Shark Shield tester : CLOSED

Anyone know what is operating voltage on shark shield?

What do you mean by that?

Thank you Ernest!
Mine arrived yesterday and I just used it. My SS seems to working. I watched the video carefully; however, I did poke at the larger bulges first (did not work) then realized I just needed to touched the metal under the mesh and it tested great. I hope that does not hurt or open room for corrosion for what's inside. Just mentioning that so someone else does not do that. If anyone needs to test their SS, I am in Cloverdale and will bring with me on all my trips if anyone wants to try it out as Ernest mentioned. Thank you you again! Amazing that you figured how to make this device.
Best,
David

Thank you Ernest!
Mine arrived yesterday and I just used it. My SS seems to working. I watched the video carefully; however, I did poke at the larger bulges first (did not work) then realized I just needed to touched the metal under the mesh and it tested great. I hope that does not hurt or open room for corrosion for what's inside. Just mentioning that so someone else does not do that. If anyone needs to test their SS, I am in Cloverdale and will bring with me on all my trips if anyone wants to try it out as Ernest mentioned. Thank you you again! Amazing that you figured how to make this device.
Best,
David

I did put up a Q&A on where the electrodes are located. Feel free to tell me how to improve my wording to make it more clear to others.

Q) Where are the electrodes located?
A) One electrode is located about one foot from the head of the whip. The other electrode is located about one foot from the tail of the whip. They are both underneath the black plastic mesh covering the entire whip. If you pay attention, you will see the metallic color sections peeking through the black plastic mesh.

When I opened up the tester that I purchased from Ocean Guardian, it was obvious what the device was trying to do. Once I understood what it's trying to do, it's really not difficult to reproduce it without copying their design. It's just time consuming. I'm glad you find this tool useful. OC should really include one of these in every order of Shark Shield because it is so prone to failure (corrosion).

Is there a preventative measure you can take against the corrosion aside from rinsing? Or just a fact of SS life?

Is there a preventative measure you can take against the corrosion aside from rinsing? Or just a fact of SS life?

In trying to fix my SS, I discovered that the corrosion was more severe toward the whip. This suggests that the corrosion was traveled from the whip up, not from the plug that goes in to the enclosure. The fact that you have to dunk the whip into the salt for the SS to work, I don't think there's a way to prevent corrosion. I think it would help if you thoroughly sulk and clean the entire SS after every use, but once salt water has worked its way into the whip and up the wire, there's no way to undo that. I think it is just the luck of a draw whether your SS' wiring is properly waterproofed. I mentioned before that my SS went bad after having been used only 4-5 times over two years. I'm pretty anal about keeping my stuff cleaned after every trip. If my SS still got corroded with rigorous cleaning, I truly do not believe there's anything you can do to prevent the corrosion. Thorough cleaning just slows down that process.

I'll step up from rinsing to submerging at least the whole whip in clean water after use then, hopefully prevent it.  But yeah, corrosion isn't easily reversible by any means.

Would corrosion x help keep the whip from damage or hinder operation?

Perhaps soaking it in a Salt-away solution might help...

Think I'm actually seeing some corrosion on mine now that I looked in direct sunlight.

Would corrosion x help keep the whip from damage or hinder operation?

I don't think it would hurt the SS, but the problem is you don't know where to apply it. All it takes is one tiny spot in contact with salt water, and it would work its way up the whip to corrode the wire. If someone with a bad SS who's willing to donate it for science, I would dissect it entirely to see where's the weak point. Salt water is such a bitch, it would always find a way to destroy your equipment.

Think I'm actually seeing some corrosion on mine now that I looked in direct sunlight.

It is normal to see rusty stained color on the stainless steel mesh electrodes. It's the corrosion you can't see that's gonna eventually destroy the SS. The best way to know if your electrodes or their connected wires are corroded is by measuring the resistance between each electrode to the connector inside the enclosure. Check this article for instructions and resistance values to look for... http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=98940.msg1108360

Hey L13,

Thank you for doing this. As far as a freshwater soak goes, do you think chlorinated swimming pool water is OK? Also, is waiting 6-8 hours to soak a bad thing?  I'd hate to get only 4-5 uses out of a new SS.

I know nothing about the effect chlorine has on the equipment. I don’t think excessive sulk time is good either. Just flush and maybe sulk in fresh water for a few minutes, then hang dry. Clean and dry is best if you ask me.