Do Electronic Rust Protection Work? ERPS Explainer Video 4
Channel: Erps Official
Date: 27/02/2019

Looking For A Quality Electronic Rust Protection System? Find your best-fit ERPS system here:

https://www.erps.com.au/find-your-system/

From our experience, electronic systems can be a very effective method for protecting against corrosion and this is why:

1. They protect the entire vehicle
2. Improve paintwork due to a reduction in oxidation
3. Self-Install
4. A one-time fit
5. No on-going maintenance time or costs
6. Last 10+ Years
7. Environmentally friendly
8. Transferable to your next vehicle

So as you can see, there are a number of positives to electronic systems. But, like sprays, they also come with limitations:

1. You can’t see them working
2. Don’t protect against surface rust
3. Often aren’t supported in theory 

Now before going any further, it’s important to clarify something here. Not all electronic systems are the same. If you’ve done any research or talked to people you know there are people who swear by electronic systems, and many who swear against them. 

The addition of a lot of these systems being taken off the market further ads to this debate. In order to get the full story, we want to explain both sides of the equation. 

Many electronic systems run on different technologies, are built differently and have varying results: 

The bottom line, is that some of these systems do work, and others do not.

There are currently three methods to slow rust using an electrical charge.

1. Cathodic Protection – Also known as sacrificial anode, which is mainly used on ships. 

2. Impressed current – Which are typically used for pipelines.

3. Capacitive Coupling – Which is used to prevent free-air structures, and what we use at ERPS.

Though cathodic and impressed current systems work, they require an aquatic or ground based environment and therefore are not capable of working on ‘free air’ structures, such as cars, buses, trucks or 4wd’s. 

So you’re probably wondering, what capacitive coupling is and why it’s different from the other forms of rust protection?

Capacitive coupling uses power derived from a system generator, to power a number of pads (known as couplers) around the vehicle. The couplers become charged and act as the positive plate of the capacitor, whilst the vehicle structure is induced to act as the negative side of the capacitor. 

The end result, is that this type of system does not require an aquatic base and is suitable for vehicles and other ‘free air structures’. The system then basically sends a negative charge through the entirety of the vehicle, which aims to stop the rusting process.

So, just to recap:
• Not all electronic rust protection systems work

• Cathodic & Impressed current, scientifically, aren’t supported to work on vehicles

• Capacitive coupling is the only form of rust protection suitable for vehicles