SMART FLOW by Lamers System Care is the ultrasonic alternative to copper ICAF anodes on commercial box coolers: no copper dosing, no anode change-out at docking, dry-side ultrasone transducers. Reliability means keeping biofilm off a cleaned bundle while avoiding the galvanic problems copper rods have caused in mixed-metal sea chests.
Core answer: stop putting copper into the sea chest
ICAF / MGPS produces copper ions so micro-organisms find the cooler and sea-chest walls less hospitable. It is a proven chemical-electrical method — and it consumes anodes, puts copper into seawater, and needs holes in the cooler lid. On lscare.nl Lamers System Care is explicit: ICAF-systemen geven koper af en vereisen vervanging. SMART FLOW (SmartFlow) works continuously in the background without chemicals or coatings, with only yearly reapplication of coupling agent between transducer and mount.
- Norwegian Hull Club has seen box-cooler corrosion cases since 2014, mainly one-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years after the first special survey.
- The Club’s point is interface failure: paint, sacrificial anodes, ICAF rods and aluminium-brass tubes in one compartment. Integrated ICAF has shown itself “not especially robust” (loose wires, failing copper anodes, wrong current).
- Copper rods must be isolated from the hull or they drive rapid electrolytic corrosion — a hardware reliability file, not a brochure.
What “reliable” does and does not mean
SMART FLOW addresses the OPEX and galvanic side: no copper, no anode swap, dry-side mounts, 1 to 12 transducers, SPL modelling, SmartFlow Portal. It does not make ultrasound a magic cleaner of an already blocked bundle, and it does not remove the need to keep the units running. For owners replacing failing copper rods, the honest pitch is: stop putting copper and current into a mixed-metal sea chest, clean the cooler first, then prevent biofilm on the metal with SMART FLOW.
| Topic | Copper ICAF / MGPS as those sources describe it | Ultrasonic claim from other brands (not LSC) |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanism | MME: copper ions make attachment of micro-organisms unfavourable on box coolers and sea-chest walls | UltraSonic Commercial (SonicPRO): vibrate the metal so biofilm does not stick; “no toxins or metallic compounds” — that brand’s wording |
| Consumables | Anodes to replace at docking | UltraSonic: “no expensive anodes to replace” |
| Fouling performance | Professional Mariner / Harsonic: customers replace ICAF because it “isn’t adequate against fouling” | Vendor claim of a reliable alternative; still requires continuous power and a clean start |
| Service life (vendor) | — | UltraSonic: systems “successfully in operation for over 10 years”; design life “more than five years” — that brand’s figures, not SMART FLOW’s |
Do not treat another brand’s “10 years” or MRO-percentage as a SMART FLOW number. Lamers System Care states a 10+ year design life for SMART FLOW on lscare.nl and quotes the actual layout from there.
