Electronic Rust Prevention

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

My currently 8 year old prado's paint is like new with no rust protection.

Sorry hutch but using your reasoning I could claim my coffee table is great at keeping lions away as since I've had it I have not seen one lion.

This comment has not been written to offend, just point out MY view that car companies have gotten very good at getting many years out of their cars before rust sets in. Therefore, your car MAY look the same without it having the rust protection fitted in the first place, as I'm sure if I chucked out my coffee table I would not be attacked by a lion while watching the evening news.

Having said that each to their own using their own experience to make a choice. I have made mine.

I look at it like an insurance policy, I've had them fitted to my last 3 cars and have found them to at least keep the dark paint shiny as well as keeping rust at bay. I regularly do beach driving and believe that the electronic protection does what it is supposed top do, mind you I do clean my vehicle when I get off the beach.

Robbo your statement about the coffee table would only be true if you took the table to a lion population or lions frequently walked in he vicinity of your coffee table and your table actually kept lions away.

Hutch does take his car on the beach regularly and I have seen his cars and can vouch for their condition. Do you take your vehicle on the beach regularly and subject it to sand and salt? What colour paint is your vehicle compared to Hutch as oxidisation affects different colours.

And if you do take your car on the beach with 'no rust protection' doesn't seem smart to me. Do you drive your vehicle on the road without comprehensive motor vehicle insurance?

Like I said anything that helps stop the effects of rust is worth it to me. I have had great results from the products available. My pick is the Couplertec.

Paul

[frederick Member Find all posts View Profile Close frederick]

Gidday all, sorry to digress somewhat but years ago we had a shorty landy we used primarily for beach and mud flat work so this was always subject to rust therefore we decided to do the following as rust apparently starts from the inside of the chassis anyway. Remember these were the days that 4WD had aluminium panels, we would weld up the gaps in the chassis then pump 10 gallons of waste oil in and leave it to sloosh around.
On the way home from the mudflat we would fresh water power wash the vehicle down as well.
I saw this vehicle recently some thirty years after we had used it on the mudflats and it appeared to still be in reasonably condition.
Regarding electronic rust protection, i was looking at updating my D4D recently and the prado i was looking at a 2008 GXL petrol at Motorama had the majic rust protection box screwed on the firewall so they are out there.

[croozza Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close croozza]

As an ex mechanic, I saw all sorts if thear things fitted to cars. We did fit them for a short period but stopped as we felt we were ripping people off.

In my opinion they are a scam and have seen rust appear and grow on regular customers cars that had them fitted, no better or wose than cars that do not have these things fitted.

On a few I have even seen rust appearing around the screws that hold the unit to car. So if it is not working in such close proximity to the unit I can not see how it is going to protect the rest of the car.

So... Based on what I have observed they are in the scam basket with hyclones, and Brocky's Polarizer thing from the 80's

Ben

ERPS is one of the best systems on the market, I have fitted many of them, and infact you do not screw the coupleler to the vehicle, they only stick on, for any 4wd, you must have a 6 coupleler system as a minimum, if you do beach driving, you need an 8 system. They do work if you install them correctly, I would say by your comments thet you did not have the knowledge to correctly sell or install them.

[Sako85 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sako85]

ERPS is one of the best systems on the market, I have fitted many of them, and infact you do not screw the coupleler to the vehicle, they only stick on, for any 4wd, you must have a 6 coupleler system as a minimum, if you do beach driving, you need an 8 system. They do work if you install them correctly, I would say by your comments thet you did not have the knowledge to correctly sell or install them.

Here we go!

Firstly I did not say I screwed them to the vehicle, I was simply stating that I have seen them screwed to the vehicle. In fact, quite a few brands of units I saw were either screwed or rivited to the vehicle.

I did not bother learning about the system as I had no passion in the product and felt it was a rip off, as did the owner of the workshop, hence dropping them after a shot period. I did read the marketing drivel as it seems you have; however I do not believe all I read.

I based my post on what I personally observed over the years, of regular customers cars coming back for service/repairs with many different systems fitted. Mostly the ERPS units as they must have the largest marketing budget out of the lot.

Also I did not and would not sell them. When I fitted them, I fitted them as per the supplied instructions. I am not going to mention the brand but there was only one unit on the car. I am well aware some brands have multiple units, and they did not seem to make much difference where it counts.

[jimmy91 Member Find all posts View Profile Close jimmy91]

I'll buy it for peace of mind before my next beach trip. What are some popular brands?

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

I'll buy it for peace of mind before my next beach trip. What are some popular brands?

Couplertec are in my opinion the best on the market.

[Strider Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strider]

ERPS is another quality unit.

[Rogerthatv2 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Rogerthatv2]

ERPS or Couplertec, you cannot go wrong. They were once the same company until the split. ERPS uses a daisy chain system, 1 pad / coupler fails or broken wire and the whole system fails whereas Couplertec use a separate feed for each coupler. I personally have an ERPS 6 Coupler system however the CouplerTec HD 4 pad system was also high on my list.

