Computerised Electronic Corrosion Inhibitor

pure snakeoil -

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/homework/s95524.htm

Car Rust and How to Stop It
Listen to Karl talk about Car Rust and How to Stop It
(You will need Real Audio which you can download for free)
Mark had rust on his car, and wanted to know if he could put some kind of sacrificial metal onto his car to stop it from rusting. After all, this "sacrificial metal" trick works on boats and ships and bridges. Are the car companies simply not doing this, so their cars rust sooner, and we have to buy more new cars.

The process is called "cathodic protection". You attach another metal which will corrode first, before the iron in your car, bridge or boat. The sacrificial metal that's usually used is zinc. As the iron turns into rust, it gives up electrons. If there's a lump of zinc nearby, the iron get the electrons back from the zinc and so stays protected, while the zinc begins to corrode away.

For this process to work, you need a complete electrical circuit to bring the electrons back. In the case of an outboard motor on a boat, the sea water completes the circuit. In the case of a bridge, the wet soil completes the circuit. But in your car, the only way to complete the circuit on all the metal in your car is to drive into sea water!

There are various products on the market claiming to provide cathodic electrochemical protection to your car, just by injecting electrons into your metal work - but they don't work. The FCC in the United States of America has actually got court orders to stop these products from being sold - simply because they don't work.

In your car, there are lots of little nooks and crannies where dirt and/or water can collect. The rust happens not where the metal is dry, nor where the metal is wet - but at the interface between the wet and dry metal. So if you screwed a lump of zinc right on the interface, it would protect it. But you'd have to have little lumps of zinc all over your car.

Modern car manufacturers often do a process called zinc electroplating on the entire chaisis of the car. So long as the zinc is complete, the car won't rust. Your best bet is to regularly clean out all the drain holes so that the water can't collect, scrape off any mud that has collected so that metal doesn't rust away underneath the mud, and remove the leaves and dirt. And of course, once you've washed the car, you should always take it for a drive so that any trapped water can slosh out.

© Karl S. Kruszelnicki Pty Ltd 2003.

Everybody has thier own opinuin on this...for me it works...reason why..l've had E.R.P fitted to my 4wd's for 11 years now, the first one was fitted to a 1989 maverick and after 7 trips to Frazier Island plus heaps of weekend beach trips never had any rust occur..i always gave the rig a good hosing after...but a point of note..i spot welded a small bit of flat steel to the chassis in 1990, it was 25mm wide and 50mm long and had no paint or protection on it for 10 years and never had any rust on it either.
So make up your own mind...there are always experts with all the tech data but can still be wrong.

Note...should'nt cost more then $400. Had a mate that the Holden dealership fitted one to his new SS ute and they charged him $800.( 200% profit )

ditto the above.
Techie

to clarify
ditto to "Mike DiD", load of snake oil to me.

Define computerised.
A piece of metal on a car is not computerised.
Stick a resistor and a transistor in it and it's electronic - where's the transisitor?
$400 for a piece of metal - cost more than gold!!
I found anti rust coating was all I reqd.
Are you going to keep the car for 10yrs?
Techie

If you go to the ERPS website they tell you that the paint is part of the system - if the paint is scratched you will get rusting ??????

Read the Electronic Rust Prevention Systems website carefully - www.erps.com.au - you will notice that it is written very carefully to create the impression that it does great things - but if interpreted accurately you will have no chance of making a claim to the Dept of Fair Trading as a misrepresenting the products capabilities

On the “About ERPS page” they tell you important things to remember when thinking about buying - and top of the list is “ERPS complies with AS/NZS 4251.1”. “Great” – customers will think, it must be really good, it satisfies the requirements of an Australian Standrad – but if you spend 10 seconds on a Google search you will see why they don’t explain what 4251.1 covers ! It is a standard for Radio Interference – so ERPS greatest feature is that it won’t interfere with your car radio.

Their print ad says they have 20,000 customers and without one LEGITIMATE warranty claim. Well, If you read their webpage, you will see why.

Technical – Corrosion Prevention technology page
“As can be seen from the above paragraphs, a good quality coating is essential to maximise the protection and prevention offered by the electronic system. “ – so if some metalwork rusts and it doesn’t have “a good quality coating” of paint, forget about warranty claims – they did try to warn you.

Technical –ERPS Physics
“However the electric field generated by the positive plate does tend to spread at the edges, so for a coupler attached to bare metal we might expect a distribution of charge somewhat like this:”
Ah, yes, show them some scientific graphs. These actually show accurately how the electric field around the plates falls off, and where there is a field there would be no corrosion – but they don’t show any scale on the graphs so they are useless to customers. The manufacturer protects them selves with the fine print - “Note: The diagrams in this section are to give a sense of relative distances involved and are for demonstrative purposes only.“

“Electrostatic experiments from over two hundred years ago showed that if a metal and an insulator or dielectric are in contact then the two can hold opposing charges for several months.” – in a vacuum !!!!, but have you noticed how any static on the car disappears as soon as there is any humidity in the air !!!

Oh well, I think I’d better renew the Clove of Garlic I keep in the Engine Compartment – hey, don’t laugh, it works, I have proof – there is absolutely no rusting of painted metal surfaces on the car. But the biggest advantage of Garlic is its very cheap and it doesn’t drain the battery or need installation.

QUOTE...So make up your own mind...there are always experts with all the tech data but can still be wrong.

I have one on mine- The screws holding the thing on the car are rusted.... I have not noticed anything else rusted apart from some crappy screw heads though (most of these are insulated in plastic anyway so theres a good reason for the rust). I reckon it does make an improvement- My last car fell apart after I had it for 2 years because of the amount of beachwork I did- No such probs 1.5 years later on the new bus with the protection.

My 80 series LC is now about 11 years old and 260000kms in mud, dust and swims rivers up to the bonnet (cape york, Pascoe river, Mitchell river, Victorian high country,etc) but it has no rust to speak of with no rust protection gadgets at all.

I am very happy with it. The previous 60 series I owned was good also.

The brown and white one previous to that was however a rust factory and had to have new front guards etc put on to replace the cancer.

Alan

If some others are interested, why not chip in to buy a nominated electronic rust prevention unit and send it to the Australian Consumers Association for testing.

Maybe the maker/distributor could agree to refund the cost of the unit if it does not perform to expectation.

If it works it can still be installed on a vehicle. Bargain!

However the claims and report would have to be specific. No weasel words.

Just think,if its not going to work you want to know now, not some years down the track.