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Theoretical discussion.... Although I am gonna have to try it just to find out.
Small sail-far cruiser. No room for genny so using all led lighting, no powered reefer, etc. Lead acid wet cells, solar panels, and 5A light coil on the kicker are primary power system.
What to do a gajillion miles from no where, and the batteries go flat, the kicker is out of gas, and we haven't seen the sun in 12 days...
Lets see, the potential difference between a piece of bronze, and an aluminum/zinc/iridium sacrificial anode is (theoretical) 0.8V in saltwater, so if we made up a single cell consisting of an aluminum "zinc" and say a bronze bolt, and hung it over the side it should generate 0.8V. A set of 15 in series would generate 12V... See where I am going with this? Not enough to fuss with normally, but in an emergency maybe enough to keep the LED nav lights and the non-plotting digital gps running till the normal system is back on line.
Just an interesting thought brought up while reading a non related article on a non-boating site. They were using thin copper and magnesium strips in fresh water to light a single led.
Comments? ideas? horse-laughs? Might be fun to try... now where did I stash those extra zincs for the kicker?
Small sail-far cruiser. No room for genny so using all led lighting, no powered reefer, etc. Lead acid wet cells, solar panels, and 5A light coil on the kicker are primary power system.
What to do a gajillion miles from no where, and the batteries go flat, the kicker is out of gas, and we haven't seen the sun in 12 days...
Lets see, the potential difference between a piece of bronze, and an aluminum/zinc/iridium sacrificial anode is (theoretical) 0.8V in saltwater, so if we made up a single cell consisting of an aluminum "zinc" and say a bronze bolt, and hung it over the side it should generate 0.8V. A set of 15 in series would generate 12V... See where I am going with this? Not enough to fuss with normally, but in an emergency maybe enough to keep the LED nav lights and the non-plotting digital gps running till the normal system is back on line.
Just an interesting thought brought up while reading a non related article on a non-boating site. They were using thin copper and magnesium strips in fresh water to light a single led.
Comments? ideas? horse-laughs? Might be fun to try... now where did I stash those extra zincs for the kicker?