Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

General boating discussion
Mtb55
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Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#1

Post by Mtb55 »

Hi guys I am relatively new to aluminum boat ownership so I've been lurking around this forum for the last few weeks trying to educate myself on proper maintenance procedures to make my boat last a long time. After reading about the importance of maintaining your bilge I decided to pull my floorboards and inspect what's going on down below. I found many corrosion spots, thankfully most had very minor pitting that I can barely feel when I run my finger nail over it, however the worst corrosion I found was a few patches on top of the box girders (see pictures 2&3 below), my guess is that this was from wet plywood floor boards laying on the girders. Going forward I'm going to remove the floor boards aft of the hard top area when the boat is being stored (which is outside) until I can save up enough money for a metal carport. Removing the floor boards will keep wet wood off aluminum girders and to allow the bilge to breath. I have washed the bilge with a very high pressure washer. Do you guys think I should do anything with the corrosion in the pictures? Thanks in advance for any advice.

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kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#2

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, if its possible to etch with acid, rinse and then using a strong light at an oblique angle to inspect the surfaces (?) you'd get the best assessment of the need to take other remedial steps. For example once that area in the detail photo was etched and perhaps (best if possible) power rinsed/sprayed off with water then you'd have a better idea if the sides of the pits are still strong enough to warrant further escavation?

Some areas could be rotary sanded with various grits of sand paper disks. Some areas many not need more than an acid etch to lift the remaining mill scale, clean the bottom of active pits and leave an uniform aluminum oxide film? Others may be deep enough to justify cutting out and welding in plates? (Not saying I am to tell which from the photos.)

Since the two box beams seem welded to the hull bottom panel (? verify?) but are not sealed, holes shown in most photos, there is a reasonable assumption that those voids, unless they're limbered to the bilge so they could drain- are the real risk to your hull's integrity. I'd plan to air test them or drain them and make big limber holes in their sides to allow bilge water Out of them. I'd also suggest a video bore scope to get inside and inspect for unseen problems.

regarding future design plans; if you encapsulate plywood with epoxies, first the soaking type, then sealant viscosity, finally top coated thickness that will eliminate any contribution to the corrosion cells from the glues and wood. Next, if you use a serrated edge trowel to put the last coat of epoxy (perhaps thickened with micro balloons) to the underside then you'll have left the ply decks with drainage passages that could avoid the thin film De-aeration of water that was likely the active chemical (acidic water) in the original corrosion shown. This step simply allows the epoxy to form ridges that will provide plenty of burden surface for the decks on their supports but... allow drain paths too.

Last, if you'd sand and paint or line your decks supports with any non-reactive elastomeric film (tape types would be most useful) then the aluminum is sealed to the plastic film material and the deck sits on that- not the aluminum. This is called bedding and provides a sealed isolation from aluminum frame to deck - eliminating the need to put the deck directly on the metal in areas where the interface won't drain.

Hope these ideas help you to plan to recover your boat, then to increase the maintenance considerations of any deck re-install?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#3

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, not positive from the pictures, but I looked at the Photobucket Album and wondered- was/is the boat coated with Zolatone paint? Lots of flecks of darker colors don't seem to make sense if the boat is not coated? But, you didn't mention it so I thought I'd ask to better understand the coloration of some of the photos?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#4

Post by Mtb55 »

kmorin wrote:Mtb55, not positive from the pictures, but I looked at the Photobucket Album and wondered- was/is the boat coated with Zolatone paint? Lots of flecks of darker colors don't seem to make sense if the boat is not coated? But, you didn't mention it so I thought I'd ask to better understand the coloration of some of the photos?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
Thanks for your reply.
Long story short, about 5 years ago I had all the floatation foam removed from the bilge and then soda blasted. What you are seeing is over spray from when I had the interior re- zolotoned. Unfortunately the painter did not do a very good job of taping off the freshly soda blasted bilge.
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#5

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, I'm not trying to cast aspersions on your painter, or his work. But if the work was not up to good practices isn't there a good potential that the preparation work was substandard? If that's true, the mill scale may have not been removed prior to painting, and the mill scale under the paint means the paint will lift, and water will collect in a thin film..... and I've posted many times what happens then. If the soda blasted metal was not converted to Chrome Oxide (via etching and allodyne) then the paint may have been relying on a mechanical anchor pattern instead of both an anchor pattern AND a chemical bond?

