[Milsurplus] AC Power on Ships

[Richard Brunner]

In cathodic protection, current flows from the hull (cathode) to the
sacrificial anode.  The anode loses metal ions to the electrolyte (sea
water) and corrodes.  Not much happens to the hull, which is the whole
idea.  I don't know about the sea critters.  Cathodic protection is very
important to pipelines, piers, building foundations, etc, anything
metallic in contact with soil or water.  Trolley systems used to provide
inadvertent cathodic protection to nearby structures, and when they
quit, things started corroding.  (We're getting too OT; I quit.)

Richard, AA1P


On Mon, 2010-10-25 at 10:32 -0700, Steve Hilsz wrote:
> All the vessels I've done salvage work on have an insulated Anode running around the hull, so the hull will become negatively charged and sea critters will fall off. How much of the hull gets reverse-plated during the electrolysis process?