electric down riggers
- Thread starter DAVEY5205
- Start date
DAVEY5205":1xzqldsq said:
Many of us here in the NW have Scotty electric down riggers installed on our boats. On a 22, the typical location is to mount them on the top of the gunnels about 3.5' forward of the aft corners of the boat. You can see the location of my downrigger mounts in this image. Depending on how your canvas is done, this may or may not work for you. Mine were installed at the factory and the receptacle for the plug is in the image - centered on the gunnel right hand side. One thing I would do differently is to mount the connector under cover or at the very least, point the connector downwards (as opposed to horizontally as it was done). That would help reduce corrosion. Another thing you will see if you browse my album, is that I was able to install two holders to carry the down rigger balls on the aft corners of the boat just inside the rear cleats. I don't know if you can find enough space on 16 to do a similar mounting but these are very handy as it allows one to swing the riggers in with balls attached and travel to another spot fairly quickly.
You don't really need two batteries to run the riggers you can simply wire each one off the same battery. HOWEVER, a lot depends on how you will use them in practice. I notice that you appear to have both a kicker and an electric trolling motor on your 16. If you intend to troll with the electric motor, or if the kicker does not charge the battery while trolling, I would have a second battery reserved for starting the main engine. Lots of ups and downs on the riggers or an electric trolling motor can easily drain a single battery in a few hours.
If you do go with 2 batteries, you'll want to isolate them in some way and perhaps be able to combine them. This is most frequently accomplished with an A/B/Both/Off switch. A quick search of the archives will find an abundance of posts on this topic.
Cutty Sark
New member
Well first off , If wired straight to the battery, make sure you use an in line fuse holder, as waterproof as you can find. I can't remember what amp mine is, but it should say in the manual of any downrigger you buy. I also have scotty's and would echo SeaDNA that they are what most people use and there is a reason for that. Low draw from your battery, good warranty, and pretty easy to maintain. I also agree to put the scotty socket somewhere out of the rain and spray, since they do corrode and this will cause problems,also use some dielectric silicone inside the socket and on the other fitting, that fits inside the socket. I mounted mine on the under side of the starboard backing plate that I used. You can't even see them since they are tucked away so nicely. And as far as the 2nd battery It is a good idea to have two, or get the charging system for your kicker if one is available. I'm planning on doing both. But I have a wallas and a wife that likes to keep it running all the time. But on a sixteen I would probably just go with the charger for the kicker. Have fun!!
Silverback
New member
Just wondering if those of you running Scotty electrics on a 22 prefer the 30" or extendable 36'-60" model? On pedestals? The longer booms would seem to be preferable at first glance, but I know the previous owner had the 30" models.
Bill
Bill
Cutty Sark
New member
I have the extendable ones as well. Most of the time I don't extend them, but on occasion it's nice to extend it out if you're in a big tide that's pushing your cables under your boat on one side, especially if it's on the kicker side. Or if you are going to be making lots of tighter turns, or are fishing some rods straight out the back. On my arima I had penn rigger's and one time in a big tide my cable hit my kicker prop. luckily I saw and heard it and was right there to hit the kill switch. Could have been pretty nasty, I have heard some bad stories of cables tangled in props.
$.02
Sark
$.02
Sark