The corrosion may be from deck plates but it may be from poorly applied paint film? Would be the same result, and require similar soda/sand/glass blasting to lift and clean. Then I'd contemplate a reputable painter who knows and is willing to apply films as required by the metal.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
Last edited by kmorin on Thu Sep 08, 2016 11:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: typo's
kmorin
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#6

Post by Mtb55 »

kmorin wrote:Mtb55, I'm not trying to cast aspersions on your painter, or his work. But if the work was not up to good practices isn't there a good potential that the preparation work was substandard? If that's true, the mill scale may have not been removed prior to painting, and the mill scale under the paint means the paint will lift, and water will collect in a thin film..... and I've posted many times what happens then. If the soda blasted metal was not converted to Chrome Oxide (via etching and allodyne) then the paint may have been relying on a mechanical anchor pattern instead of both an anchor pattern AND a chemical bond?

The corrosion may be from deck plates but it may be from poorly applied paint film? Would be the same result, and require similar soda/sand/glass blasting to lift and clean. Then I'd contemplate a reputable painter who knows and is willing to apply films as required by the metal.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
The over spray in the bilge is minimal, the bilge aluminum is not completely covered by paint, just a few specks of zolotone per square inch (approximately). The only places im having any corrosion is where the floor boards contacted the aluminum.The boat was built in 1998 and the paint looked great until I had the whole boat repainted after a hardtop installation in 2012. As of today the new paint still looks great, no signs of any paint problems.

After reading your posts and others who have had similar issues I think I'm going to use paint stripper to remove bilge overspray and then acid wash the entire bilge.
Last edited by Mtb55 on Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#7

Post by Mtb55 »

kmorin wrote: Since the two box beams seem welded to the hull bottom panel (? verify?) but are not sealed, holes shown in most photos, there is a reasonable assumption that those voids, unless they're limbered to the bilge so they could drain- are the real risk to your hull's integrity. I'd plan to air test them or drain them and make big limber holes in their sides to allow bilge water Out of them. I'd also suggest a video bore scope to get inside and inspect for unseen problems.
The ends of the box girders have drainage cutaways (see picture below). Like I said before this boat has a long story behind it lol, During the process of having the hardtop built the very experienced boat builder / fabricator i hired pulled the floor boards up, when he saw that the bilge had foam he advised me to remove the foam due to corrosion concerns. I paid him to do the foam removal as well (my bargain recession boat was starting to get expensive lol). For some reason Alumaweld decided it would be a good idea to shoot foam inside the box girders, so the fabricator had to cut the tops off the box girders to remove foam and inspect for corrosion damage, everything looked good.

Image
Last edited by Mtb55 on Fri Sep 09, 2016 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#8

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, that is the color band shift at the top of the girders? a C was bent and replated over the the tops- then stitched to the sides of the original verticals of the box beams? Glad you got the foam out, not really reliable in a wet area of the hull. As to the weld in the upper right ; that's not a very good quality looking weld!!

I'd say etching the bilge including what looks like the two box beam covers which appear to have intact mill scale(?) would be a good step. If the paint is not in a film, only spots or droplets, then its really not a big concern, the areas where its a film is where sheets of thin layers of water can stand and stagnate.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#9

Post by Mtb55 »

kmorin wrote:Mtb55, that is the color band shift at the top of the girders? a C was bent and replated over the the tops- then stitched to the sides of the original verticals of the box beams?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
Yes to all.
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#10

Post by Mtb55 »

kmorin wrote:
I'd say etching the bilge including what looks like the two box beam covers which appear to have intact mill scale(?) would be a good step.
Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
After reading other threads on this forum concerning dealing with corrosion I'm a bit confused; if acid washing removes corrosion cells why do people bother sanding?? Is it just to make things more visually appealing??

Thanks again.
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#11

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, the answer is that different cases, the extent location and nature of the corrosion of each boat govern the restoration planning. AND that cosmetics of buffing, sanding and patterning the surfaces if left bare also differ by each skippers’ opinion.

Say the boat has mild 'flowers' forming in the mill scale on the topsides and you etch that? It will usually clean up 95% or more with just acid and rinse water, depending on the depth. So the mill scale is removed (the main condition to sustain corrosion) and the final appearance is uniform – but it could be patterned with a rotary or belt abrasion for looks too.

However, if you have deeper (marring the surface) pitting the acid etch will (may) reach down inside the pits and still react and etch the pits- lower levels. After rinsing (super dilution) the pitting will be very much less chemically active- BUTTTTT - the bottom of those pits may still contain active water droplets, that don't dry out- and some of the water could remain acidic as a ‘seed’ for a future corrosion site.

