Mussels grow on anode?

[DennisG01]

Got a weird question... or at least to me...

Background: The boat is moored on the coast of Maine from June to October. It is located in a relatively swift moving area of the water with a decent current. The engine is stored in the tilted position whenever the boat is not being used. Minimal electronics, battery switch is always off when on the mooring. Bottom paint condition (metal free style and is used on hull and any part of the engine bracket that is in the water) is "good", but not brand new.

Every year I get very minimal growth on the boat - typically only a little weeds or a few mussels around the scuppers and maybe some edges of the trim tabs. This year, however, the bracket anode (looks like a handle) was covered in mussels. The anode was new this year (thanks to my brother painting over the old one ).

What do you think caused this? Maybe there was some leftover paint interfering with the anode to metal contact area? But wouldn't the screws be more than enough to make a good contact?

I didn't get a chance to look at things too closely before putting the boat away for the Winter - just scraped the mussels off for now. It's weird - I've never personally seen this before.

[pstephens46]

Can you eat them?

[99yam40]

zebras or something else

anodes are for catholic protection of metal, did not know mussels were not suppose to grow on them

[DennisG01]

Eat them? Not without A LOT of butter!

They're not zebra mussels. They are what I would call "normal" mussels. These were still on the small side and still growing - about 1" to 1-1/2" long.

Strange, right?

zebras or something else

anodes are for catholic protection of metal, did not know mussels were not suppose to grow on them

Maybe I should say some Hail Mary's?

[amahaork]

check simple resistance between anode and negative on battery. anode has to be part of the negative ground, or it is just a weight, and something else is corroding, beside it. and it is good idea to clean it surface periodically, if oxide not falls off itself. to be effective, anode has to dissolving slowly in water. or it is wrong material anode

[99yam40]

Maybe I should say some Hail Mary's?

dang that spell check
or was it me

[fairdeal]

I wonder if you are using a different metal now -

and it makes a difference to the mussels...

say, the prior anodes were zinc - and this one is aluminum

and maybe the mussels are bothered by zinc....

[pstephens46]

I was grilling wings and very hungry....

[DennisG01]

I'll definitely check contact area and grounding - good point.

This one is a Yamaha brand, which felt like Al. I'm not sure of the original one - I want to say it felt about the same weight, but I wasn't really paying attention.

I'll check things out, scuff this one up good before I put it back on and check it throughout the season. If I see the same thing starting to happening, I'll switch brands and/or composition. Who knows, maybe it was a fluke thing?

I tried googling for a while on this subject, but it must be a pretty rare thing as I couldn't find anything. Just thought of something... There's an excellent anode manufacturer (Performance Metals) not to far from me in PA - maybe I'll give them a call and see if they've ever come across this.

[amahaork]

u d better contact kandkoutboard and tell them where your boat location yamaha issued different anodes depend on the area of usage and waters

[pstephens46]

See if I get this right, fact check me like Hillary says...

Aluminum - both salt and fresh water
Magnesium - fresh water
zinc - salt

Yamaha internal anodes, heads and water jackets, looked and felt like aluminum versus straight zinc. So a blend to cover all bases?

[DennisG01]

u d better contact kandkoutboard and tell them where your boat location yamaha issued different anodes depend on the area of usage and waters

I had bought them from a local dealer (in Maine) so "hopefully" they had the right ones! Although, I thought that Yamaha was ONLY using Al, now?

[DennisG01]

See if I get this right, fact check me like Hillary says...

Aluminum - both salt and fresh water
Magnesium - fresh water
zinc - salt

Correct, with an "addendum"... Mg is so active that it can sometimes overprotect in some fresh water bodies and cause paint lifting and subsequent corrosion. In general, Al is the safest choice, but local experience (and what works best for a specific setup in a specific body of water) trumps book knowledge.

Yamaha internal anodes, heads and water jackets, looked and felt like aluminum versus straight zinc. So a blend to cover all bases?

Good question - never thought of mixing them. I guess I figured it would just be adding more dissimilar metals and that wouldn't be good?

[fairdeal]

"from what I've read" - and it certainly makes sense -

"mixing" anodes simply results in the more active anode protecting the lesser- just as it is protecting the engine parts.

So instead of two anodes, you now have only one "doing the work"

[cpostis]

Here is a good article on the various type materials for anodes:

http://www.martyranodes.com/content/...m%20Anodes.pdf

Here is a link to a company that manufactures only anodes that may give you more information:

Anode kits - Selected inboard, outboard, sterndrives and hydrojet anodes

As far as the increased growth on your anode, I feel like your original anode was zinc that a mussel preferred to stay away from, and your replacement anode was aluminum that the mussels didn't mind?

Guess your choice is just a matter of preference?

Did you happen to ask other boat owners at the in you mooring area if they had an increase in mussel growth?

Just added this link:

http://performancemetals.com/index.shtml