HPORT

Insaneddie, There's not a whole lot to a Downrigger, especially the Mag10. Like they said, check the connections to the boat, make sure you have good battery voltage to the connections first, if they are good, take the screws out of the side cover and check the switch and breaker. If you have a volt meter you can check for voltage drop, but it is pretty obvious when you find a corroded connection or a switch that is falling apart. I'm in the same position right now with my Mag 10's, they are still good but a little slow on the 14's, so I'm looking to upgrade. John

We use 47LC's spooled with 50lb Power Pro for the main line, on Keuka. We also use 309's, since the bottom is the most productive on Keuka, we let out line till it bouces and call it good. 10' spacing with 8' leaders. 3 to 5 spoons depending on where the fish are. We use the 47LC to let us know how deep we are. John

Lew, No question about it, Type I for everyone aboard. Type II will suffice in most situations and smaller inland lakes, but Type I will work in all situations. Type III should be used for inland recreational sports . Non swimmers get I or II while underway, III when drifting or at anchor in calm water durning the day. Don't forget the whistles and lights..... John

It must be common with all 225's, mine is very touchy. When I first got the boat and sorting it out, I found out that the PO or factory had wired the tabs backwards. That really threw me a curve when trying to figure-out the tabs while underway. I use very little tab to make adjustments. 99% of the time I run with them all the way up. If the tabs were half as long, they might be a little easier to use. On a similar subject ( 225) have you guys thought about running a 4 blade prop to help with the low speed wagging? That is the only nagging thing with my 225, on plane it's fine. The more I run the boat the more I get used to it, but any improvement would help when running with the AP on. John

PM Sent...

Dave, I would have jumped at your offer, but have work commitments till the end of the month. I think its great that you guys offer, it's a great way to see how others fish. Have you plotted courses on the GPS for the AP to follow yet? My exhaust manifolds finally arrived, so the engine in my 225 is back together. Plan to drop it in the water Sunday morning and sort it out. Hope to be fishing before too long. John

A word of caution when using power washers to clean your boats... If you have stress cracks in the shell of a cored deck, water will get forced into the core. Do not force water into molding where two fiberglass parts coming together ( hardtops, rubrails, etc...) Those of you with boats that have covered wood decks and supports, use care not to dig into the wood. It will open pores in the wood. It will also get under the covering and slowly kill your plywood deck. As Chowder pointed out, they will removed boot stripes and anything else that cannot withstand 1000+ psi. I typically use a degreaser without diluting, wait 15 minutes, scrub the stains with the wife's best sink brush, then use the pressure washer with a fan spray. Never a spot spray. Remove or cover anything you hold dear and near, combing pads, switch boots, hoses, transducers, stickers, etc... oh yeah....fingers wear a pair of mechanics gloves. Those who are smirking know where I'm coming from. John

If you boat is like mine, I keep a spotless bilge and engine, the oil and the slight amount of fuel in it is very easily noticed, my oil has a slight fuel smell, and its normal. Just make sure the T-stat is maintaining 160-180F and you change the oil regularly. If you change the oil when warm / hot, you will not notice it as much... John

I use 20A 240V 1ph duplex recepticles, one on each side of the transom, tucked just under the combing to run 4 downriggers. They have waterproof boxes and covers. The 90 degree blade and ground help keep from reversing polarity. The 10ga wiring runs to a fused distribution panel located in the center of the transom. The main feed line to the battery is 6ga and only 4' long. You can also get electric trolling motor disconnects. They are rated in the range you are looking at. John

Installed a new steering cable and helm...did the cable move freely before you connected the power assist end? Did you pull the pin that connects the power assist to the outdrive steering arm? Pulling the pin will allow you to see if the drive swings freely. And you can see if the effort is reduced in the helm when turning the wheel. If the effort is still the same and the drive swings freely...and your cable at the assist connection moves freely when its disconnected from the power assist unit...its a problem with the power assist unit and or linkage. Some unit need to be positioned just right or they will bind. The have a few beers method works very well, I burned through a case of Yuengling last month working through a problem on the boat. John

Refridgerator or cooler? Wow, there are allot of options on line, you could not find anything to fit? Defender, West Marine just to name two. Call your boat manufacture to see what they recommend. John

Would a board across the back work? The DR would still be on the sides ( end of the board), but you would have a board across the back of the boat to distrubute the force. Granted you will still have to remove the foam to bolt the board down, but you will have more room and stronger mounts. You could use 3x6" aluminum box tubing instead of wood.

Cooler on the platform and or more ice would be an easier way out. Floor boxes are usually better for gear then fish, I have 3 floor boxes, one is insulated and under the hardtop, which makes a great place to store cold drinks and food. The other 2 are in the cockpit and I store DR weights and extra lines, etc... If you go with the low expanding foam, and I would assume your box has a lip that holds it up off the bottom, so you would need to spray the box with PAM cooking spray, then spray the bottom and sides of the floor with foam where the box goes, then press the box into the hole and hold it down for 10-15 minutes. I would make sure you do not block off stringer / rib drain holes or make it so you can not get to other equipment if the need ever arrises. If you have a large lip on the box, you could spray the box itself and trim the excess so it will fit back in the hole. I would apply bedliner coating to the foam before I was done to prevent wearing of the foam if you pull the boxes to haul fish off the boat.

