Cannon Customer Service??

[ErieBuck]

 

Just curious if anyone out there has any experience with Cannon and their customer service team?   I bought two optimum TS this year and have had lots of trouble with the line snapping and losing my gear from various circumstances.  After spending $3k on downriggers, I didn't expect to lose another $1k in gear.  At a minimum, I expected Cannon to at least "care" and provide some sort of advice to make sure I could regain confidence in their equipment.   After contacting them, they had some tech email me a few questions, didn't provide any input and basically said, "oh well, good luck!"  Hopefully, I'm just an outlier who slipped through the cracks.  I just found this strange with how advanced their products are and their fancy marketing etc.  I have been extremely impressed with the customer service from other fishing industry companies -- but Cannon unfortunately has been very disappointing.   Maybe I should have bought Scotty?

[Yankee Troller]

What exactly is your issue? Is your line spooling up to one side of the spool and the cable is jumping? I have had great customer service through them, and I have some great contacts there. Let me know what is happening exactly and I can try to help.

Edited September 29, 2020 by Yankee Troller

[ErieBuck]

Thank you sir!  The last time it snapped, I simply hit the auto up button and it broke.  Big wave may have created a little slack in the line right before I hit the button.  This was with only a 12lb ball and I had a snubber on.  I was not on the bottom.  The line was frayed where it snapped somewhere above the cannon terminator, it definitely was not from a bad termination.  Bye bye fish hawk #2.   Fish Hawk #1 was lost when the ball bounced slightly out of the water a bit in rough seas (15lb shark).   Another time, I got hung up on bottom my fault.  The other time, I can't even remember, I was too pissed.  

 

I'm scared to run 15lb anymore, and I'm using snubbers to absorb any kind of shock.  Also, I've slowed down the motor to "2" but it seems like the auto-up still is super fast.  I've inspected the whole line for kinks and I'm careful not to let it spool up on one side.  Maybe I got a bad batch of cable -- just seems it's WAY to snappy!  I just don't have faith in their cable anymore and I just can't afford any more breaks.   I'm going to try 49 strand wire next season perhaps.  Thanks in advance for any advice! 

[Yankee Troller]

5 minutes ago, ErieBuck said:

Thank you sir!  The last time it snapped, I simply hit the auto up button and it broke.  Big wave may have created a little slack in the line right before I hit the button.  This was with only a 12lb ball and I had a snubber on.  I was not on the bottom.  The line was frayed where it snapped somewhere above the cannon terminator, it definitely was not from a bad termination.  Bye bye fish hawk #2.   Fish Hawk #1 was lost when the ball bounced slightly out of the water a bit in rough seas (15lb shark).   Another time, I got hung up on bottom my fault.  The other time, I can't even remember, I was too pissed.  

 

I'm scared to run 15lb anymore, and I'm using snubbers to absorb any kind of shock.  Also, I've slowed down the motor to "2" but it seems like the auto-up still is super fast.  I've inspected the whole line for kinks and I'm careful not to let it spool up on one side.  Maybe I got a bad batch of cable -- just seems it's WAY to snappy!  I just don't have faith in their cable anymore and I just can't afford any more breaks.   I'm going to try 49 strand wire next season perhaps.  Thanks in advance for any advice! 

 

"Auto-Up" is always speed 5. The speeds you change in the settings are for manual up/down. 

 

It very well could be a bad cable. I'm guessing its more likely the cable is spooling up on the side of the spool and it's causing cable wear and loose cable. Are the run off the sides of the boat, or directly back?

[Earl28]

Do you have a swival in the cable? How many and were are they.

[ErieBuck]

Yep, i kept saying that it seemed that auto up was fixed at 5, but Cannon customer service insisted differently, I must drawn the new guy!

I’m running them 45 degrees off the back corners.

Could have something to do with spooling to the side, especially on my first two losses. I’ve tried to use the hook as a guide but I haven’t mastered that technique yet. If I see it building up on one side, I use my hand to manually guide it over until even while going up slowly.





