Wiring downrigger best practices

[tannero]

Hi guys. Just bought a boat and want to wire up my riggers. Any suggestions on technique? Boat has two battery with switch. Nice neat wiring so far. Appears to be some sort of wiring block on transom but think its alreadt used up for accesories. Mercruser i/o wiring. Im thinking i want to go direct to battery. Want to limit wires direct connected. Maybe a large wire to feed another wiring block ( not sure wherevto get). Maybe put a switch to ensure riggers dont draw when not using. Scottys if it helps. Will order the quick connectors. I have two riggers now. May run more in future whichnis why im leaning toward some sort of wiring block if i can find one

Thx fir any advice guys!

[Legacy]

Fuse block all the way. i have all of my assessories wire to one. It limits the mess of directly wiring to the battery but also puts an additional fuse into the circuit. Im thinking mine came from West Marine.

[King Slammin]

Same thing I did. Heavy wire (6 ga) from battery to fuse block. Then 10 ga marine from block to riggers with quick connects. Get some crimp connection for the right size and keep it clean.

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[Captain Carl Bish]

You can also run a fused heavy lead to a switch (on/off) then the riggers to that switch (hot) and a terminal block (-).

[J.D.]

My marine buss bar install, 2 large wires on the right are 6ga. power from the battery. The two black squares ant the top are inline blade fuses for the riggers, the other various wires go to the helm, to power electronics, auto pilot, and a separate direct line to the VHF radio. The smaller 18ga. wire powers the Depth Raider.

Check out this link for supplys... all American made stuff, great prices, fast service.

http://gregsmarinewiresupply.com/Zen/

[BURNIN DAYLIGHT]

Also most riggers run at 30amps in order to fuse corectly . I also ran a fuse block and 6ga power supply to help suport any future additions

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[tannero]

Thanks so much for the replies guys. Will go to west marine and get a fuse block. Want everything nice and orderly.

[Sluggo / NY]

Jeff.. I'd suggest wiring the riggers through a switch if possible so they can be disabled when not in use. I have Walkers, which just use a three way toggle switch and are prone to getting bumped. Several times I've found the battery dead with the switch in the "up" position. Since the riggers have a built in thermal overload.. they just keep turning on and off til they run the battery down.

By the way.. I'm a friend of your buddy Walt's. Can't wait to start drilling more holes in his boat when he gets the auto pilot he just ordered. Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

[BURNIN DAYLIGHT]

Yes he is right I forgot to mention that I have the 3 way toggle and it gets bumped often put in a switch somthing I did not do YET.

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[jimski2]

I smelled "wires burning" one day and found that a cannonball bouncing on my wires had shorted them out and could have caused a big fire. Put the fuse next to the battery on all your red positive wires.

The temperature of an electric spark or arc is 30,000 degrees F., more than enough to melt steel or ignite carpetting, fibreglass, wood, plastic gasoline tanks and paint.

[Iceman]

If you use a switch, make sure it can handle the amperage inrush at start, as many of the high speed riggers will draw over 20 amps.

[Sk8man]

I know this is an "aside" from your main concern but also carefully inspect your downrigger power cables for cracks (often from weathering or UV contact). I've had to replace mine a couple times over the years.....the cracks can lead to shorts in your system especially with a weak ground etc.

P.S. It wasn't clear if the riggers were NEW or not...

[Tall Tails]

With Scottys it is really not useful to put in a switch. It is important to get the most out of the rigger, that you have 30amps. I have a fuse block that only my riggers run through. If a scotty rigger comes up and goes past the autostop bead it will come to a stop (and may break the ball and or probe off at this point) and pop the fuse. At least mine do therefore since the only powered function of the scottys is to come up there is no draw any other time. I have 6 gauge wire from my batteries to the fuse block and 10 gauge after that running as far as 8ft, all Marine grade. This block powers all 5 of my Scotty hp's.

[tannero]

Hey there Chris. Will be hooking up with Walt in a few hours. Heading to Denver to work with him this week. He is real excited about that auto pilot. Cant wait to try mine out also. Mine came with the boat. Its a ray marine st5000+. Hope it runs the boat strait while i get lines up and down.

Make sure Walt provides you plenty of refreshment out of his keg!