$69 for 3000 yards of Power Pro? Where???

dbutts, Look at my posts above for the website where I purchased my AP. Just do a search, but like you said customer service is important. Try some of the guys on LOU, they may have units now. When I was looking last year they were few a far between. The helm is most likely a rotary and the cable will mate right to the AP-14R without adapters. For questions about the 225, call TJ or visit his website at http://www.pennyanboats.com/ TJ and his family owned the Penn Yan Boat Company and were the designers of the boat you have. He is really a cool person to talk to, amazing details of why and how they built these boats. John

Jim, We have a full season on an new AP-14R and love it. Love the wife too... I could fish without her, but not without the AP. You may want to think about spending the few extra bucks for the 14 and get the heading display. It's good conformation and it also tells you what mode it's in. Like Pete said, you will need 10-11" of room for the motor. I posted a few pictures of my install, do a search this topic is well discussed. I highly recommend wiring a GPS to it. John

I'm in need of a standard rotation 5.0 or 5.7L Vortec Merc Cruiser engine for a 1999 225 PY. Short block to a complete drop in, with very low hours. The 5.0L we have froze when the shop heat failed yesterday, cracking both sides of the block badly. If anyone knows of a good source for rebuilt or used with low hours it would be greatly appreciated. The shop heat is fixed. John

Sent you a PM on the Cannon's John

Look at the post " Simrad AP12R Autopilot" Towards the end I posted a few pictures of my installation on a PY225 If the 245 has a rotary helm, your all set. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=14807&hilit=Simrad+AP12R+Autopilot

OK, I'll bite... Why is electric over hydraulic a bad idea? I have had electric and air on my deck trailers, they both work great. My boat trailer has surge and it seems to me at least, the electric over option would give me what I'm looking for.

I'm looking to replace my surge actuator with an electric over hydraulic unit, eventually. This will give the best of both worlds, electric actuation with break away protection and hydraulic brakes on the trailer. I trailer in the hills and going down steep grades into the Finger Lakes has its share of problems with surge brakes. The unit is pricey, but fits my particular needs better and is legal in all 50 states. A complete 6600lb hydraulic drum brake system from most trailer suppliers will run you about $400 for a single axle and $ 650 for dual axle brakes.

Well....it depends who you ask. The current Ethanol blends are various gasoline and ethyl alcohol combinations ( E10, E22, E85, E100, etc...) Ethyl alcohol is an excellent solvent and is hygroscopic (adsorbs water). Acting as a solvent, ethanol can damage the sealants used on older fiberglass fuel tanks, fuel system seals and gaskets. The dissolved sealants can be ingested by the engine which can cause damage and fuel leaking from a tank into the bilge is a fire hazard. Fuel tanks built of other materials are not immune to having a problem. Ethanol has a cleaning effect on tanks that releases fine metallic particles which will pass through most fuel filters. The dissolved metals will clog fuel injector nozzles and carburetors. Ethanol added to a fuel tank contaminated with water will cause expensive repairs. The water in the tank will combine with the ethyl alcohol to produce a noncombustible layer of liquid in the tanks that is heavier then the fuel itself, and the pick-up for the fuel system being located in the bottom of the tank usually results in the engine quitting. A complete tank cleaning is required to repair this situation. I have done a few repairs caused by this exact issue, so its real. Ethanol is corrosive, by nature of its manufacturing process. There are many documents with the same finds, ethanol has caused fuel pump failures from corrosion. See one below for example. "Catastrophic failures of fuel pumps used to transport ethanol have occurred in various facilities. Failures occurred in as little as 50 hours on pumps with a 2000-hour life expectancy. Post-failure inspection of the pumps showed corrosive pitting of the metal in the areas of sliding contact. Several potential causes, including cavitation, thermal expansion of pump parts, and fuel contaminants such as acetic acid were ruled out. Fuel samples from facilities with high pump failure rates passed all D 4806 specification tests for fuel-grade ethanol, including titratable acid by D 1613. However, pH readings as low as 2.0 indicated potentially corrosive fuels. Controlled tests on pumps and corrosion tests showed that pump failures correlated with fuel pH. Corrosive fuels were found to contain ethyl sulfate, which correlated with fuel pH. It appears that ethyl sulfate originates from sulfur dioxide, which is used as an antioxidant and antiseptic in the production of ethanol. The observed wear and/or other deterioration mechanisms were mainly due to the abrasion and corrosion. The tests showed that abrasion mechanisms were more pronounced in the E22 fuel and the corrosion mechanisms were more damaging in the E60 and E100 fuels. The fuel pumps gears lubrication regime was calculated and the tested fuels lubricities were also measured."

Bob, I too have an older 16' Starcraft ( 1973) with a 50HP Merc. When we rebuilt the boat about 7 years ago, we purchased a complete steering kit for about the cost of just the cable from some places. West Marine, Overton's if I remember right. Just get the length off the old cable and the motor end type you need and you're all set. John

My accountant likes to do the same thing, swim, read, sun bathing, anything but fish. But that doesn't bother me as long as she can do it at 2.0MPH and knows where the net is...

Roy, Good question on the lack of power assist. I would call Navico to verify, or better yet, call John at Technical Marine Support. This is where at purchased my unit. http://shop.technicalmarine.com/pages/contact/ I would have to say there must be someone on LOU that's done this??? My question to you would be; can the kicker maintain a course with any kind of wind or current? If you need minor course corrections it should be fine, but if it's trying to over compensate all the time, you may not be happy with it. I run just the main engine at idle, 1.9 - 2MPH is the best I can do. I'm going to look into a trolling plate, socks or the 2 old 5 gallon buckets I have for my smaller boat. I would like to get down to 1.5MPH to have a better range of trolling speeds. The AP14R is much quieter then the Raymarine units, its quit enough you don't pay much attention to it after awhile. If you can sleep in the V-berth without an AP, you can sleep with the AP14 too... John