The "Dynaplate" is a trademarked product manufactured by the Guest
Corp. Dynaplate is a porous sintered bronze material. The porous
structure provides tremendous surface area for good electrical
contact with the water. I have the smallest size unit, about 6"
long x 2" wide x ½" thick. It comes with special gold plated
fasteners with a silver-based electrical contact paste. I mounted
the Dynaplate nearly amidships on the starboard side of the hull as
close as possible to the shoal draft keel. It is approximately right
below the main electrical switch panel on the rear cabin bulkhead.
I inset the Dynaplate about 1/8" into the hull with a router, epoxied
it in place, and then thru-bolted it up into the bilge area with the
two gold plated nuts, bolts, and washers. The thru-bolts are sealed
with polysulfone sealant. This installation technique makes it less
likely the Dynaplate will fall off in the event of a collision with a
submerged object or a problem when putting the boat onto the trailer.
The Dynaplate is pretty streamlined, so this insetting/epoxy step may
be overkill. Maybe I just worry too much! I connected the ground
bus on the boat's electrical system to the Dynaplate with #0
multi-strand copper wire with the terminals soldered to the wire and
connected to one of the gold plated thru-bolts. I was able to get
gold plated connectors from Radio Shack.
This system has been completely trouble free since installation in
1988.
You need to be careful to mask off the Dynaplate before you bottom
paint!
Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
