Tom Ray wrote:
Corrosion around stainless fittings in anodized masts is a problem, but I have never seen it spread like it does underneath the coating on the akas.
+1 Agreed.
Keith has a good closeup off the cancer-
corrosion of the e-coated
aka. My 2 year old e coated metal looks about like Keith's while the 3+ year old annodized (early production) metal looks entirely
corrosion free. The annodized metal's finish is very thin, flat black, and does not look like paint so much as it looks like a carbon black powder - if that makes any sense.
Guess I need to snap a few pics to better explain.
If you want to really see some truely disturbing
corrosion, remove the rear x-brace. The brass inserts, the Stainless Steel Soc Cap Screw & washer together with the aluminum have really made a nice battery.
This "underneath" part is hard to detect until you remove the brace.
There is a small gap between the boat hull and the bottom of the x-brace caused by the brass inserts just slightly above the hull. I can almost guarantee you will find 1/8" cake of oxidized aluminum. The
corrosion on the akas is mostly cosmetic; the
corrosion under the x-braces is a potential part failure IMO. We are talking major aluminum disintegration/pitting here.
$225 total for a front & rear x-brace ($125 + $100) won't make for a cheap replacement either. And to think, all this time I was worried about the
aka hinge pin wear.
PS If you do remove the braces - pick up some new Stainless Steel Soc Caps (bolts) for replacements at ACE hardware (60 cents each)