Wylie 6/14/2016 afternoon, Shakedown

**Pomoxis** · 06-14-2016, 09:07 PM

My wife, dog, and I took the new boat out for a shakedown and for me to start learning the lake. While testing the trolling motor we had a mishap. The TM battery is at the rear forward of the drivers seat. I was on the bow driving the boat with the TM. My bride started telling me about smelling something dead. I scanned around the water.. nothing seen and I wasn't smelling it. We swapped seats and I identified the smell as hot wiring. Shut everything down and started checking with a gloved back hand. TM battery was HOT. I don't have a disconnect but the only gear on that circuit is the TM so I asked my first mate to pull it's plug from the bulkhead. A wire had actually melted into the lid of the battery box up and nearly out. I was close to getting a bucket of water on it to cool but the temp started slowly dropping. WHEW! Eventually used a pair of slip joint pliers to disconnect the hot lead... battery continued to cool. My best guess is the long power lead to the TM AND it being 8 gauge may have been enough resistance to heat up and/or an older weak battery having a higher internal resistance perhaps?
I don't have much experience with 12v flooded acid power systems.

I proceeded to troll as slowly as possible with the main engine. I noticed fish seem to hang on the deep side of a transition from shallow to deep where the 10' is several feet down from the top. I also noticed valley's (could have been holes...sonar illustrated as a valley, at approx. 20' FOW I'm guessing the FOV at 6-7' (using 3' depth to 1' FOV formula I read on the forums or got from a YouTube). Valley's seemed to hold fish as well.

I had one ODD incident on the lake and am not sure if I broke some soft of rule or what. Most of my findings were between Nivens Creek landing and Little Allison. While on Little Allison we slowly trolled past a fisherman. I noticed he had a marker bouy out and explained it to my wife. I didn't get that close (I don't think I did anyway) and the guy stopped fishing, took out his phone, and took our picture. Phone technology being what it is there's no way the picture was of any quality. Just struck me as odd. It's a free lake and there's no reason to start trouble so we just motored on.

I did mark a lot of things and was successful in finding brush all over the lake. Especially off the ends of personal piers.

Overall it was a successful trip. I am considering moving my stern sonar closer to the operator's seat (it has gps too). During daytime it's a challenge to see and pick out the details (plus I was playing with settings

).

We docked and loaded 5m before it started raining. I'll keep reading, studying, and practicing...I enjoy it all.
Jer

**STUMP HUNTER** · 06-15-2016, 08:08 AM

The trolling battery heating does sound to be the smaller wire size, sound be a easy fix for you. Spending time learning the lake can't be replaced and sounds like you found some places to fish on your next trip. Congrats on the time on the lake.

**BigDawgg** · 06-15-2016, 09:04 AM

Sounds like you need a circuit breaker on your TM and larger wires. There are weird folks everywhere so picture taking is not out of the question. He must have liked your dog or your rig. LOL If you remember where he was sitting, then there's your brush most likely. It's open game from now on. Look there next time with your electronics and see what you find. Sorry for your mishap, hopefully you'll recover quickly and be back on the water soon.

**SeaRay** · 06-15-2016, 10:02 AM

Gosh I would have thought 8 gauge was plenty big for a 12 volt TM. I don't think any of my boats had any bigger wire and it may have been smaller.
Think maybe there was a loose connection or bad cell??

**Pomoxis** · 06-15-2016, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by SeaRay

Gosh I would have thought 8 gauge was plenty big for a 12 volt TM. I don't think any of my boats had any bigger wire and it may have been smaller.
Think maybe there was a loose connection or bad cell??

I'd agree with 8Ga. It might have been the battery being old and/or the connections at the battery being dirty. I'll have to inspect the wire elsewhere for signs of heat. If I don't find any then the issue was entirely at the battery. It came this way so I'm not sure why the battery isn't mounted at/on the Bow of the boat anyway. That would get the length down considerably AND put some weight up front

.
I agree that it's likely the battery.

I'm still functional for fishing, just down trolling motor use. Should be an easy fix. Just need to replace one fused link and a battery. I'm thinking about getting the minkota battery box or build one like it (probably build it) to have a power disconnect switch and breaker at the battery.$50+tax for the Minkota. The expensive part of the DIY is the marine power switch rated for the power. I prefer simple.....low on the priority list ..so I'll probably just get a battery and replace that lead.

One funny that happened. We were traversing away from Nivens landing; my dog saw a bird and leap out of the boat after it!!!

, she slipped her collar just after hitting the water and proceeded to dog paddle. The look on her face was priceless

, throttled down, circled back and picked her up. LOL, that was the first time in a long while where she came right back to us

.. We're debating if to take her out anymore on our scouting runs (wouldn't even consider taking her on a fishing run as she's a bit hyper....the dog..not the wife

)..
Jer

**gabowman** · 06-15-2016, 06:28 PM

Check your wires good. An old battery would just die, NOT heat the wiring. IF the wiring is too small it could heat but I ran a MK trolling motor for years off 8 ga. wiring with no problems. Be SURE to put in a breaker between the TM and the battery too so your TM would be protected. A 50 amp should do the job although MK recommends a 60 amp fuse.

As far as a learnign experience.....NOTHING replaces time spent on the water. Start marking all those brush piles on your GPS.

**Pomoxis** · 06-15-2016, 07:56 PM

Update 201606152053: Upon inspecting the battery and it's connections I found they to only be hand tight

. On inspecting the wire as best I could into the bulkhead at both ends there was no sign of heat except AT the battery. Based on the data I'm attribute the entire issue to loose connections at the battery. I'll need to replace the fused link section of wire so it's a good time to add in a breaker + fuse + disconnect switch. I'll price it all out. The Minkota box may end up being a deal.The battery tested good without a load. I'll fully charge it and carry it up to Advanced Auto for testing under load.
jer

**gabowman** · 06-17-2016, 06:06 PM

You can look into the breaker + fuse + disconnect switch but an inline fuse should take care of any problems. The two boats that I wired I used a 50 amp fuse simply because the 60 amp fuse and holder was MUCH more expensive. If everything stays wired properly you wont have any problems.

**brettw** · 06-18-2016, 05:34 AM

I had a very hot TM connection this yr.
I was going to pull wiring and do all sorts of work. But I just changed out the plug and everything was OK.
Your problem is where the heat is, and get a TM breaker
You don't have to pay a lot

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Pomoxis** · 06-19-2016, 05:47 PM

I purchased a circuit breaker, new fuse holder, and wire/hardware. After getting it all crimped and loosely assembled I found the fuse holder doesn't take a standard blade fuse. I may have gotten the wrong type of holder so I'll need to look into that. I purchased that specific holder because it was waterproof.
Now to find the power switch I have somewhere in storage.
Thanks for the advice. The boat is getting ship shape slowly.
My next challenge is organization/storage. I have a foul deck . I've searched the net and not found any good solutions. I'll take some pictures and start a new thread.
Jer

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