Technical Information
Thermostats Are Galvanic Cells
Thermostats attain a large amount of Charge when Salt Water is flowing across them, without a WaterDog Outboard Saver Sleeve that voltage is left to wander your entire system; the engine block, head, head gaskets, head bolts, rods and electrical components are all susceptible to corrosion and ultimately early failure. Without a Thermostat Anode making direct contact your motor is a ticking towards catastrophic failure like so many of us have had.
Stop Risking Catastrophic Failure.
There is no question about this process, we have had X-Ray Diffraction testing done at the University Of South Florida and verified the main substance forming in these motors in Hydrotalcite. That is made up of Aluminum Hydroxide and Magnesium Hydroxide that corroded from the engine. The atoms lost from the motor are not only causing these holes, they are building up through electrocoagulation and choking your motors water flow. Stop the Voltage and Stop the corrosion today!
Hydrotalcite.
This compound forms inside your engine because the aluminum corrodes and interacts with the electrons it lost to becomes Aluminum Hydroxide and then it becomes attached to the inner walls of the water jacket through Electrocoagulation. The Hydroxides combine with carbonate minerals and cake up inside the motor restricting the water flow slowly robbing your motor of compression and wearing critical parts through repeated thermal stress. You will stop this buildup when you stop the thermostat voltage from permeating the block with the WaterDog Outboard Savers. There is no question if this substance is your motor, the only question is how much. Visit our Facebook page to learn how to clean this out without chemicals.
Why is your engine filling with Hydrotalcite? Electrocoagulation
The process inside the engine is complicated in its chemistry but simple in its process. The saltwater flowing across the thermostat initiates the electrolysis and is the power supply, this makes the thermostat the cathode which makes your aluminum engine the anode. The electrons flow from most noble to least noble metal and then back to the seawater, the last atom in the aluminum loses its valence electrons and then falls into the water and combines with OH to form Aluminum Hydroxide and combines with magnesium hydroxide of the water, as well as negative ions and makes Hydrotalcite.
The precipitated cations in the engine end up on the cathode, you have seen this buildup on the thermostats when you change them, however we have no filter in our motors, and the "sludge" ends up coagulating inside our motors as the Hydrotalcite builds up, for us these are carbonic minerals and add to the corrosion compound restricting our water flow and overheating our engines.
This means that the galvanic voltage is not only destroying your motor, its allowing the buildup inside to slowly restrict the water flow, increasing its flow rate and reducing the ability of it to transfer heat effectively. This is what robs you of compression over time, even with the best of maintenance, hose flushing does not have the volume to remove this. Those of you who tub flush do remove the buildup but that stops the head from blowing, but it does not stop the holes from eventually forming.
The solutions is easy!
Once you install a WaterDog Outboard Savers Thermostat Anode the corrosion stops and there is no more electricity to allow this coagulation.
Expected Lifespan
The life of the sleeve is expected to be 300-500 hours, we are still testing that right now in fact with a 500 hour test beginning today. This picture was from a 175 hour degradation test where the pump failed. At this point you can see the surface area was heavily corroded, the thermostat still looked brand new. The sleeve was beginning to lose its ability to corrode as the pits become higher resistance spots from the oxidation forming on the zinc.
At this point in the test we were still absorbing all of the current but the electrochemical potential between the thermostat and the aluminum were starting to creep up at this time. We expect around 300 hours some current will begin to find itself in the aluminum but that will be verified over the next couple weeks, the average boater does not run this many ours in 3 years.
Charter Captains will likely be the only ones who run 300 hours or more, and those are the ones we are really testing the limits for. The goal is to get the maximum life out of the thermostats for them, they will save a lot of money yearly in thermostat replacement costs. Most average boaters will likely change them before they reach their full life because the sleeves are so low priced.
Take control of your corrosion!
The Family
The main 3 sizes of thermostat will be these 3 with majority of people using the middle one. The large one is for the XTO but SOME of the f90 models use this same size grommet on the middle size thermostat, so when you order if you have part number starting with 6e5 you will need the special one associated with that part number. Some of the older 80s models utilize this smaller thermostat, if you have an 80's motor it may be best to message me about your fitment but if you have the 6e5-12411-30-00 you will need the smallest size we offer on our site, specifically for that part number.
The cost of the sleeve is extremely low, less than the cost of a thermostat and they are made in USA. I am keeping the price cheap because I know this sounds too good to be true, but its just physics.
I made this because I did get a hole in my engine and every engine I could afford to replace it had the same problems. The only way for me to still have a boat was to fix this problem because I could not sell it to someone knowing it had a hole in the motor and I am sharing it with you because it works so well, I never had intention of sharing this when I first tested the idea. But I cannot keep this to myself knowing so many of you are experiencing the gut check that I did when I found the hole.
This does not have to happen anymore! This anode will save your engine! I PROMISE!
Roaming with Peace of Mind
This is the most important anode on your boat and the only one designed to take the galvanic corrosion so your engine . Our Patent Pending Thermo Anode prevents corrosive galvanic voltage, ensuring your boat runs smoothly. Explore our selection for all brands and models to keep your marine equipment safe and efficient.