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[ErieBuck]

Do you have a swival in the cable? How many and were are they.

Cannon terminator Swivel snap ——> Blacks release ——> Fish Hawk ——> snubber swivel snap ———> snubber ———> snubber swivel snap ——-> ball.

Same on other side but without the fish hawk.


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[Sk8man]

I think I'd be putting on some new cable maybe 200 lb? and re-terminating the probe rigger. regardless

[ErieBuck]

Yes!!!!!!!!!


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[emtystringer]

look out that the ball hook might be fraying your cable

[ErieBuck]

I think I'd be putting on some new cable maybe 200 lb? and re-terminating the probe rigger. regardless:smile:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/323970070042

Bought this stuff... seems very nice. 216lb test and only ~.004 bigger in diameter, still goes through terminator with a little help. Much more supple and less prone to kink. Looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks Cannon for all your help lol


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[Earl28]

Which side of the spool does the cable fill up on. Which direction are your eyelets facing. Are all the brake offs on the same section of cable?

[ken frearson]

I also had a bad experience with them as well. I had a 4" swivel bace brake, the shoulder bolt that the base swivels on broke all I needed to fix it was a new bolt and I called them and they said they would scrounge around to find one and never heard back not did they seem interested in helping out. I almost lost a new rigger in 150 Fow!

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[signalman]

I,ve had had trouble with their cable breaking for no reason and their printed circuit board,s 3in two season,s,with their cable i have replaced with scotty,s brand so far so good and with the printed circuit board,s i installed new battery,s to service them and i have not had a problem this season all thought they did not get much use.In as far as their service dept that all i got from them was did you bring it to a service center for a lot of buck,s per hr and better luck with the next one.

[Pappy]

I bought two downriggers from Cannon and on about the third trip out one cable snapped while lowering it, stopped and snapped. Same thing good by all gear including fish hawk probe.

i contacted customer service and they immediately sent new cable, but denied any action on the lost gear. They simply said “we must have recieved bad cable from our supplier”

this summer the same downrigger, with the replacement cable, snapped again. Based on a post on here I went to a different cable.

i would say customer service was ok, neutral, but I won’t use their cable again.

 

As another note I have two other Cannons manual crankers that are 20 years old and I have never had a problem with anything on them, hard to not be satisfied with that!

[Sk8man]

At the other end of the spectrum.....I have two Mag 10A's that have the original cable from when I purchased them new in 1985. Yes they are slow to retrieve etc. but I think the slower motors, and the fact that they have always had 10 lb weights and have been re-terminated routinely may be a factor in the longevity. When  the increased speed/power of the motors is combined with much heavier weights I think a lot more stress is being placed on the cable itself (which may not be apparent or visible) and the cable tensile strength probably hasn't been adjusted to account for this as I think they are still using the same 150 lb cable they used with the older/weaker motors. .

[ErieBuck]

At the other end of the spectrum.....I have two Mag 10A's that have the original cable from when I purchased them new in 1985:lol:. Yes they are slow to retrieve etc. but I think the slower motors, and the fact that they have always had 10 lb weights and have been re-terminated routinely may be a factor in the longevity. When  the increased speed/power of the motors is combined with much heavier weights I think a lot more stress is being placed on the cable itself (which may not be apparent or visible) and the cable tensile strength probably hasn't been adjusted to account for this as I think they are still using the same 150 lb cable they used with the older/weaker motors. .

Totally agree - for whatever reason it seems they haven’t improved their cable and these motors get more and more powerful


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[ErieBuck]

I bought two downriggers from Cannon and on about the third trip out one cable snapped while lowering it, stopped and snapped. Same thing good by all gear including fish hawk probe.
i contacted customer service and they immediately sent new cable, but denied any action on the lost gear. They simply said “we must have recieved bad cable from our supplier”
this summer the same downrigger, with the replacement cable, snapped again. Based on a post on here I went to a different cable.
i would say customer service was ok, neutral, but I won’t use their cable again.
 
