'Anode rod' for cars?
#1
'Anode rod' for cars?
Anything out there - in this marvelous day and age we live in, with all the amazing inventions - say where you can strap to your car, or whatever, something to fight rust and corrosion? - like the old trick of putting a penny on your battery to draw corrosion to it rather than your battery terminals? - or how say the end 6 inches of anode rods get eaten up inside a water heater, sparing the tank of the water heater from corroding, or as much?
Anything like that for cars? Something that thwarts the effects of salt, etc.?
Anything like that for cars? Something that thwarts the effects of salt, etc.?
#2
Yep. Whitney has them, I believe. They are a zinc anode attached to aircraft cable and suspended in the radiator neck by a ring that is too large to fall in. Not sure why you would need one with today's antifreeze, however.
#3
Larry,
I'm not trying to save the coolant system though. It is the whole car body and frame I'd like to slow the rust down on -for any vehicle. Up here, rocker panels, quarter panels, the undercarriage, and door bottoms like to go.
I have thrown diluted oil at these parts. But it be nice to find something that works on a better technology. Having to buy new cars out of the embarrassment of driving a rust heap is something I'd rather not have to spend money on. I'd rather have steak and shrimp more often.
I'm not trying to save the coolant system though. It is the whole car body and frame I'd like to slow the rust down on -for any vehicle. Up here, rocker panels, quarter panels, the undercarriage, and door bottoms like to go.
I have thrown diluted oil at these parts. But it be nice to find something that works on a better technology. Having to buy new cars out of the embarrassment of driving a rust heap is something I'd rather not have to spend money on. I'd rather have steak and shrimp more often.
#4
There used to be an electric device that was supposed to deal with this saw them when I was working for a gov contractor on Government vehicals that came up from Guam this was in the early 90's. and while the science behind them is sound in practice they didn't work.Maybe they have improved but I wouldn't recommend them.Don't know if any are still around but i got a couple hits Googling electric rust inhibitor for car.
Good Luck
Good Luck
#5
Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Livonia, Michigan
Posts: 894
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
I researched this idea in the library when I was a student at the Univ of Michigan. If you found a way to attach anodes to your car, they would be effective to a short, finite distance from the anode. Any metal farther away from the anode will not be protected. I don't know what the distance is, but I imagine if it did work, somebody would have caught on by now and all cars would have anodes on them, instead of the expensive galvanize all parts are made with.
Try it and report back.
Try it and report back.
#6
Kestas,
So in theory if you installed enough of them?............
I wonder what they are, their size and what they weigh (each), and how they install. It could be a fun experiment project. Do part of some old vehicle.
I wonder if a vehicle is already rusting, if it would even help slow that down?
So in theory if you installed enough of them?............
I wonder what they are, their size and what they weigh (each), and how they install. It could be a fun experiment project. Do part of some old vehicle.
I wonder if a vehicle is already rusting, if it would even help slow that down?
#7
Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,215
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
All about this...
Galvanic corrosion...
Galvanic corrosion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cathodic protection...
Cathodic protection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electrolyte...
Electrolyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Galvanic corrosion...
Galvanic corrosion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cathodic protection...
Cathodic protection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Electrolyte...
Electrolyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
#8
Buy a car with quality heavy steel and get an underbody wash frequently.
Do not park it over grass or gravel.
Drive fast in heavy rains!!
Do not park it over grass or gravel.
Drive fast in heavy rains!!
#9
Do not park it over grass or gravel.
Drive fast in heavy rains!!
#10
Member
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 87
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
The VW guys would blast inch-thick black tar under those bugs and they never rusted.
Also - the Swedes use a product called Waxoil, which is available commercially. I never saw a rusted-out Saab or Volvo.
And lastly, the DoD specs a protective undercoat for hard-duty vehicles which is superb - the best.
Where could you get it? No clue, but somebody out there will know...
Also - the Swedes use a product called Waxoil, which is available commercially. I never saw a rusted-out Saab or Volvo.
And lastly, the DoD specs a protective undercoat for hard-duty vehicles which is superb - the best.
Where could you get it? No clue, but somebody out there will know...
#11
Member
They sell those electronic corrosion inhibitors at JC Whitney as well as other places. They advertise that they are used on ships ect, I saw a posting by a body guy recently who claims that they are snake oil. He claims to have repainted cars that have that system on them and it rusted anyway.
My best suggestion is to watch where you wash your car. Did you know that when you go to a car wash, especially in the winter, you are giving your car a salt spray! Once salt is disolved in water, nothing short of reverse osmosis can remove it from the water.... FILTERS CANNOT DO IT! I am fortunate that we have a carwash close by and I know the owner, they uses 100% fresh water unlike most who use recycled/filtered water. Recycled water has disolved salt in it!
