Older Cannon Mag 10

[Double Tap]

I recently bought a couple of the older style Mag 10's from a member on this site. I had them gone over by A&P Tackle and had him repair or replace whatever he thought needed to be done so that they would be in good working order. So...my question is, I have 12 pound shark weights that I bought last year and was wondering if I can still use them with the "new" downriggers. I was told not to use more than a 10 pound weight!

[Sk8man]

I think you may have answered your own question. Those motors were later replaced with heavier duty ones for a reason.

[Double Tap]

I was afraid of that. I didn't realize they had a 10 pound limit when I bought them. I thought I was upgrading from the manuals that I have been using for the last several years. Live and learn I guess.

[Sk8man]

  Not the end of the world . I have been using 10 lb weights on mine for years. It helps to have the right shaped weights. bikinibottom on here makes some great ones and they seem to minimize the blow back compared with the ball or fish shaped ones I used in the past.

[Rich s]

I am using a 12 lb weights on my older mag -10. Haven't tripped the motor yet .

Yes the ones from bikini are awesome !!

[Double Tap]

Thanks Rich, I think I'm going to give it a shot with the 12 pounders for right now since I'm coming up in two weeks. Next year I will get a couple of 10 pounders from bikinibottom.

[mr 580]

I'll pass along my experience of running 12lb weights on early Mag 10A's. Never tripped a breaker, but started getting some problems coming up like rigger was skipping. Eventually rigger failed completely and free wheeled in both directions. Took rigger apart and electric motor ran fine in both directions. What had failed were three white plastic pucks inside the sealed right angle drive at the end of the motor. Believe they were designed to absorb shock of stopping/starting weight. The heavier weight crushed the plastic and those motors or parts for them aren't supplied by Cannon anymore. When my rigger blew it was probe rigger and I was lucky and caught it. Jammed a screwdriver in to hold rigger-was no fun hand winding the rigger up. After that I've updated to newer models with higher weight rating.

[Rich s]

I guess it's a roll of the dice . Personally I don't see where extra 2# is going to make a huge difference on the equipment . If you have 10's then just run them .

I been running 12's for 2 seasons and if they go then so be it , at this point they owe me nothing .

One thing I had an issue with was a bad pulley that would jam the cable and cause the breaker to trip . Fixed and still working fine .

Good luck

[Sk8man]

I believe Mr580's experience is enlightening and although it would seem that 2 extra pounds would not make a significant difference in retrieval the fact that the 10 lb is the MAXIMUM recommended weight the use over time is probably where it comes into play. When you have parts that are old and plastic especially the fatigue factor can be substantial and adding 25 percent weight addition may be the "straw that breaks the camels back"  

[mr 580]

Rich s, my thought process when I went to 12lb torpedo was exactly same as yours. What's a couple more pounds going to do. I had rigged boat so my probe was on an old slow mag 10. Initially I ran 10lb as I had on my old boat for years. When I didn't like blow back I used homemade 11lb fish shaped weight I had kicking around which was a little better so I figured 12lb will be what I want. I was only fishing weekends then and had the issue the same season I moved to the 12lb weight. Figured I'd share as two risks to me- first you'll likely loose your gear when it goes and if that includes probe, weight, and release equals big $$$. Then unless you can find used parts you'll turn a working rigger into some used parts. I was lucky when mine failed and saved gear. I'd had rigger for 20+ years so they didn't owe me anything so I got a couple new ones.

[Double Tap]

Great advice. I guess I'll use my old 8 pound fish weights for now and maybe look for a new set of 10 pounders when I get in to Pulaski.

[Rich s]

All good points and won't disagree . We first started with penn manuals and 6 lb weights , caught fish .

Went to 8's and caught fish . Moved to mag -10's and 10# weights and yes caught fish .

Been running 12's and the fish disappeared, lol.

I don't run a probe - if I did I would upgrade so I could run 14-16# weights . Currents are brutal in summer while trying to remain in temp.

Im just rolling the dice , many times I run my rods over the rated # test recommend .

Good luck folks and thanks for sharing what parts might fail.

Rich