As another note I have two other Cannons manual crankers that are 20 years old and I have never had a problem with anything on them, hard to not be satisfied with that!

I’m glad they at least sent you new cable, they didn’t even offer to that for me. I’m not happy


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[tuffishooker]

As previously posted your problem is the cable ! Any twist or kink will weaken the cable along with a bounce with a wave ! Who said salmon fishing is cheap , I tell all " newbies " be prepared  $$$ ! I doubt Canon is the problem !

[ErieBuck]

1 hour ago, Pappy said:

I bought two downriggers from Cannon and on about the third trip out one cable snapped while lowering it, stopped and snapped. Same thing good by all gear including fish hawk probe.

i contacted customer service and they immediately sent new cable, but denied any action on the lost gear. They simply said “we must have recieved bad cable from our supplier”

this summer the same downrigger, with the replacement cable, snapped again. Based on a post on here I went to a different cable.

i would say customer service was ok, neutral, but I won’t use their cable again.

 

As another note I have two other Cannons manual crankers that are 20 years old and I have never had a problem with anything on them, hard to not be satisfied with that!

Pappy, what cable did you go with, are you happy with it?  

[ErieBuck]

6 minutes ago, tuffishooker said:

As previously posted your problem is the cable ! Any twist or kink will weaken the cable along with a bounce with a wave ! Who said salmon fishing is cheap , I tell all " newbies " be prepared  $$$ ! I doubt Canon is the problem !

Wire on 1500$ downriggers shouldn't snap that easy... it's ridiculous.  They need to address the problem that so many are experiencing.  Google it -- this isn't a couple incidents with newbies.  Step 1 would be for Cannon to acknowledge there is a problem, which it appears based on my experience with them, they aren't really good at listening.  Step 2 would be to start equipping these powerful modern downriggers with cable that can actually handle the routine stresses they face out on the lake.  The cable is probably the cheapest component and they are using the same stuff from the manual crank days.  It's like putting donut spare tires on a Ferrari.  

[cjc]

What cable would you replace it with that would be better.

[Yankee Troller]

I texted with a Cannon engineer this morning. It's not a problem he's heard of. His first question was "is the cable spooling up on the side of the spool creating loose cable?" I told him that was my first question to the OP. They understand that's an on-going issue, and it's on the table to be resolved. Hopefully in the near future. 

 

My suggestion to the OP is to keep an eye on how the cable lays on the spool when coming up. I personally run 150lb braid on my out-n-downs, and I run it through the hook that I store my cannonballs on. I also sometimes guide the cable on the way up (when fishing deep) so it lays flat on the spool and doesn't throw off my counter if it bunches in the center. This is a braid issue IMO due to the thinner diameter. 

[ErieBuck]

Appreciate your efforts Yankee -- you're a good man.  I will be sure to pay closer attention to the how the line is winding.  Crazy there isn't some sort of level-wind guide on these... hopefully they will incorporate into future designs.  What made you switch to braid?  Any problems with fleas?

[ErieBuck]

52 minutes ago, cjc said:

What cable would you replace it with that would be better.

Going to try 49 strand (7 x 7) stainless steel wire.  I had read in some other posts I saw that people had switched from the Cannon 7 strand to 49. 

 

I found this product on ebay (from Australia lol) and bought it.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/323970070042.  98kg equates to 216 lb test which is 66 lb better rating than Cannon's wire and the diameter is very similar, only 0.004 bigger.  It still goes through the Cannon terminators with a little help and the line counter should still be accurate.  The 49 strand wire seems much easier to work with -- it doesn't have nowhere near the stiff "memory" of the 7 strand which can really tangle, twist, and kink easily.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs.  If this doesn't work well, I suppose I will try braid like many have started using.  

 

The Malin wire company out of Cleveland also makes 49 strand but I was having trouble finding a diameter that was that close to the original cannon wire.