Wednesday, February 18, 2015

2/9-2/13 Electrolysis

We had one of the departments tenders in the shop last week for its annual maintenance. Part of the the maintenance procedure was a voltage test. While checking the battery voltage and output, we also checked the engine coolant for stray voltage. Curious as to how voltage could end up in the coolant, I asked how this could occur. I was told that an improperly connected ground wire could cause a short as the electrical charge tries to find the path of least resistance to a ground source. When this happens, the current degrades metals, often in the radiator, in a process known as electrolysis. This process does not take long at all, compared to corrosion which may take months to do damage, electrolysis may only take days to weeks for irreversible damage to occur.

Unfortunately, my phone does not want to upload the pictures of the sample cylinder sleeves that our instructor, Jeff, had on display for us. So I will upload the next best thing; google images!

 


Total Shop Hours @ NWFR for Feb.: 44.75
Total Shop Hours @ BTC for Feb.: 28

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