Looking to do some saltwater stuff.

The hull is wired so the grounds go through the hull not directly to the battery. Does anybody have any experience with this and whether adding a zinc to the trim tab on the transom will even help considering the current I'm flowing through the hull?

I have plastic bunks on the trailer. I will replace any screws in the hull with SS rather and galvanized.

If I just need to stay out of saltwater then so be it, but we really want to use my boat in the flats that are real shallow.

You should run individual grounds anyway. Aluminum is not a good conductor. Adding saltwater to the equation is only going to make it worse.

Run my boats in salt and fresh and back and forth all the time. No problems.

Just wash good with a water hose after each use.

You aren't putting these boats in the dead sea or anything.

Your hull is grounded regardless unless you isolate the mount to the hull. The engine is bolted to frame and frame is bolted to hull. The battery ground bolts to engine, so therefore you see where I am going.

If you run independent grounds, it's not really using the hull to carry any electricity though. Your accessories wouldn't be using the hull to pull power through, so electrolysis shouldn't be much of an issue. Technically, the hull is grounded still because of the transom mount, but it's not carrying any current.

Electrolysis is not your friend. It also surface's as bi-metallic corrosion(that creepy creeping) white looking flaking were two different metals contact each other). Zinc's and grounding help. So does water proofing contact points and wire ends. If you decide to ground with a wire or strap solid wire not stranded is better(stranded wicks water up inside insulation).
Good fresh water wash down after every salt water use helps a lot also.

In reality I only am going to go to the coast a few times, 95% of my use will be fresh water. I will rinse every nook and cranny after it comes out too.

In hindsight I probably should have run separate grounds. Everything works great so I rather not change that.
If I start going to the coast more with it though, then I may change it.

I think that I will try to add zinc's. I'm gonna put 2 on the trim tab on the transom and one on the motor. On the motor I was thinking the skeg would be the best but I'm sure if that will cause in problems with water flow. Has anyone put one on a Gatortail? Where did you put it?

Fuking Rookies!!Never ground to hull

Yea well it's the first boat I have built and I'm more used to the automotive world...so yea I'm a rookie, live and learn

Don't mind jimmy. He has tourette's.

So for anyone that may have experience with this... if I run a conductor from the front to the back and have ground bars at the ends and in the middle for the console and tie all my grounds to that (so it would be grounded to the hull but current should take the path of least resistance, the conductor) would this still cause me corrosion issues within the hull or would I need to completely isolate the ground bars from the hull? What do the manufacturers of aluminum bay boats and such do (like xpress)? Cause those boat surely have extra protection from corrosion..

That would work, it would be something similar to what the Navy does to slow and prevent corrosion. To get an ideal how corrosion is actually going a zinc anode that is outside the hull and in contact with the water will give you a visual. Common ground to battery is good, then grounded to zinc - better. Now all this being said Navy ships are is salt water all of their lives, there are several anodes thru out the hull, changed when they are down to a certain size. Going that far with anti corrosion is not necessary for a small aluminum boat. But it doesn't hurt either. Good fresh water wash down is the best preventive. Aluminum when corroding will leave pits with a white powdery looking dust. Vinegar and a good primer and/or paint stops it. Where 2 unlike metals are in contact are usually where it happens first.
Overall the amount of corrosion you will get in your use will be almost nil. Yeah I know I went way to far on this, but I couldn't stop myself. The meds were wearing off this morning.

^i agree

A ground bus will take the current carrying demand off the hull and move it to the wire. Probably not 100% necessary but definitely a better way to go, imo. I never like to use aluminum as a chassis ground.

Good deal. Thanks for the info. Well maybe if I do all of the above I'll be erring on the side of caution.

Just make sure if you run a single ground wire to a bus, that the wire you use is large enough to carry the current demands of ALL of the accessories on that circuit. Can't run just one little 14 gauge wire to power all your devices.

Yea most definently! I have some 4 or 6 gauge I was running for the battery wires.

Electrolysis happens to aluminum REGARDLESS of what type of water, or how much it is in it. It will happen to aluminum wheels on a car, and it happens to your lower units on an outboard. Now the SEVERITY of the electrolysis is dependent on these factors. Two dis-similar metals will cause it also. If it is a concern to you, then sacrificial anodes (zincs) attached to your hull will be adequate to prevent critical electrolysis.

Ok... I bought the stuff I need to redo my grounding system. I know the motor will make a ground to the hull but is there any reason I should ground the hull to one of my ground bars?

And on the zinc's, what type are yall using on the hull if you have one? (zinc, aluminun, magnesium)? This is for 95% fresh water with the occasional dip in salt water. I actually leaning toward just fixing the grounds and not adding a zinc due to my limited time expected in salt water. I just rinse real good after I pull it out. My bunks are plastic.

Personally I would not worried about installing zincs, they are better used if your boat was going to be left in water and not pulled out after the use or weekend adventures. I don't have any and I leave mine in the water for sometimes a week at a time.

Ok, I agree. I'm just going to fix the ground and roll with it.