Grounding Plates

[pkrawetzky]

I was bottom coating my sportfish and noticed the grounding plates has older bottom coat on them. Should these be clean or can you bottom coat them for antifouling purposes? Is there some other antifouling technique?

This being my first boat with grounding plates, I'm not quite sure what to do.

Thanks.

[James S]

They need to "touch" the water and should not be painted,
same with sacrificial anodes (zinks) ground plate, lightning plate.....

[Zephyr's Aura]

The plates should be clean and have no paint on them. They need to make contact with the water to work properly. If they are copper there should be no need to use antifouling paint as the copper it's self is antifouling.

Tim

[pkrawetzky]

Thanks for the information. That is what I figured based on my limited knowledge of electricity but thought I would check anyway. I'll clean them up.

I was aware that anodes must have full contact with the metal they are protecting and should never be painted.