JC Whitney is selling a product called "Electroshield" that plugs into your battery and supposedly keeps your vehicle from rusting. Does this actually work? I see them on lots of vehicles but i would think that if it really worked it would be included on all new vehicles and the undercoating companies would go out of business.

-Jon

 

Oh Yeah, they work...and they work especially well if you keep your truck at some of the mountain ski resort land I want to sell you in west Texas.
Bunk, hooey, b.s., and a rip off are the best terms i can use here to describe the actual ability of this product to do what it says. If someone wants to come on here and say they're good, I'll prove how rust free their truck is by disassembling their truck and showing them it's not true.

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My credentials? Yeah, they're right over there....

framed and hanging on the shade tree.

 

I remember back in the late 70's or early 80's, one of the manufacturer's had them as a standard item. It was either Toyota or Datsun. I guess they didn't work. Too bad, the science behind it sounds convincing.

 

OnBelay: Electric corrosion protection systems do work, it is a physical fact. It's very common for these systems to be used. Electro-corrosion protection is used on pipelines(and tons of other stuff) to prevent oxidation. The joints even have an electrical "spanner" to allow the current to get past the rubber gaskets. That is the key to these systems. If a part is not electrically "connected" to where the unit attaches, it's not protected. That's why the better systems have multiple attaching points. You can get one on the body, one on the frame, one on the engine, etc.

An even easier way is to attach sacrifical anondes to the truck. You have to replace it after a while, but they work just as well. Don't think so? Look at any outboard engine designed for saltwater use. They have one on the outside (actually the trim tab) and one up in the engine housing. I've never seen a rusty outboard engine. People have a hard time believing something so simple could work, but iron oxidation is pretty simple in itself.

Ford4Ever:
Why do you think they would put them on as standard equipment? Do you think it's in Ford's interests for their vehicles to never rust? No, it's not.

All that said, I don't have one and wouldn't buy one. New cars and trucks are so well protected. My 89 Ranger had *very* little rust when sold 11 years old and with 135k miles. It spent all of it's years in the Ohio salt belt as well. I'm sure the new trucks are better protected than what was sold more than a decade ago.

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[This message has been edited by 2000 F150 4x4 (edited 03-01-2001).]

 

Here's a link if you want to know how these systems work.. http://www.alliedcorrosion.com/techinfo.html

[This message has been edited by 2000 F150 4x4 (edited 03-01-2001).]

 

Outboard engines or outdrives are not good examples of rust prevention. First, they are made of aluminum and the annode's are their to prevent stray electrical current from eating the metal. Sacrificial annodes, usually made of zinc are attached to the outdrive to be the "weakest" metal where ever to dis similar metals touch so that you lose a $8 piece instead of the salt water and electrical current destroying a very expensive unit.
There is a very exact science to it.
The automotive units send out a weak current that is supposed to cancel out the opposite current within the vehicle causing rust. The "eating" of marine equipment by electric current in salt water is called electrolosis.

 

OK, the outboards may not be the best example, but it does show the use of a sacrifical anonde, and certainly not all of the enigne is made of aluminum.

What JCWhitney sells may not do squat, as alot of their products are the same way. But the principle is sound.

 

all i've read on the net says they don't work, or have to be submersed to work.
A company says B co's method won't work, and B co says A co's method won't work.

i don't think there has been an independent co actally test these things. theory is one thing, what really happens is a different story.

Speed channel seems to be advertising that one brand. who knows if it works. then again they also advertise the 'tornado'.

 

Thread revival from almost 7 years ago anyone?

 

dude zair buddy... let me tellyou somethin... people do some crazy stuff onhere... i;m telling you. just thnk this thngs as odl as my freakin truck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11hahajhahaahahahahahah ahahahahahhaa

 

Hey drunkie, its waaay older than your truck.

 

This very question came up when I was in college, so our professor said, "Let's find out if it works." We spent the better part of a class talking about theory, then got down to some serious calculations. The results? Oh yea, the principle works. Just one problem - the amount of voltage that would be required (due to the surface area of the metal supposedly being protected) to make it effective. Since you only have 12 volts (13.8 while you're driving), you're kind of limited. Our calculations showed you'd need an extension cord running to a 110 volt outlet to have half a chance of it being effective. Oh yea, and you'd need better contact with the base metal than those stupid stick-on connectors give you.

So why can these companies say their products work? Because vehicles today have MUCH better corrosion resistance built right in than they did 10 years ago. The other reason people believe them? To qute a very wise friend, "People are stupid!"

 

Cathodic protection is what they utilize for metal underground storage tanks...

The problem that I'd forsee with it is that today's modern vehicles have SO much vibration isolation and plastic that the continuity would be lousy and thus, only 'main' parts would hold the cathodic protection.

Hence, rubber and plastic don't conduct electricity.

 

I didn't even know I wrote that until now...

Interesting...



Anyhooo... back to the point here...


That is very true... there is so much plastic on these vehicles nowadays.

 

who cares about plastic and rubber, they don't rust.