“We've been on a fantastic journey together where we've learnt a lot for the future,” reveals Jonas Welinder, Product Planning. When Volvo Penta presented its new unique protection system for sterndrivers – Active Corrosion Protection (ACP) – in a press release, it marked the end of a long and intensive piece of work.
For more than three years, Henrik von Porat, designer, Katarina Hammar, technical project manager, Jonas Welinder, product planner, Alexander Johansson, project manager, Johan Källvik, product developer electronics, and corrosion specialist Viktor Räftegård developed the system together.
The work was performed in batches, and all six engineers had other projects on at the same time. But the support from Volvo Penta was always there. “This is a priority area for Volvo Penta. It’s about ‘easy boating’ and is strategically important in order to be able to protect customer relations and facilitate boating in the leisure segment.
As a result, we also knew that we had full support to do this as well as possible,” Jonas Welinder says.
Proven method
Up to now, corrosion protection on Volvo Penta's sterndrivers has consisted of what is known as a sacrificial anode, a block of metal, such as zinc or aluminium, which is attached to the drive.
The idea is that the anode intercepts corrosive attacks before they get to the drive. Its success depends on the metal in the drive being more noble than that on the anode. “It’s a proven method of passive protection that has been used for a very long time,” says Viktor Räftegård.
However, the problem with this method is that the anode has to be replaced on a regular basis, sometimes several times a season, depending on the environment and how the drive is used. The onus is thus on a boat’s owner to keep an eye on the anode to make sure it has not worn away and that corrosion has not started to affect the drive.
The ACP system, on the other hand, is an active form of protection. This means that the system takes care of itself and actively works to protect the drive from attack. The ACP unit is mounted on the transom of the boat.
By constantly measuring the drive's potential, the unit adjusts the current from the anode, which in turn can maintain a constant level of protection and prevent corrosion from attacking the drive.
“This provides superior safety and protection. The boat owner can relax, safe in the knowledge that constantly updated values are provided at the helm,” explains Viktor Räftegård.