[randy111]

If you use a switch, make sure it can handle the amperage inrush at start, as many of the high speed riggers will draw over 20 amps.

DC motors do not have inrush current AC motors do. However you're correct about the switch being of equal or greater value than the load. Nothing worse than opening an under rated switch on full load.

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[lost a lure]

If you use a switch, make sure it can handle the amperage inrush at start, as many of the high speed riggers will draw over 20 amps.

DC motors do not have inrush current AC motors do. However you're correct about the switch being of equal or greater value than the load. Nothing worse than opening an under rated switch on full load.

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Why dont they?

[Sluggo / NY]

Hey there Chris. Will be hooking up with Walt in a few hours. Heading to Denver to work with him this week. He is real excited about that auto pilot. Cant wait to try mine out also. Mine came with the boat. Its a ray marine st5000+. Hope it runs the boat strait while i get lines up and down.

Make sure Walt provides you plenty of refreshment out of his keg!

You guys have fun out there.. tell Walt to give my son a call. As for Walt's keg.. ask him about the last time! Good Fishing, Sluggo (Chris)

[randy111]

If you use a switch, make sure it can handle the amperage inrush at start, as many of the high speed riggers will draw over 20 amps.

DC motors do not have inrush current AC motors do. However you're correct about the switch being of equal or greater value than the load. Nothing worse than opening an under rated switch on full load.

[ Post made via Android ]

Why dont they?

You have a perminate magnet field and a DC coil for an armature. Its more or less ohms law. An AC motor requires inductance to build a magnetic field so the stator is very low resistance until the inductive field develops creating resistance to the current flow. So when you start an AC motor it is basicly a dead short for a couple cyclesuntil the magnetic field devolps and the impedence increases. There is obviously alot more to it than that but that should some it in a nut shell.since DC current does not alternate there is no inductive reactance. Its just a coil being used as a magnet and it chase the field magnet. There is cemf to deal with but that is another topic. If you are really interested in this stuff a have a ton of info but it can get complicated.lol. hopefully this makes some sense for you.

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[mwinter66]

I'm resurrecting an old thread.  I have a new Ranger 620FS on order and I plan to rig it for Cannon downriggers and I want it clean.  I thought about using flush mount power ports for the Cannon receptacles and then run these to a:                              

• Blue Sea Systems 5025 ST Blade Fuse Block - 6 Circuits with Negative Bus and Cover

                 

 

 

However, after calling the service manager at Cabela's, he told me they usually run them right to the battery with in-line fuses.  If I wanted to run additional electronic add-ons in the future, this doesn't seem the cleanest to me.  Maybe I'm wrong.  Is there anyone in the WNY area that you would recommend for rigging?          

 

[Fishnut]

That’s what I’m using except a little bigger. I don’t like having 6 to 8 wires run directly to my battery. I’m also using a perko switch.


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[Bozeman Bob]

When I had cannons I used there plug in system . I also used 12 V  DC 30 amp circuit breakers instead of fuses, who wants to mess around with fuses in 4' waves ? I did install a 30 amp on off switch between the house battery and the rigger cables as the Cannons have that positive ion thing going on and I THINK that it always had a battery draw because of that, hence the switch.

[jimski2]

A good point to remember is your VHF radio works fine on listening  mode but when you transmit it requires an eight gauge marine wire to put out full transmitting power.

[Tyee II]

11 hours ago, jimski2 said:

A good point to remember is your VHF radio works fine on listening  mode but when you transmit it requires an eight gauge marine wire to put out full transmitting power.

Huh???

[jimski2]

The small gauge wire will only carry so much amperage and to carry twenty five watt power on transmission you need heavier gauge wire. You will hear a boat calling you at a long distance but your return call back is weak. Your radio needs only one watt of power to receive but twenty five watts to transmit. 

[Bozeman Bob]

"The Huh???" I believe was in reference to, what does this have to do with wiring a downrigger. Pretty much the same as if I replied with make sure you carry a Danforth anchor.  [ Along with the fact that 25 watts of power is nothing. My  boat radio puts out 50 watts to the speakers through crappy speaker wire with no problem. The 25 is more like 22 actual and I could power it with a 14 gauge wire all day long and it would still put out the same ] 

Edited February 27, 2018 by Bozeman Bob