Jump to content

Mounts and switch

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104
in This Old Boat

 Share

Recommended Posts

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
Posted

I know I should have figured this out before I went on my boat, but is this the safety switch (circled in red in the picture)? It doesn't have a lanyard or anything with it so I'm not sure but the picture on the actual dash seems to make think it is.

 

Also, I picked up some Big Jon downriggers and am trying to figure out the best way to mount them. Thinking I might just have to bite the bullet and buy the gumball mounts that run about 75$ a piece. If I do go that route, would the gumball mounts themselves need additional mounting to the boat or perhaps a backing plate?

 

Any suggestions are appreciated!

20200420_143328.jpegScreenshot_20200420-144320_Gallery.jpeg

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

 

 

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Be careful mounting too far forward on tight turns run the risk of cable tangling in Prop.I would mount them on rear corners.
Good luck.
Appreciate it. That was my thought too, but boy it'd make mounting them easier [emoji23]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted

If you have adjustable booms on riggers or some longer ones (than the real short ones) you shouldn't  have a problem using gimbel mounts. I can run 4 Cannon adjustables that way. I think you'd be OK anyway if you can run them at a 45 degree angle (in this case 45 can be better than 90 degree with that particular problem)

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted
If you have adjustable booms on riggers or some longer ones (than the real short ones) you shouldn't  have a problem using gimbel mounts. I can run 4 Cannon adjustables that way. I think you'd be OK anyway if you can run them at a 45 degree angle (in this case 45 can be better than 90 degree with that particular problem)
Thanks,

Ended up getting a couple big jons with swivel bases from a buddy for a good deal and they seem like they are about 3' long.

In chatting with gasman and your note above, I think the gimbal mounts are the way to go. Might run a board between them for added stability. The gimbal rod holders I currently have on the boat are just held in with sheet metal screws so I'll probably replace those with some hand rivets too.

Thanks all!20200329_200525.jpeg

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

gasman2438

gasman2438

Posted
Posted

If you run a board all the way across it really stiffened the gimbal mounts up and spreading the weight out. My gimbals are just screws and I run 6ft booms on my downrigger no problem.

I found a nice piece of rough cut cherry

untitled.png

  • Like 1
Hawkeye50

Hawkeye50

Posted
Posted

On a boat I had few years ago mounted cannon mag 10s with gimbal mounts with o problems.What I did was install oak backing plates under the gimbal mounted rod Holders.

1lastweekend

1lastweekend

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, gasman2438 said:

If you run a board all the way across it really stiffened the gimbal mounts up and spreading the weight out. My gimbals are just screws and I run 6ft booms on my downrigger no problem.

I found a nice piece of rough cut cherry

untitled.png

How do you like those down east rod holders?  Ive been thinking about getting some for my 12' aluminum boat...

Sk8man

Sk8man

Posted
Posted (edited)

Dennis is right they are old school but will hold both dipsy rods or thermocline rigs. I used them for years on my previous boat I did always run safety lines on my rods too just in case but never had a problem with them. There are a couple  different versions depending on how you wish to mount them and you want to try the actual rods in them when you install as the rod handles extend quite a way through them so you want them to be away from other stuff.

Edited by Sk8man
Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all,

Ended up getting some gimbal mounts from a fellow LOU member (thanks nysrx01) and plan on using a board to span across the two. Probably a 1x6?

One of my gimbal mounts is really crooked. It just be a matter of rotating it a bit to level it out or I was thinking of using a piece of wood as a wedge to go between the mount and the board.

Thanks again all for the responses.20200428_124532.jpeg20200428_124546.jpeg

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

guffins fisherman

guffins fisherman

Posted
Posted

Yes, a 110V receptacle will work just fine. Two things to remember: make sure you have a fuse or breaker close to your power source with wire heavy enough to withstand the draw you'll have on it, and those big jons will run normal or in reverse. Meaning, if you plug in upside down, up on the switch will be down on the rigger. Simply flip the plug over and they will be right.

Sent from my moto z3 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Great_Laker

Great_Laker

Posted
Posted

I think this also goes without saying, but those riggers run on DC (direct current) not AC so DO NOT plug them into the wall in your garage or house to test them out before running them on the boat or it will fry them. It seems like a no-brainer but when my buddy first got into fishing he purchased those exact big john's with regular receptacle plugs, and plugged them into the wall before putting them in his boat and poof motors fried..... I'm not suggesting you would do that, but he did and was pretty mad when he realized what he did lol 

  • Sad 1
Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Thanks all for the responses.

I'm not good with electrical but I at least knew enough to not plug them into one of my garage outlets. That sucks for your buddy that he had to find out the hard way.