Thus the pits, if deep enough especially on horizontal surfaces, can cultivate a repeat stagnation/de-aeration/ph shift that re-initiates the corrosion cell. Depth and shape are the two major contributions but location is surely a factor in this consideration as well. Grinding/sanding/cutting out plate and replacing is more appropriate when the depth of the material corroded is 50% or more, when the pits shapes are narrow at the surface and deeper inside the plate, (etching will rarely clean these up) and if the surface that is effected is horizontal then removing the corroded area, may be best practice.

For example, on the top of the box beams, if you etch it will likely "clean up" and if you can avoid water there in the future (it can't drain from a pit on a horizontal surface) then you're good to go. Buttt, and that is a big round exception; if the area is sanded so there are no pits, TheN the area can't hold standing water down in little pits to promote a repeat cycle.

Depth of pitting/corrosion/excavation of the parent metal guides the planning to restore the boat's corroded areas. If the pitting would hold water in the future, try to sand it out. Surface roughness or "depth of the variances to flat" is not easy to measure (there's an entire mechanical engineering sub-discipline focused on this subject!) without exotic tools, so when we exchange posts about depths of pitting -we're using widely subjective terms.

Hope to have helped with your question. Yes, some owners sand/buff/pattern their material for appearances. Yes, if you buff out/sand down/remove the depth of shallow pitting you'll both eliminate the past corrosion sites and create a mechanical pattern to the surfaces of your boat. However acid is intended to remove the oxide film and the shiny "sales film" (mill scale) and it does this by flooding the surfaces with a reactive liquid that 'lifts' all the oxides and salts (corrosion byproducts) down to bare metal. However, deep pits may require mechanical excavation or removal due to the flow of liquids down into and back out of the pit site.

Not that "deep pits" and shallow pits and other terms are not defined with numbers like depth or opening size? That's what I was saying contributes to a harder online discussion of facts- we're not actually defining these corrosion sites by measured size. Getting a final solution in a discussion is therefore difficult.

Cheers,
kmorin
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#12

Post by Mtb55 »

Kmorin,

I was looking at sand paper at my hardware store and they all claim to have a "zinc stearate coating" on the aluminum oxide sanding disk, if I was to use these would I be getting into a dissimilar metal corrosion situation (zinc on sandpaper and aluminum boat)?
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#13

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, not dissimilar metal issues one's and alloy of zinc not pure metal which would be too soft to use as an abrasive in most cases. I like ZIRCONIA ALUMINA for its long life, and I spray all abrasives with generic pan spray to reduce build up of melted aluminum on the belt/disk/blade/burr.

Its worth buying the real thing- I prefer to order from http://www.customsandingbelts.com/graininfo.shtml#alo since I've used them for years and they've even made belts for different tools no longer in production. I find them competitive, knowledgeable and prompt in reply, service and supply.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
Mtb55
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#14

Post by Mtb55 »

Ok, I think I have now developed a good game plan to get this corrosion under control. I'm planning to start sanding corroded areas with 80 grit, then finish up with 120 grit. After sanding is done I got some strong aluminum acid from my commercial truck washer friend to etch the bilge area.If any areas look to corroded I will have a welder patch them up. As I said before going forward I intend to store the boat with the floor boards aft of the hard top removed and the boat tipped up for good drainage.Hopefully with these steps my corrosion problems will be solved.

Thanks for all your help, this website is a great resource for aluminum boat owners, thanks to all who make it possible.
Last edited by Mtb55 on Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
Chaps
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#15

Post by Chaps »

MT you'll likely not get the results you want from welding heavily corroded areas, best to just clean up, grind or sand out what you can, treat with your truck acid and call it good.
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#16

Post by kmorin »

Mtb55, both Chaps and I have had experience with welding to repair corrosion so I'll post to make some points about how work like that could be planned if it turns out to be needed.

First there is a possibility a single or half dozen pits could be TIG floated to flood out the corrosion cell, melt back to sound metal surrounding the pits' site(s) and with some judicious filler - a small dime size or even quarter size pit could be recovered in some locations. Again, this is location dependent in my experience including thousands of pits in the Michelangelo Position (overhead while under the boat). Density of pitting makes the call for TIG pit repairs vs using MIG to install a hull replacement patch panel - cut out the pitted area and add back new clean plate.

