Sustainability seems to be the latest catch phrase and with that comes cathodic protection. What better way to preserve and maintain our infrastructure than to mitigate corrosion. Some cathodic protection systems are comprised of sacrificial anodes that naturally corrode in order to provide protective currents, but others require a power source in order to make the anodes corrode. These systems use rectifiers and rectifiers can breakdown. A well maintained rectifier provides uninterrupted cathodic protection, reduces repair costs and labor/technician time. This paper discusses the fundamentals of rectifier operation along with maintenance recommendations. Sometimes simple routine maintenance can keep a rectifier in operation for years without a single repair. Sometimes a nearby lightning strike can short a diode or trip a breaker. The maintenance discussed will cover everything from rectifier cleaning to swapping out a stack.
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