STAINLESS VS. ALUMINUM

[charlie_the_tuna]

i heard that a stainless prop on a boat in a slip is a bad idea.
i hear because of the sacrificial properties of the aluminum the outdrive will turn to sh!t in short order.
i have a bunch of aluminum anodes but there isnt much for the outdrive itself.

what to do?

[Stinky_Hooker]

Get a dry slip and a stainless prop! *:D


On that note, I cant stand the thought of my baby getting a blowing rain on her that gets under the shed. I dont know HOW yall keep em in wet slips. I would go nuts just thinking about it. :o

[twistedparot]

for me, the extra money for ss is just not worth the performance gains. plus i go shallow a lot and would rather tear up the prop than the drive. as far as ur question about ss in a wet slip... it kinda makes sense but, i am guessing that the spline shaft that the prop mounts to is stainless. i dunno?????????????

[Bygracealone]

Get a dry slip and a stainless prop! *:D


On that note, I cant stand the thought of my baby getting a blowing rain on her that gets under the shed. I dont know HOW yall keep em in wet slips. I would go nuts just thinking about it. :o

I know exactly what you mean Stink. I had a 250 in a wet slip a couple of years back and I couldn't sleep at night. I had to go down to the dock a couple of times a day just to make sure the lines had enough slack for the changing tides and stormy weather. I was always worried that she was going to sink.

[spareparts]

yes, putting a stainless prop on a boat left in the water will increase the amount of electrolisys, just ask Mercruiser what happened to the Bravo Three's when they're left in the water. Each blade acts just liek an additional plate in a battery, teh more surface area the alkaliine solution( salt water in this case) can act on, teh more electrolisys can occur, even four blades will increase it over a three blade, you also have to watch diameter and surface area also, Mercruiser stopped selling stainless Bravo Two blades after they had them rot the drives off.

[charlie_the_tuna]

hey spare, then what the solution?
will the alum prop act as the anode?
where can i put more zinc?
should i leave off my doelfin and use the mounting holes for zinc plates?

tell me what to do.

NOW !

[charlie_the_tuna]

what are the actual gains in performance/economy with stainless over aluminum?

[frayed_knot]

Stainless for the bling factor yo ;) And take that wing thing of your outdrive, they are gay, and might break your cavitation plate.

[Stinky_Hooker]

CTT I run a stainless Steeleto and love it. I have stuck it in mud and oyster beds several times and it still looks like new. Other than being tougher than nails they spin truer, have virtual no flex compared to aluminum and pull harder. For this reason they help you make the most of the horsepower you already have. However it doesn't sound like u should pursue the stainless option.

[charlie_the_tuna]

well stinkbomb, i already have stainless on there but i have the original aluminum and am seriously considering putting it back on.

[Seacrets]

Why? *Your zinc anodes will deplete before your aluminum. *I'm in a wet slip with stainless steel with no problems. *Any aluminum in the water is painted with outdrive paint (not bottom paint). *If you have real issues about your outdrive while in a slip, you may have stray currents and it might not be from your boat, but somebody else in a slip near you. *You should spin your hub before you tear up your outdrive. *I kept twin alpha ones in the nasty Florida salt water, however, they were stripped to bare aluminum and painted with zinc oxide paint and then outdrive paint with no problems. *A big issue in warm water is barnacles. *I've run them both and it ain't just bling. Just my opinion, but I'll take stainless. ;D

[macojoe]

I have SS but I am on a trailer!

The one thing I do and have old a few to do is to make sure you remove that prop every year and prease the splines when putting it back!!

I had a friend that never took his prop off till he had to, and after the welder torched it off he had to replace all seals in the out drive cause of the heat!

When you on slip don't you lift the outdrive out of the water??
Then there is no prop in the water right??

I have never sliped a boat before?

[spareparts]

no need to add more zinc, just make sure the zincs you have are properly grounded, use an ohm meter and check for continuity between all parts of the drive to a sutable gound inside the boat. clean the surfaces behind the mounting locations for the zincs, use the supplied star washers to improve contact( especially the one that comes with the new prop that everyone throws away), keep the zincs fresh by scrubbing them with a wire brush. If you keep your boat in an area thats doesn't have a lot of current( tide current not electrical), you might consider a Mercathode system( electronically replaces teh zincs) but you will need shore power of some sort to keep the battery from going dead. Soem people add zincs to the trim rams on older drives, check for interference. The easiest thing to do is to add a zinc grouper, its a big zinc( shaped like a fish for appearance only), that has a gounding cable and a lanyard to cleat it off, just clamp the cable to the engine block or sutable ground and tie the lanyard to a cleat and drop it iin the water. Don't forget to pull it out before using the boat!. If you really want to get into it, Mercruiser has a worksheet that walks you thru all the corrosion test, you're required to fill it out before submiting a corrosion claim uunder warranty, it takes a while to do it, but it will find a problem. You might want to take a look at the boats around your slip, don't keep your boat near older junkers if your using shore power, their electrolisys problem can become your problem thru the ground wire of shore power if you dont have an galvanic isolater

[Seacrets]

On an I/O, you'll never get the entire outdrive out of the water. With my outboard and the cutting board I mounted on top of the splashwell I still have part of the lower unit in the water.

[Blue_Runner]

I would go nuts just thinking about it.
I have a place on High Rock lake with a nice 16ft x 16ft floating dock attached to a 10ft x 30ft stationary dock that I built myself. I am scared to death to leave my V there over night (but I have before). Of course we have wakeboarders that come right past it and throw their huge wakes right up on my dock, but even if they didn't do that I'd be a nervous wreck!