Check this out

[Chads]

I found this the other day and thought I would share it with yall. This is for those who always seem to corode that alumiumn tank, this is a electroliss rod to keep corrosion from happening to your tank instead it corrodes the rod should be in every fresh water and waste tank.

 

[Johnny]

I leave wrenches in my tanks as sacrificial annodes.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Do those really work or are they like those magnetic water softeners?

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

It will help with the electrolysis from brass fittings screwed to your wastetank, but precious little for the chemical corrosion caused by the chemicals in the wastewater.

 

[Chads]

Tell me what chemical is coroding the tank if its not from electrollis from water circulating cuasing a electrical charge or coming in to the tank and its not there to save the brass its there to save the aluminumn.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Galvanic corrosion is caused by the brass in contact with the aluminum in the presence of an electrolyte. The aluminum being less noble, will suffer. The magnesium rod will retard this particular reaction. However, the caustic nature of the chemicals themselves will still chemically react with the aluminum, causing corrosion apart form the galvanic reaction. While the magnesium rod will chemically react with the caustics it contacts, thereby producing a non-reactive byproduct locally (titrating some of the caustics), the corrosion process of the balance of the wastewater still would effect the aluminum essentially unimpeded.

The magnesium rod is a sacrificial anode, not a arrestor of all chemical reaction.

 

[Chads]

That was worded nice but still didnt quite convince me.

 

[Shawn Forsythe]

Chad,

The sacrificial anode is used to control an electrochemical reaction, but not the separate chemical reaction of the caustics upon any, and all reactive metals.

An example.
You stick an aluminum boat into seawater, and the sacrificial anode will help protect the boat hull from electrolysis. The seawater is not reacting, but is an electrolyte serving in an electrolysis reaction, resulting in oxidation.

You stick that same boat in sulfuric acid or say, sodium hydroxide, and while the boat won't corrode from electrolysis, the boat AND the magnesium will still undergo rapid decomposition from the chemical reaction of the reactants alone.

 

[Kevin B]

I feel smarter just reading this thread

 

[Chads]

yeah, but once again what chemical is causeing that much of corrosive properties that are more than just plain electrolysis?

 

[Dolly Llama]

Shawn, Powermatics have an aluminum water box.
No chemicals are ever in the water box. (where the pump draws water from)
only clear, cold water.

there's always some kind of mineral deposits that build up in the water box.

would one of those sacrificial anodes reduce/eliminate that mineral build up?

Interesting enough, the emulsion tank (where the detergent is drawn and metered from) is also aluminum.
However, there is no mineral deposit build up in it.
is that due to the something in the Heatwave detergent we use?

thanks


..L.T.A.

 

[bob vawter]

real machines are made from Stainless.......

jus thought i let you's all know that!

 

[Johnny]

real machines are made from Stainless.......

jus thought i let you's all know that!

Wurd.

 

[The Great Oz]

Maybe different wording will help.

Fresh water is a poor conductor, so electricity is required for electrolysis to occur, along with a component in the water that will allow the water to carry the electricity. If you have electrical leakage due to a wiring fault, and the water in your tank has a compound in it that will conduct electricity, your sacrificial anode may help. If you have a problem with electrolysis you may want to run through your wiring to make sure everything is right, making sure your ground wire connections are clean and tight.

If the corrosion is caused by a strong acid or alkali that will eat metal, that chemical will still eat the tank, and may also eat the anode, just at a different rate.

 

[Greenie]

FRESH tank is where they do their best, if you had one in your waste you'd replace it fairly regularly, depending on your juice of choice. And yes Waste tanks shoudl be SS, but hey, there is better profit margin in an Alum. tank and cleaners don't know any better, at least sell them as "economy" tanks, not the 40 year lifer tanks that SS offer.

 

[Jimbo]

Darn...40 year tanks...I could still have the same wastetank working for me at 94!



Which chemicals cause the Least damage to an aluminum tank?

 

[Greenie]

I'm gonna say Judson chems....lol

Actually any rinse agent with a corrosion inhibitor should be okay I would think, and ones without...ouch.

 

[Chads]

I was going to say the nice thing about that rod is on the other end is a nice threaded bolt so it bolts right in to the tanks if you weld in a fitting or drill and tap a hole.