Stay away from the Toyota 'genuine' motorone (old Ming) single sacrificial anode system, biggest piece of crap on the market and not worth the money you pay for it, snake oil is the first thought to mind. And no, Toyota do not warrant it and neither does Motorone...

Remember the old saying 'The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten'

Cheers Daniel

[Gerard9977 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Gerard9977]

I have had no experience with these things but I was listening to the radio driving along day and they had a panel of Sciences guy answering questions. This topic came up and they all totally wrote if off as a made up scam! Apparently there are no creditable papers on the success of the units working on cars, the reason, because it doesn’t!!!! Wharves and stuff that is submerged etc. there is some improvement but only when the thing has been built and designed for a rust system. Convinced me anyway, I wouldn’t get one.

G.

[Brains Find all posts View Profile Close Brains]

I have had no experience with these things but I was listening to the radio driving along day and they had a panel of Sciences guy answering questions. This topic came up and they all totally wrote if off as a made up scam! Apparently there are no creditable papers on the success of the units working on cars, the reason, because it doesn’t!!!! Wharves and stuff that is submerged etc. there is some improvement but only when the thing has been built and designed for a rust system. Convinced me anyway, I wouldn’t get one.

G.

Seems that there are a lot of Mining, Government and businesses wasting their money if that was the case!!

[Ozpat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ozpat]

Stay away from the Toyota 'genuine' motorone (old Ming) single sacrificial anode system, biggest piece of crap on the market and not worth the money you pay for it, snake oil is the first thought to mind. And no, Toyota do not warrant it and neither does Motorone...
Cheers Daniel

I got one of these units from Toyota with new car with one pad. Then some time later at a show the Couplertech guy told me the same thing so I bought one of his units with two pads. He said it was alright to leave the original pad on the Prado (on firewall) and just connect it to the Couplertech and put the second pad down back. He also told me to just stick the old one on missus Mazda2 (with the spare Couplertech pad) and it would be fine. So although he said the Toyota one was a load of crap it was OK to run their pad off his unit and vice versa. Makes you wonder.

Cheers Jim.

[Rogerthatv2 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Rogerthatv2]

It would depend if it was an alloy strip with a screw in or if it was a stick on pad like the couplertec uses, if it was a stick on type it should be fine (I still wouldnt) however if it was the sacrificial one not a chance.

How motorone / Toyota think that a single pad could get enough current through a Prado or 200 is beyond me...

Cheers Daniel

I got one of these units from Toyota with new car with one pad. Then some time later at a show the Couplertech guy told me the same thing so I bought one of his units with two pads. He said it was alright to leave the original pad on the Prado (on firewall) and just connect it to the Couplertech and put the second pad down back. He also told me to just stick the old one on missus Mazda2 (with the spare Couplertech pad) and it would be fine. So although he said the Toyota one was a load of crap it was OK to run their pad off his unit and vice versa. Makes you wonder.

Cheers Jim.

[brogers Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close brogers]

No matter which electic rust device you decide, remember, whilst in normal conditions it draws just a small current, if there is a short circuit, you MUST have an in-line fuse in the wire connecting to the positive battery terminal, or else, as per a post in another thread, you can catch your car on fire....and no one will want to know you...not the dealer, not the installer, certainly not rust device manufacturer, and if you installed it yourself , not your insurance company either.....its not worth the risk if there is no "in-line" fuse (as with anything connected to your battery)

The car fire caused by an electromic rust device that shorted (and was "professionally" installed at time of purchase) has been reported to several national bodies, including the ACCC, and choice maganzine asking them to lobby for a recall of devices not installed in accordance with recommended vehicle electrical installations, and vehicle maufacturer requirements ...ie, have an in-line fuse ...or burn baby burn! In fact we'll never have one again in our family,,,seriously, you want to runa small current continually through your car 24/7....the family could not sleep at night knowing that last time the car caught fire in the driveway, with the engine off and keys in the house!....."hey mum, look at the smoke...what the...the cars on fiiiiRrrrrrr"...(scream, yell, panic, 000...then calm neighbour with garden hose came to the rescue.....and we were told by insurance assessor if he had used the dry powder extinguisher we had, it would have written off the car totally as it is NOT repairable after the wiring loom and engine bay is exposed to dry chemical powder...seriously! well, thats one way to get rid of rust I suppose.

[Strider Member Find all posts View Profile Close Strider]

Like others have said, get a reputable unit fitted by a reputable dealer and you have no extra risk. My ERPS is fitted with an inline fuse, as are ALL my other devices.

Regards
Alan

[avj Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close avj]

Just a question for people with ERP and those without. How long do people wait to wash their cars after driving on the beach? Second question for people with ERP, would you wash your car less thoroughly because you have it installed on your car or do you wash it the same as if you did not have it installed?