But, having mentioned TIG, that does not extend to MIG filling of pits in my experience. I'd suggest that be skipped in any direct welding repair of corrosion pits' sites- if possible- this allows you to avoid what we've learned by trying. ( think there's a post on here showing the subsurface cross section of some pitting sites I've encountered?)

Next, is the condition where the pitting is wide spread - say freckles versus a single spot or two? In this condition, welding up the area is very counter productive due to both quality and distortion. In this latter case, where areas bigger than your PC's mouse are 'infected' and the pits have to be removed deeper than sanding/grinding; then cutting out a panel, and welding in new metal to replace that which was removed is the best way to use the welder.

In some cases covering over the pitted/corroded area(s) is done but that requires some steps critical to success in a lapped patch or doubler.

First, whatever caused the pitting should be found and eliminated - next the pits should be super cleaned out -both with acid AND sand/soda blasting to excavate the bottoms of any corrosion cells down to bare metal. I think this is critical personally. If you cover the site and its still active? well the pin holes coming through the original metal and sometime later through the patch are indications that the original problem was not cleaned enough.

Next, and this is somewhat debated even among seriously experienced builders- but here's my version; you MuSt air test lapped plate repairs' welds. Why do I think this? IF you put a lapped patch on another corroded patch of the hull, there is some atmosphere inside/behind/enclosed by the patch - not much, but some air. That air will change volume in proportion to its temperature- that means a shop-applied patch at 70-80deg. F will have a vacuum on the back side when its in the water or outdoors overnight. If the welds are not air tested to a 3-4 psi + pressure- then any pressure leaks in the welded lap joints will allow air to be pulled into the vacuumed area. That air will contain some moisture (maybe not true in Arizona?) and that moisture will condense on the insides of the void- and stagnate. Back to the beginning of the corrosion cell?

So I'd say any lapped plate repairs that are sealed should be air tested and TIG floated to seal so the eventual vacuum will not drive saturated ambient air into the void and re-create the original problem.

Summary, if you repair a pit or two TIG works OK, if you use MIG not so much. If you have a wider area of closely spaced pits/corrosion then cutting out and replacing is good practice, if you lap patch and area for the same reason it's best to have that lapped patch pressure tested to avoid vacuum introduction of water into the space between the plates.

Hope to make clear(er) the different uses for welding in repairing corrosion sites?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#17

Post by Mtb55 »

Chaps wrote:MT you'll likely not get the results you want from welding heavily corroded areas, best to just clean up, grind or sand out what you can, treat with your truck acid and call it good.
Thanks for the reply, How aggressive should I be with my sanding? Should I sand until all pits are gone? I'm guesstimating that the pits are between 1/32 and 1/16 inches deep and vary between 1/32 to 1/8" wide (only a few at the 1/8" size).
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#18

Post by Chaps »

Start doing it and you'll soon decide how far you want to go and how hard you want to work. Don't remove so much metal that you start reducing structural strength.
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Karl in NY
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#19

Post by Karl in NY »

These may be very naive questions, but here goes:

There are products for steel, like "Rust Reformer", which convert ferrous rust to an inert black oxide.
Is there a similar product designed to halt aluminum corrosion?

Second, do the low-temperature aluminum solders/brazes have any usefulness in repairing an aluminum hull?
The ones I refer to are used with either a propane or Mapp torch, and have very low surface-tension, allowing the puddle to span even 3/8" diameter holes. I have no idea what the alloy even is, or, where it would fall on the galvanic table...
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#20

Post by kmorin »

Karl, only questions that aren't asked are frowned on at the AAB.com Forum. Well I guess someone could ask "if the participants like welded aluminum boats?" and they might get some curious replies about the seriousness of the question- but if you don't know and cant' find the answer - I think its a purpose of the site to try to find metal answers?

So to answer in short (before I take a shot as the why involved) here is my opinion.
Karl in NY wrote:There are products for steel, like "Rust Reformer", which convert ferrous rust to an inert black oxide. Is there a similar product designed to halt aluminum corrosion?
Answer: No. But the paint systems/sealing coatings/and chromate solutions could be considered to 'protect' the aluminum- but not as oxides- aluminum has its own self-healing oxide.

And the second question
Karl in NY wrote:Second, do the low-temperature aluminum solders/brazes have any usefulness in repairing an aluminum hull?
Answer: No. Low temp, non fusion alloy bonds will not fully eliminate corrosion site problems equivalent to welding fusion processes.