My best suggestion is to watch where you wash your car. Did you know that when you go to a car wash, especially in the winter, you are giving your car a salt spray! Once salt is disolved in water, nothing short of reverse osmosis can remove it from the water.... FILTERS CANNOT DO IT! I am fortunate that we have a carwash close by and I know the owner, they uses 100% fresh water unlike most who use recycled/filtered water. Recycled water has disolved salt in it!
#12
Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Owen Sound Ontario Canada
Posts: 519
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Yes Hotrod52F100. They claim they are used on ships but I am a Marine Engineer taught to a first class level and tested at a second class level and never heard of the concept on a ship.
In my career I have been on 5 vessels and none had an electronic rust device. I think the company of the electronic device really stretch the concept of anode/cathode reaction very very far and say they use them on ships.
I now work in a nuclear power plant as a field operator and my job involves plant equipment checks including pipe work and we have no electronic device to stop corrosion.
I would say that if the device worked we would have them in the plant protecting the millions of dollars of equipment from corrosion.
Best corrosion protection I was taught is paint or sealant.
Got to find that exposed cathode and seal it. ( I think the cathode? Been awhile)
Anyway. Protect the paint and underbody. Don’t let the salt water (electrolyte) set up the current.
Also the metal car company uses are a mixed batch of reused scrap and new metal. More pure is more money. Cheaper the metal the more contaminates in the metal and more chance of galvanic flow happening
Thats interesting about the car wash. I did not think of that.
I am going to hose down my underbody with my house water now.
Come to think of it when I put the high pressure wash under the car where I can reach, I am likely removing some of the underbody protection. Im going to quit doing that.
I live in Ontario Canada where they dump alot of salt on roads and rust is an expensive reality.
I would gestimate that a car is only good for 2 to 3 hundred thousand kilometers befor the body is shot to a point of being dangerous
To sum up. I would say thumbs down to electronic rust control.
In my career I have been on 5 vessels and none had an electronic rust device. I think the company of the electronic device really stretch the concept of anode/cathode reaction very very far and say they use them on ships.
I now work in a nuclear power plant as a field operator and my job involves plant equipment checks including pipe work and we have no electronic device to stop corrosion.
I would say that if the device worked we would have them in the plant protecting the millions of dollars of equipment from corrosion.
Best corrosion protection I was taught is paint or sealant.
Got to find that exposed cathode and seal it. ( I think the cathode? Been awhile)
Anyway. Protect the paint and underbody. Don’t let the salt water (electrolyte) set up the current.
Also the metal car company uses are a mixed batch of reused scrap and new metal. More pure is more money. Cheaper the metal the more contaminates in the metal and more chance of galvanic flow happening
Thats interesting about the car wash. I did not think of that.
I am going to hose down my underbody with my house water now.
Come to think of it when I put the high pressure wash under the car where I can reach, I am likely removing some of the underbody protection. Im going to quit doing that.
I live in Ontario Canada where they dump alot of salt on roads and rust is an expensive reality.
I would gestimate that a car is only good for 2 to 3 hundred thousand kilometers befor the body is shot to a point of being dangerous
To sum up. I would say thumbs down to electronic rust control.
#13
......, especially in the winter, you are giving your car a salt spray! Once salt is disolved in water, nothing short of reverse osmosis can remove it from the water.... FILTERS CANNOT DO IT! I am fortunate that we have a carwash close by and I know the owner, they uses 100% fresh water unlike most who use recycled/filtered water. Recycled water has disolved salt in it!
If your car is salted up where that salt has sat on the car in those spots for weeks, let's say. Then you wash the car and get off the apparent salt that you see so that it looks nice to the eye. Then if you go right back out and have salty snow melt spray all up under the car again, right after you had it washed,..... were you any better off for having washed the original salt off the car?
This is a question I've actually wondered about for years, everytime I see peiople driving their $30,000 vehicles out of the car wash, right back onto the salted roads again. If I were to venture a guess, I would have to guess that it does help to wash it, to remove that caked original salt that has been sitting on certain spots like perhaps a festering ulcer.
That be my guess anyway. I'd also have to guess that even with the recirculated water containing salt, that for same reasons I just stated, that you'd still be better off by washing the car.
Perhaps we are getting too theorretical, as compared to reality, if a car really is going to remain more free of rust or not by keeping it washed.
#14
Ever see tv shows on how they are forever painting the Golden Gate bridge with like thousands? of gallons of paint?
#15
Forum Topic Moderator
While I've never painted any big bridges, I suspect on a long bridge like the golden gate that by the time a small crew has prepped, primed and painted - it's time to start over again. Talk about job security
I had never considered that a car wash would recycle their water but it makes sense.
