"Hot boat"

[lund1725]

Wonder if anyone can give me some help on a positive chargered downrigger cables its currently running 1.04-1.09 volts with all equipment off in the boat. Checked all the grounds. I know your supposed to have some positive voltage. However over .07 volts makes it "hot boat". Any input would be helpful. Sure makes it hard to catch fish when im shocking them lol.

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[stinger]

Let start with, .........Is your boat glass or aluminium?     Also be sure your zinc's are cleaned

[turf]

Additional info. I know this boat well. It's a Lund rebel 1725 aluminum hull with a honda 75 outboard. Runs 2 cannon manual downriggers, 2 wire dipseys and copper off the boards. Boat is 3 or 4 years old and is trailered

Edited July 28, 2014 by turf

[LongLine]

With everything off you have a charge?????  Is your battery in a plastic box?

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[Reel Overtime]

I had this with our old boat, cleaned all grounds, looked at all wires, drove me nuts only to find the battery switch was bad/shorted out.  good luck

[lund1725]

There is no battery switch onboard.

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[lund1725]

Battery is housed in plastic tray with straps

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[stinger]

Are you checking the voltage difference while on the trailer or in the water?   Be sure the zinc's are cleaned (get all the white fuzzy stuff off) and the grounds on the engine mount are clean also.

 

Disconnect the battery and see what you read.... If 0 then you have a connection leaking somewhere. Reconnect the battery and disconnect one lead at a time from the bus bar until you find the culprit. Then trouble shoot that circuit.

 

Another thing to look at is the downrigger itself. The cable may be isolated from the boat grounds because of the plastic frame.

[turf]

It was checked in the water, I also believe the cable itself is isolated by all the plastic and maybe the voltage is coming through the hull to the cable. I will be getting the boat here in the next day or so as Walt (original poster) went on vacation at this critical time of finding out why the boat doesn't catch fish lol keep ideas coming please

[jimski2]

A black box is around that will allow you to set the voltage you need for your rigger cable.

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[Richard]

Are you checking it at a marina? If so it might be coming from there shore power cables and not your boat. Check it off shore away from everything else.

[LongLine]

Are you checking it at a marina? If so it might be coming from there shore power cables and not your boat.

 

That is very possible.  The boat safety course has a section about not letting anyone swim around boats in a marina for that very reason. 

 

Tom B.

(LongLine)

[lund1725]

Its not in a marina or around any other boats while it was being tested. Didnt want any outside interference so I did it in the middle of fairhaven bay.

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[traveling man]

Are you checking the voltage difference whilye on the trailer or in the water? Be sure the zinc's are cleaned (get all the white fuzzy stuff off) and the grounds on the engine mount are clean also.

Disconnect the battery and see what you read.... If 0 then you have a connection leaking somewhere. Reconnect the battery and disconnect one lead at a time from the bus bar until you find the culprit. Then trouble shoot that circuit.

Another thing to look at is the downrigger itself. The cable may be isolated from the boat grounds because of the plastic frame.

. What he said. ^

[turf]

Work got in the way so if the weather hold tomorrow I will be checking some of these things out

[G-Daddy]

I have an outboard powered 17' center console fiberglass boat that I use at the Virginia shore for flounder fishing mostly.  It came factory equipped with a set of rocker switches that was fragile.  I noticed early on that if my hands were wet and I had any cuts or scrapes on my fingers that I would get a shock from my stainless steering wheel when the motor was running.  Can't happen right?  No electrical connection to the manual steering system.  Well, the switches started to fail after a few years and I replaced the them with a Blue Seas gang switch with built in fuses and then added a grounding buss bar.  I replaced some of the factory wiring and cleaned it all up and the electrical shock that I experienced through the steering wheel disappeared.  Something about how the boat was wired at the factory caused the manual steering system to pick up enough voltage to transmit a shock to broken wet skin.  I'm not enough of an electrician to explain it, but I know I fixed a problem and don't know why.

[Thun]

My Mag 10 manual states

 

The use of vinyl coated lead weights is recommended

 

Use the trolling weight insulators supplied with your downrigger. This insulates your weight from the positive charge on the cable. This will also ensure that the trolling weight will stop at water level when retrieved.

 

The cable on your downrigger should be replaced every two years. Etching of the cable can weaken it physically and electrically.

 

In salt water, make sure the sacrificial zincs anodes are replaced when half dissolved. This ensures that the boat will run with a neutral or slightly positive charge. Clean zincs on a regular basis with a non corrosive brush.

 

Always make sure the boat is properly grounded to the water. This will help ensure proper PIC voltage on the cable and that the short stop will function properly.

 

Good Luck

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Interesting! I was just discussing this issue the other day. Seems we have had some problems catching the number of fish we are used to in years past. The only thing changed is the boat. Since switching to a new boat, we have noticed a dramatic drop in catch rates. We have looked at speed issues, changed lines, cables on riggers, reduced the cable noise of the riggers, and still haven't found the problem. So the other day we were discussing if we have some wiring  issues that could be to blame. I haven't had time to go thru the wiring yet, but it's on my "to do" list. Before our last tourny, I removed our riggers and un wired them. We fished (4) 5 leader rigs. We finished 3rd. I am beginning to think there is something electrical causing our problems as well. 

 

I would be interested in hearing if you get the problem corrected, and what you found to be the problem. Sure sounds like the same problem I am having. 

[turf]

Haven't found it yet but are still looking will update y'all when we do

[vetting]

Whats the proper procedure for checking the voltage on a fiberglass boat?

[Thun]

I've never used a Black Box, perhaps some out here have, but I think I'll invest in the right volt meter. This article might explain a bit too.

 

http://www.protroll.com/books/?id=5&p_id=4

[turf]

Ok here's what we did. Cleaned all battery connections and removed and cleaned the zink annoids. We are out of Oswego now and on the main lake, readings were 0.74 and 0.8. Now let's see if we can catch some fish