ELECTRONIC RUST PROTECTION

Rust can take an expensive toll on equipment. Sprayed-on rust-proofing

coatings inhibit rust, but can fail if bare metal is exposed to give corrosion a
place to start. Also it is impossible to coat every seam, spot-welded joint, bolt
and screw.

CounterAct CPR (Corrosion Protection Resources) has developed a

corrosion protection process called "capacitive coupling" for protection not
provided by coatings. Basically, CounterAct's Electrostatic Corrosion
Protection System delivers a small, negative electrostatic surface charge to all
the commonly grounded metal surfaces including crevices and hidden areas.

While CounterAct is not 100% effective in stopping rust it can significantly

slow the process. Independent laboratory testing has shown CounterAct's
process can reduce rust and corrosion by over 80%. It is not only for new
equipment, usually the case for coatings, it can be used on old items even
when corrosion has started.
I was initially skeptical. Was this a serious product that works or gadget to
fetch a quick buck? What caught my attention was that the technique has a
15-year history of successful applications with some very serious corrosion
problems like brine harvesting trucks on Utah's Great Salt Lake, snowplowing
and salting of roads in Iowa, and protecting surf equipment on beaches in
Australia. The company expects to have FAA approval for use on airliners in
the near future.

CounterAct's electronic rust prevention technology is based on the

principle that corrosion is an electrochemical reaction and thus it can be
controlled electronically. Iron and oxygen have chemically opposite charges
and therefore seek to combine to form rust since opposites attract. The faster
that iron combines with oxygen, the faster the deterioration. Metal bodies tend
to have a positive electrical charge in an area where rust is occurring.

CounterAct's capacitive coupling process induces a negative surface

charge on the metal body and polarizes the microscopic layers of electrical
charges that occur along a corroding metal surface. This makes it very difficult
for the opposite charges of iron and oxygen to connect as they have to battle
with these polarized layers of charges. This negative surface charge and its
corresponding polarized charge layers reduces the rate at which the iron and
oxygen combine resulting in a reduction in the rate corrosion occurs.

CounterAct's system consists of three primary components: (1) Power

Supply and Control Module, (2) Removable Modular Wiring Harness and (3)
Programmed Capacitive Couplers.

The small pulsed, 12 or 24-volt DC power supply delivers the right amount
of current to the capacitive couplers to generate an electrostatic field of proper
strength to reduce ion mobility, the basis of the corrosion process. The
removable modular wiring harness allows easy access to the power
supply/control module for inspection or easy transfer of the system to another
vehicle.

The programmed capacitive couplers are attached to the protected metal

surface with aircraft grade, peel-and-stick adhesive. The coupler is a small
flexible square with a thin copper plate separated from the body by an
insulator and separated from the moisture layer on the body by an epoxy
coating. When charged by the power supply/control module, the coupler
functions like the positive half of a capacitor inducing a specific limited range
of negative electrostatic surface charge via capacitive coupling. The metal
body serves as the negative half of a capacitor. More than one coupler is
required on larger trucks and equipment.

While a high voltage of about 400 V is used, the current drawn is less than
50 milliamps, less than a typical digital clock, and so there is no chance of
electrical shock.

It does not interfere with computers, radios and other electronic equipment.
The power supply and control module features solid-state circuitry embedded
in electronics grade epoxy encapsulant for long life and durability in any
climate.

While CounterAct's electrostatic corrosion control technology can, in a

general sense, is associated with the family of traditional electronic
rustproofing or corrosion proofing methods, the technology should not be
confused with conventional "impressed current cathodic protection" or "anodic
protection " commonly used for corrosion control on underground tanks,
pipelines and other buried and submerged structures . While used for over
half a century, these techniques works well in their environments but cannot
prevent corrosion in open air because of lack of sufficiently conductive
medium to carry the protective current to the structure to be protected.
CounterAct technology actually begins where traditional electronic
rustproofing methods leave off. The CounterAct electrostatic corrosion
protection sets itself apart from these more traditional forms of electronic
rustproofing because it was designed from the outset to solve open-air
corrosion problems.