Archive

Sep 10, 2026

The Wrong Shunt Reads Zero

Article 0077 — A test station shunt has a ceiling and a floor. The amp rating is the ceiling. Your meter's last digit is the floor. Pick the shunt for the current you expect, or a healthy anode bank will read 0.0 mV.

Aug 19, 2026

Hydrogen Embrittlement: The One Thing Cathodic Protection Makes Worse

Article 0076 — The number I gave our crews for years was right. The reason I gave for it was wrong, and the difference matters more than I expected.

Aug 4, 2026

Remote Earth Is Not a Distance

Article 0074 — It is a condition, not a number of feet. You find it with a voltmeter, it moves with the current crossing the pipe, and the place it hides is the one place you most need it.

Jul 26, 2026

The Galvanic Series Is Not a Law

Article 0073 The series is a measurement, not a ranking handed down from chemistry. The version most of us memorized was built in seawater, the soil version reads differently, and on the soil version steel appears four separate times.

Jul 20, 2026

Field Calibration: Making Sure Your Inspection Equipment Is Telling the Truth

Article 0072 A calibration sticker proves the instrument, not the reading. How to field-verify your DFT, profile, durometer, and holiday gages before you trust the numbers.

Jul 6, 2026

DC Interference vs. DC Influence: Know the Difference Before You Bond

Article 0071 A foreign CP system can shift your readings without exchanging any current with your pipe. Interference damages steel; influence damages data. Test before you bond.

Jun 27, 2026

Internal Corrosion: The Sample Won't Wait

Article 0070 Field Kits vs. Lab Analysis in the Race Against Chemistry Change

Jun 18, 2026

CP Shielding: When the Coating Protects the Corrosion

Article 0069 A disbonded coating can wall off the very steel it was meant to protect.

Jun 10, 2026

Oxidation Does Not Mean Oxygen

Article 0068 Where OIL RIG came from, why the names mislead, and the trap that catches good techs.

Jun 3, 2026

The Honest Holiday

Article 0067 Your potential tells a story. An external corrosion coupon tells the truth.

Jun 1, 2026

Backfill Damage

Article 0066 Protecting the Coating After Inspection is Done

May 29, 2026

Mixed Metal Potentials

Article 0065 When the voltmeter reads protection but the steel is still corroding — and how the composite reading hides what's actually happening at the pipe.