Grounding Plate anti-fouling recommendation needed

[Bob]

My brass grounding plate is encrusted with barnacles and other marine growth. Do barnacles reduce the effectiveness of the grounding plate?If so, is there any recommendation for a conductive anti-fouling coating for grounding plates?I have been unsuccessfull to find one either by checking marine stores, onlne catalogs and internet searches. Thanks,Bob Early

 

[Donald6441]

brass getting fouled?

you sure its real brass? it should have a high content of copper in it. it might be a harder alloy, which would have more zinc. possible, you might need a more bronzy plate with more copper. Is it more orangeish or more yellowish? the more yellow the less copper it has.It’s also possible that it is getting old and the surface copper has leached away, sand it down a bit to new bronze.

 

[Bob]

Yes, it is pitted; how to tell how much Cu ?

Yes, it is noticeably pitted.Regarding the color span, is there some common standard other than 'yellowish' ? The plate "looks like" the same shape of plate sold in chandleries. Right now it is awkward to tell for sure, since it's in about 12 or so inches of water on the bottom of my hull. But I will archive the replies and reference them this fall after haulout.Thanks,Bob Early

 

[Trevor - SailboatOwners.c]

Keep ground plate clean

You need to have a direct connection with the water to provide a good ground plates so it cannot be painted. Extra attention will need to be paid too keep the plate clean - keep an eye on those zincs while you're down there.Best,Trevor