Electrical is not my strong point so these may be dumb questions, but the big jons do have push button breaker on them. This mean I still have to add a fuse to the circuit? Would a GFCI receptacle be sufficient? Tried to find the specs on these motors and think they pull about 8 amps.

PS - had a teacher back in high school tell me "there's no such thing as a dumb question, however if there were, that would certainly qualify" lol

Thanks again for all the assistance with this project!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

Edited by Mikeyman104
mudflat

mudflat

Posted
Posted

The breaker on the rigger will protect the motor from overload but it doesn't protect the supply wire or your boat.

A GFCI receptacle works on an AC circuit to protect you from any current leakage to ground.

You should still have a fuse near the battery on the supply wire, probably 15 to 20A depending on what gauge wire you are using.

 

Great_Laker

Great_Laker

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Mikeyman104 said:

Thanks all for the responses.

I'm not good with electrical but I at least knew enough to not plug them into one of my garage outlets. That sucks for your buddy that he had to find out the hard way.

Electrical is not my strong point so these may be dumb questions, but the big jons do have push button breaker on them. This mean I still have to add a fuse to the circuit? Would a GFCI receptacle be sufficient? Tried to find the specs on these motors and think they pull about 8 amps.

PS - had a teacher back in high school tell me "there's no such thing as a dumb question, however if there were, that would certainly qualify" lol

Thanks again for all the assistance with this project!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app
 

 

Once you figure out how you want to "plug in" your down rigger to the power supply you should connect it either to a fuse box or an inline fuse on the hot wire before routing to the battery. I run cannon down riggers and if it were me i would cut the plug ends off the big johns and wire on some quick disconnects which are water resistant. To give you an idea of how mine are connected, there is about a 4 foot power cable coming out of my cannons, then a quick connect made by cannon (so i can take them off the boat without a ton of electrical cable) to a another line that runs to a fuse box and a negative bus board which have a bunch of different electronics wired to it (gps, sonar, other down riggers) which then run to the battery. The fuse box has different amp fuses depending on the electronic it is powering so you can choose which electronic gets which size fuse. IF you want to keep it simple, just put an inline fuse somewhere between the down rigger and the battery.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/legend-outdoors/2014/07/downrigger-wiring-basics/

 

A regular receptacle wired back to the battery will work or an outdoor extension cord cut to length and wired correctly, but just keep in mind safety, especially with a wet environment.

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks all,

Ideally I should wire them with the fuse box I put in last year. To do that though I would have to run new wire from the battery to the busbar/fuse block because currently it's too small (16ga) to accommodate the riggers. Hate running wire especially on a center console, but this would probably be the safest and cleanest looking install.

I was hoping to keep it simple with the plugs already on the riggers so I might just get an inline fuse, receptacle and wire right to the battery.

I at least know now that I'll need some fusing in there so I appreciate the help! I'll keep ya posted on the progress and thanks again.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

sullyonhudson

sullyonhudson

Posted
Posted

Mikeyman   A word of caution...I have 2 Big Jon captain packs down riggers with swivel bases mounted on gimbals to use in my rear rod holders.  I do it this way to quickly remove the riggers and store in the cabin.  Last year as I was removing them from the cabin to place in the rod holders I suddenly had the gimbal and half the swivel base in one hand and the rigger and the top half of the swivel in the other hand.  There is a 1 1/4 inch pin that the swivel rotates on.  That pin is steel and it snapped like a piece of plastic.  I couldn't believe it.  If it had snapped while in the rod holder it would of been a $800 rigger on the bottom of the lake.  Big Jon said they never seen anything like that and they made good on the repair but that's besides the point.  I now run tag lines to the riggers.  If it happens again at least they won't go far.

Mikeyman104

Mikeyman104

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Mikeyman   A word of caution...I have 2 Big Jon captain packs down riggers with swivel bases mounted on gimbals to use in my rear rod holders.  I do it this way to quickly remove the riggers and store in the cabin.  Last year as I was removing them from the cabin to place in the rod holders I suddenly had the gimbal and half the swivel base in one hand and the rigger and the top half of the swivel in the other hand.  There is a 1 1/4 inch pin that the swivel rotates on.  That pin is steel and it snapped like a piece of plastic.  I couldn't believe it.  If it had snapped while in the rod holder it would of been a $800 rigger on the bottom of the lake.  Big Jon said they never seen anything like that and they made good on the repair but that's besides the point.  I now run tag lines to the riggers.  If it happens again at least they won't go far.
Thanks Sully

Any idea why or how something like that happened? The swivel bases seem pretty robust so surprised to hear that, but would definitely like to try and avoid that from happening.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Lake Ontario United mobile app

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...