Underwater Loc Tite??

[Alan Wheeler]

Right, I get ya.
For me, we haul yearly. So if the zinc has almost gone, but till there, I am happy. If it has all gone, then either I have problem or I need to fit a bigger inc. This year we are booked for a haul in October I think. I have fitted a Galvanic isolator, so I am very keen to see if any change in erosion has taken place.
I am lucky in that we have a lot of fresh water flush through the Marina. So the saltwater is not strong, the water temp is cold and we get very little growth. A year will result in nothing more than slime on the hull.

[fstbttms]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

I am lucky in that we have a lot of fresh water flush through the Marina. So the saltwater is not strong, the water temp is cold and we get very little growth. A year will result in nothing more than slime on the hull.

And I am lucky that our marinas are relatively warm, salty, moderate-to-high fouling environments. I can make a living at what I do.



Wait- did I say I was lucky?

[svcattales]

I bought two "chapstick" like tubes of Loctite to test the bonds before I used it to secure the zinc on my saildrive. I put some blue "248" on a 1/4" bolt and some red "268" on the same size bolt. I let the loctite air cure for several hours on both then submerged the nuts in a bucket of water and screwed in the bolts with locktite. I left the bolts w/nuts in the bucket over night and tested the next day. Next I put the nuts in a vice and unscrewed the bolts with a phillips screw driver. The blue locktite gave moderate resistance at first then released. The red loctite gave higher resistance but gave way before I applied enough force to strip the head. Based on my "amateur hour" lab results I used the red loctite on my zince (sure hope it comes loose next time!).

[hellosailor]

Red loctite is not forever, if there is any contamination (oil in the threads) or it has oxidized (old stock) etc. it can be spun off pretty easily. It sure beats nothing, most of the time, and any time you can't get it to release, you can hit it with a few passes of a torch or flame and it sure will release then.