A car that is kept clean on a regular basis is probably better maintained than one that isn't...... so you would think it would probably last longer too. I always try to keep my wife's car clean, my old truck, not so much but when it's gotten white with salt - I try not to let it set too long although the older I get the more apt I am to let that slide, especially when it's cold outside.
I had never considered that a car wash would recycle their water but it makes sense.
A car that is kept clean on a regular basis is probably better maintained than one that isn't...... so you would think it would probably last longer too. I always try to keep my wife's car clean, my old truck, not so much but when it's gotten white with salt - I try not to let it set too long although the older I get the more apt I am to let that slide, especially when it's cold outside.
#16
ecman -
Why don't you install an anode rod system on your own car to measure/document the resistance and benefits over time?
Dick
Dick
#17
Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Livonia, Michigan
Posts: 894
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
There's been lots of discussion with electrostatic methods and anode meethods of protecting your car from rust. Over the 12 years I've been on automotive discussion borads, no one has ever put these methods through their paces over a long period of time to report back that they work. Practically and psychologically, people will not report their failures, lest they be ridiculed for wasting their money by their internet peers, and to endure a bunch of I-told-you-so's. I suspect there have been many that tried and failed, but no one has reported success.
Again, washing a car is more psychological than anything, for the reasons stated above. When a car looks clean, it makes you feel good about it. Rust depends on how long the car is in contact with wet salt. Rarely does it form on flat, shiny panels. It mostly manifests itself on the underbody and corners of the body panels. If you drive your car every day, it will be in contact with salt except for the short time that it's clean (overnight?)
BTW, the Golden Gate Bridge is completely repainted every four years. This includes sandblating. So yes, the crew has job security for life. They are always there. Check any picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. You'll see the crew somewhere.
Again, washing a car is more psychological than anything, for the reasons stated above. When a car looks clean, it makes you feel good about it. Rust depends on how long the car is in contact with wet salt. Rarely does it form on flat, shiny panels. It mostly manifests itself on the underbody and corners of the body panels. If you drive your car every day, it will be in contact with salt except for the short time that it's clean (overnight?)
BTW, the Golden Gate Bridge is completely repainted every four years. This includes sandblating. So yes, the crew has job security for life. They are always there. Check any picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. You'll see the crew somewhere.
#18
Dick, you are getting to know me pretty good. That is exactly what I have in mind......once I know what to get -if there even is such a possibly effective thing. I always think that if they can send a man to the moon......you know what I mean? Then again, I also always think that they haven't come up with the magic pill for not getting cancer yet.
#19
Again, washing a car is more psychological than anything, for the reasons stated above. ........... It mostly manifests itself on the underbody and corners of the body panels. If you drive your car every day, it will be in contact with salt except for the short time that it's clean (overnight?).
#20
Member
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Livonia, Michigan
Posts: 894
Upvotes: 0
Received 0 Upvotes
on
0 Posts
Only if you see dry days ahead, or if you plan to not drive the vehicle for a while. Like you said, what's the point if you'll be driving through the salt right after the car wash.
#21
But I wasn't sure about whether if driving through the salt right away after the car wash would make the car washing worthless. I'm still curious about that.
I am still wondering that if grains of salt sit and do not move, if they try to eat their way in faster than what a car would do if you removed that salt that first got on there, and then let a fresh batch of salt then get on there.
Or, maybe the fact that when most people do get it washed, the car had so much salt built up on it by the time they do, that if they wash it, it will take a while for the salt to get back on the car to that degree again.
I am still wondering that if grains of salt sit and do not move, if they try to eat their way in faster than what a car would do if you removed that salt that first got on there, and then let a fresh batch of salt then get on there.
Or, maybe the fact that when most people do get it washed, the car had so much salt built up on it by the time they do, that if they wash it, it will take a while for the salt to get back on the car to that degree again.
#22
Driving fast in the rain
That is what I meant when I suggested driving fast in heavy rain - it is better than a car wash (purer too).
One night a car in front of me hit a skunk and it tumbled under my car for about a minute. I had to drive another 40 miles on the highway in heavy rain to my cabin and carefully parked the car away from the cabin and garage. The next morning, I was amazed that there was no odor remaining.
This will probably not work to well in MI, OH and PA since they use so much salt, it will never wash away even if it is very soluble.
Dick
One night a car in front of me hit a skunk and it tumbled under my car for about a minute. I had to drive another 40 miles on the highway in heavy rain to my cabin and carefully parked the car away from the cabin and garage. The next morning, I was amazed that there was no odor remaining.
This will probably not work to well in MI, OH and PA since they use so much salt, it will never wash away even if it is very soluble.
Dick