal contact on the inside bare metal. The thru bolt makes contact with the outer half of the rudder zinc thru the bolt....then thru the nut and crush sleeve.

Soooo......In your case.....Remove the paint on the inside.



Now.....Back to your corrosion...... I bet it's coming from the stainless bolts holding the motor on. Dissimler metals. And
does the bracket have protective pads between the motor and the bracket?

When I did a motor swap....My bracket was removed.... A couple of cracks welded up.....Bracket modified slightly so water/ dirt is not trapped.....Zinc cromate primered......Awlgrip 545 primed.....Top coated in Awlgrip and non skidded.

See pix's......... viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12419&start=250

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12419&start=275

 

[FishWhisperer]

I will have to take a picture of the inside of the bracket and send you so you can say you have seen 1 painted bracket[emoji16]. This is the only reason I assumed they were powder coated brackets. There are pads between the motors although they are the same type of pads that my kicker bracket came with. It is like a heavy duty rubber sandpaper almost. Maybe 1/32” thick? Probably would be a lot better with a thicker piece of rubber in between.

 

[warthog5]

It is like a heavy duty rubber sandpaper almost. Maybe 1/32” thick?

Yea....That's what Armstrong uses. I do not have access to that, so I use thin rubber and use rubber cement to glue it in place.

 

[FishWhisperer]

It is like a heavy duty rubber sandpaper almost. Maybe 1/32” thick?

Yea....That's what Armstrong uses. I do not have access to that, so I use thin rubber and use rubber cement to glue it in place.

As promised, here is my inside of the bracket. And the other thing I was going to mention about the stainless bolts is that I have plastic sleeves so they don’t contact the bracket.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[warthog5]

That's a Good thing. But to make the anode work....on the inside....right around the edge of the hole....The paint must be removed......I'd bet the paint is removed once you remove the anode to see.

 

[captnick]

Well I use aluminum zincs everywhere and I assumed my bracket is powder coated as it is really thick and when a scratch happens, it tends to start peeling off in chips. Underneath the thick outer layer is a white painted layer it appears. The inside of the bracket is white painted it not thick like the outside. When you seal the bolt then it is not touching the metal for the most part. Maybe a random thread or two. My other anodes tend to dissolve quicker and change those a couple times a year. The bracket anode I have never changed because it has never gotten any worse.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You're question is valid and you need to make sure you anode is contacting metal somewhere or it won't work as you know. The reason it's lasting for so long is it's not doing it's job(IMO). I had a 2520 XL for 14 seasons since it was new and the anode still looked new because it wasn't doing anything. My trim tabs zincs and outboard zincs had to be replaced every year.