The why attempt does involve a little chemistry and my disclaimer that others' opinions my differ but I'd be hard pressed to agree unless they were willing to post their reasoning- or refute mine- which may be easily done?

Q#1 about 'rust conversion' to an 'oxide'? Aluminum, all alloys- even pure, form a protective oxide of a few mills thick in about 2-3 seconds after being exposed to oxygen. Aluminum's oxide forming property is what allows the very reactive metal to have commercial/human/stable product value. Aluminum is so reactive it is used in explosives in specific forms and its oxide forming is so active that it works into both the long term reliability of the metal AND the short term corrosion cells.

Steel's 'oxide' is rust which self-perpetuates and 'eats' or reacts into the entire piece of steel (iron alloy) - until the metal is gone. Aluminum's molecular (atomic) structure 'seals' the metal under its "rust" film and aluminum oxide does not act like steel's (alloy of iron- and iron actually does the oxygen reaction) oxide and continues to react with the metal- eating it up -reacting until all the steel is gone. Really- should be said; converted chemically to another compound.

The chemical products that 'protect' the steel (iron alloy) from further rusting does not form an oxide barrier but converts the oxide to a phosphate layer. That phosphate 'ties' up the iron molecules that are near the surface and they can no longer form an oxide (rust). So the method of coating to protect iron's alloys is to stop the oxygen reaction to iron by forming a Type of Layer that aluminum forms 'naturally'.

The aluminum oxide acts like the iron phosphate layer in steel (iron) to protect. One of the conditions where aluminum corrodes is that it loses oxygen (chemically bonded to the metal in aluminum oxide) at the surface from one of several conditions. If those conditions are removed/attenuated/mitigated/eliminated- marine aluminum alloys will not corrode in air; even when wetted and dried repeatedly.

In regard the two metal's being compared for corrosion purposes; that is not chemically accurate - so it causes confusion to think they could be compared. BUT... if you wanted to compare them- you'd have to say aluminum's (Anti-Corrosion) coating would provide a steady supply of oxygen and steel's Anti-Corrosion) coating would eliminate oxygen.

It should be noted here- that the corrosive pits, or corrosion sites where the aluminum has been reacted into other compounds (eaten away in to non-metallic powder); once cleaned out of the chemical traces that promoted the competition for oxygen will not corrode further if cleaned to bare metal and allowed to form a new oxide layer inside the pitted surface. (not always understood or accomplished by simple 'washing')

Q#2 My last statement above forms the basis for my reply that solder/brazing products won't do an effective repair on aluminum corrosion sites.

Soldering and brazing are essentially hot glues not welding. Welding is done at heats of fusion where the aluminum is liquid -essentially melted along the edges of the parts but soldering just puts hot glue not a full fusion.

So solders and brazing leave the surface of the aluminum essentially "alone"- the fluxes will provide some oxide removal but the corrosion cell's surfaces are not necessarily cleaned to bare metal when the solder is applied. There needs to be some cleaning , perhaps around the edges of the pit/site/corrosion area- for the molten solder alloy to 'adhere' but there is not a fully 'dross floating' fusion of metals.

This means #1 the pits' surfaces can retain corrosion promoting 'salts' or reactive chemicals in traces #2 the solder/braze joint will not be fully water proof (more water + remaining reactive residue= more corrosion) #3 there may be some galvanic differences between the alloy in the solder and the marine grade alloys in boats? #4 Solder is not metallurgic-ly the same as a welded alloy; so, if the repair site has any structural loading the bond to the parent metal may separate. #5 The site would be as reliable if cleaned well and allowed to reform and oxide that was not disrupted in the future.

Karl, hope to help give reasons for my opinions (and experiences) with welded aluminum boat repair? While trying to provide these answers I'd like to make sure your realize that I'm thinking of pits in 5000 series aluminum that are from A) acidic (bilge) water, B) galvanic differences or C) stray current discharge locations.

In the first case (A) supplying oxygen or drying out the surface is mostly what I wrote above. However, if the corrosion was due to some bilge water that dripped off brass/bronze/copper fittings on an engine/tanks/hardware then the corrosion came about (same approximate appearance) from a 'battery action' corrosion. (B)

If the boat's electrical system, (C) even some outboard engine installations can do this; then pitting inside the bilge can happen due to the stray current being discharged into the bilge water as the "gr**nd" or DC Negative. (I avoid the "g"-word in marine DC wiring discussions if possible) was into the bilge. Wherever the current dissipates (corrosion site) the metal will be 'reacted' into the catalytic solution- either bilge or water outside the hull.

