Seven Months later!
Here is what happened visually. The steel wool pad isolated from the car body looked to be in better shape while the pad directly connected to the body looked positively rusty.
BUT when these two pads were weighed the isolated pad was heavier.
What this means: The isolated pad (attached with plastic bolt) rusted more. (There were more oxygen molecules attached to the iron thus making the pad heavier.)
Conclusion: (Much to my amazement) The electronic rustproofing device did inhibit rust, but only slightly.
Other observations. The car seemed to continue to rust as there was a small rust spot next to the rear window in November which has grown larger over the past six months. The difference in weight between the two pads was minor and could have been due to other factors such as dirt or the location of the pads under the vehicle (One pad was mounted a bit higher up due to space restrictions.)
My opinion: All in all the electronic rustproofing is an expensive option with little observable impact. But it may have had some effect in reducing rust.

So I wrote to Counteractrust.com and they replied with the following:


Without any knowledge of the correctness of the installation it is difficult to properly comment on this. From the photos one cannot say if the device is properly installed.
From the one photo of the device I would say that the installation was not the "cleanest"
in that extra loops of wire were left rather than the wire being cut to size as one of our trained installation agents might do. That being said there is absolutely nothing wrong with having extra wire,as far as performance it just makes for a better install and less chance of accidental damage when the wire is out of the way.
We receive e-mails like this all the time. Most of the time it shows where the phrase "don't try this at home came from!"
In this case I would first say that the fellow doing the test is obviously intelligent and articulate and has taken some pains within the limitations of such a "test" to follow the scientific method.
I will refer this to our genuine tech people but off the top of my head from years of dealing with this product I would offer the following comments.
1.Steel wool was a poor choice for the test in that the device produces a uniform polarity surface charge. thus every fiber would have a negative surface charge and the charge on the fibers in such close proximity would tend to interfere with one another (remember likes repel) a flat piece of metal would be better
2.Using even a plastic bolt or screw to attach the one sample permits the possibility of electronic bridging through salts, conductive elements etc so that there is no guarantee that the second sample is isolated from the vehicle
3.We or our sales agents often perform a similar test using automotive grade steel coupons. A single piece of automotive steel panel is grooved in the center. Each half is then drilled in the half''s center.
When testing, the piece is snapped in half so that each piece is relatively uniform. One piece is attached to the vehicle with a metal screw or bolt though the drilled hole. The other is attached in close proximity via a nylon wire tie. As the tie is not fixed to the body it serves to largely preclude salt bridging except in the most extreme conditions.
I will see if some of our tech people can provide you with better input
ND

This is very encouraging and may even lead to another experiment!

This is an experiment to see how well the COUNTERACTRUST device works. See below for full details of the experimental method.

Here are some early observations:

Here are some pictures taken five days after first installing the steel wool pads.

The experiment was started on September 27, 2006.
These pictures were taken 2 October, 2006.

So far I can see no difference between the two pads. Both are rusty! Spotted rust visible on these pics.

I purchased an electronic rustproofing device called "Counteractrust" from Canadian Tire which had them on sale at $199.00
You can see there website at www.counteractrust.com
The website has various companies extolling the benefits of this system.
I dislike the oily residue left by undercoating and thought this would be a great system - if it worked?????????????????? The picture above shows the device as installed in the 1997 VW Golf. The white pad is the Anhode which connects to the black box but sits against the metal of the car glued on with aircraft quality adhesive.

With the small amount of physics in my background I cannot see how such a small capacitance plate (9 square inches) can make a difference to a whole car, which I assume from the device set up, is acting as the other plate of a capacitor. The black box is powered by the car battery and is said to draw only as much current as a digital clock.

Installation was fairly simple requiring only that the car have a clean surface for attachment of the plate and the device. There is a flashing LED on the box to tell you that the device is working.

The guarantee is 5 years but only if the device is installed and checked every year by CTC.

Experiment:
OK so I wanted to see if the rustproofing box that I installed in my vehicle would make any difference to rust.
I decided to attach two steel wool pads to the vehicle (a 1997 VW Golf which is already a bit rusty).
I weighed two coarse steel wool pads on a comparison scale.

I pierced the pads and installed a steel bolt through one and a plastic bolt through the other.

These pads were then attached to the VW near the back and under the car, just above the tow hitch.

I photographed the pads installed.

The pad above is attached with a steel bolt and tested for ground on the car body.

The pad below is attached with a plastic bolt and isolated from the car body. It is on a lexan plastic plate to ensure no electrical connection with the car.

My theory is that the pad which is grounded to the car should have a measure of rust protection from the Counteractrust device since it is essentially a part of the car.

Thus I expect that one pad should rust faster than the other. They are mounted on the car in fairly close proximity to avoid a "location difference".

Comments are welcome.