Zink as a safracal metal ?

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
OK, I sorted WW again.
Found some of the filthy Zn WW.
Have read that they can be used as an anode in a radiator to make it last longer.
If that is true , How does one go about doing it?

[docone31]

You could make a mold out of a 2 X 4. Melt the zinc into liquid form, pour into the mold, clean off the charcoal. That way, it would slide into the radiator.
Why would you do that though?
If you always run 50/50, you should almost never need to replace your radiator.
Most radiator issues come from people mixing tap water straight into the radiator.
That is a no-no.
Water heaters also have a zinc sacrificial rod to keep the sulpher smell out of the taps. If you have high sulpher water, cut off the rod, and put the cap back on. No smell.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Was just wondering, & thought about just dropping in a small 1-1&1/2 " one.
Did not do it as I have never had to replace a radiator yet, even w/ driving my cars/trucks 13-15yrs. on average .
Thought I'd ask 1st.

[Recluse]

My boat's drive unit has zinc anodes. They will (seemingly) last forever. I change them out every few years as they're cheap. If I ran the boat in salt water, I'd probably change them every year or two.

Not sure I'd need one in any of the radiators--I run a 50-50 mix of the Prestone heavy-duty/high-grade stuff, and flush/fill every other year. Never had a radiator rust yet.

[HeavyMetal]

Actually you just hang a "slug of zink off a wire wrapped around the filler neck and in the path of the fluids inside.

Fluids run over it and disolve the zink over time through corrosion and not the radiator!

Most sea going boats, power and sail, use zink in the same manner to protect props and suck A slug of zink hangs near the motor/ prop and "attracts" the corrosion.

[crabo]

In my experience, most radiators are failing because the plastic tanks are cracking.