It is fair to observe that all three causes promote a reaction in aluminum that are chemically part of the 'same' cycle- that is: the alloy is corroded (meaning reacted into a non-metallic state) or 'eaten up' but each cause begins in different parts of ONE chemical circle of events.

Hope this War-&-Peace-length reply helps your planning to repair your hull?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai AK
kmorin
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#21

Post by Karl in NY »

Kevin, you are a wealth of technical information, and I believe the first person I have ever seen on an Internet forum who knows how to correctly use an apostrophe to form a plural-possessive, or a possessive for words ending in the letter "s"....I'm no English major, and quit being a grammar-cop long ago, when I became an actual cop. Kudos, and thank you for re-writing War and Peace.
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Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#22

Post by kmorin »

Karl, glad the post helped with the question. Thanks for the kind words, I try to uphold the language and its textural rules as they were taught in grade school. Seems the least I could do in respect for readers' understanding of the topics we try to address?

I do agree that punctuation, and too many times sentence structure, along with spelling, are not as exact as good communications might imply? But with 'texting' forming poor habits and both auto-completion and spell-checking competing during most keyboard activities..... it's not hard to understand how, too many times, we all post written English errors online?

If you're in LE and in uniform (?) please accept all our best wishes that you'll stay safe in this time of SJW induced madness for you guys. [My advice is: if in ANY doubt? Shoot first, until your arms are tired; and ask questions of the carcass.] I think the new Federalie Admin. will calm things down for you guys (?) but it won't happen over night so "keep your head down" - for all the rest of us.

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
kmorin
Karl in NY
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:30 pm
13

Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#23

Post by Karl in NY »

kmorin wrote: If you're in LE and in uniform (?) please accept all our best wishes that you'll stay safe in this time of SJW induced madness for you guys. [My advice is: if in ANY doubt? Shoot first, until your arms are tired; and ask questions of the carcass.] I think the new Federalie Admin. will calm things down for you guys (?) but it won't happen over night so "keep your head down" - for all the rest of us.
Way off topic, but I never wore a uniform, unless you consider a raid-jacket one. After finishing a master's in criminal justice, I started in county probation, moved to state parole as an investigator, and cross-sworn as a US Marshal...never wore a target on my back, fortunately...my "uniform" was always jeans and beard, to "blend", except in court. Specialty: sex-offender apprehension, but had to be jack-of-all-trades...the go-to-guy for GPS tracking and training, database management, etc. Worst assignment: "professional responsibility" (internal affairs) which I got out of as fast as possible. I never imagined I would ever love a job, but my career has been satisfying, but difficult to balance job/family...now semi-retired for two years, and only do per-diem jobs for the feds now.

"Rust never sleeps", nor does aluminum corrosion, nor do pedophiles...presently, my boat is made of the F-word, but hope to migrate to a welded-plate alloy pilothouse, but they basically don't exist on the northern east coast or Great Lakes areas.
kmorin
Donator 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Posts: 1735
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 1:37 am
15
Location: Kenai, Alaska

Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#24

Post by kmorin »

Karl, glad you're not in the direct line of fire service work, also glad you're winding down in that whole sphere- can't imagine dealing with people at their worst for a job. I had enough of just bad moods from owners, now and then, when I built full time; so working in LE is not high on my career list!

Glad to hear you're thinking of a replacement boat and it could be plate aluminum too. I realize they're not as well received in the Eastern areas of the US but maybe you'll find one that fits your particulars with some searching?

Cheers,
Kevin Morin
Kenai, AK
Last edited by kmorin on Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: typo's
kmorin
Karl in NY
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 2:30 pm
13

Re: Advice needed on bilge corrosion.

#25

Post by Karl in NY »

I had a LEO best friend, whose sister was a "sister", a Catholic nun, in Kenai...I'm not Catholic, so don't understand their hierarchy, but she was attached to an order, rather than to a diocese, and I had known her for decades...spent about 20 years in Kenai, until retirement, "Sister Joyce [Ross]", but don't know if they retain their birth names.

Also paid a guy in Kenai to do some SketchUp work for me, but don't recall his name. He worked for an organization like Habitat for Humanity, or a similar type pro bono design/build place, and in Summer, would kayak to work...

Kenai is on my bucket-list...stunning beauty there.
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