Downrigger Cable Voltage

[lure-washer]

What can be expected for cable volvage without black-box correction?
I discovered a loose connection from my Black-box, and without correction, the cable voltage was in the range af 1200 millivolts Is this reasonable?
I was expecting somethiung under 1 volt.
Lure-washer

 

[RCA Dog]

That is too high. You have some electrical issues with your boat, probably on the ground side of things. Go through and make sure all your ground connections are good, and check any zinc anodes you might have. You should be in the range of .5 volts to .7 volts if possible.

RCA

 

[Degree of Freedom]

get on the program...switch to braid!!

 

[jeffywestcoast]

Call me old fashion..i still prefer the stainless

 

[vetteman]

get on the program...switch to braid!!

Yup! I've got 6 downriggers and the 5 that I use have braid on them.
Dave

 

[Part Timer]

Why do all the guides and high liners still use cable? I thought about going to braid, but my boat has no problem catching fish with the cable and black box. When something is working great why change.

 

[casper5280]

I too keep a log book and for 2 years had braid on one side and wire on the other. Only kept the wire because it was brand new. I found that the difference was so marginal that I just switched to braid on all three downriggers. With the wire you are always farting around with the black box. You have to test the voltage with a meter to make sure the voltage from the box is the same as the meter. Check the wire that goes to the box for corrosion. Most times I found the wire was all black inside and needed replacing. Then there was all the crimping and wire fraying. It just wasn't worth it for that marginal difference. I will just stick with braid now, just so much easier to work with.

 

[reelfast]

mooring next to folks like you makes my zincs go away in a big hurry. you first of all need to get your boat electrical system properly grounded. secondly, get rid of the stainless, mine would last on average 2 years, and switch to braid, 150# is plenty strong. no blackbox, no issues, and less blowback.

 

[Seafever]

Yes...you have to be on top of your electrical game to keep the wires at optimal correct voltage.

two things about wire you should know:-

(1) On a wire without a black box there is a bit of a voltage drop on really deep lines.....if it reads .65 at the surface it will be less than that at 200ft. In reality it may have dropped to .60 or .55

(2) When you run a black box you connect BOTH downrigger wires to it. If one side is fished at ,say, 75ft and the other side is fished at 200ft you cannot accurately balance the voltage on both lines at the same time, because you have to set the deep line at higher voltage to compensate for the voltage drop, which inturn makes your shallow line voltage too high.
Scotty does not recommend running two black boxes off one boat ( in other words , one black box per line).
To get balanced voltage , booth lines need to be at the same depth.


Could it be that charters/guides run wire due to "inexperienced guest" effect?

Wire is definitely tougher in situations where there are scrapes, chafes, and line crosses......
I can imagine some of the noob paying customers could inadvertantly put a guide in a situation where a braid line would just get cut or break......whereas a wire wouldn't have.....

 

[jeffywestcoast]

My boat catches fish (when it is running) both my downriggers have wire..they are brand new and untill i have a malfunction or line cutting incident i am not switching i checked with my multi meter and both wires are measuring .07 volts.. if it ain't broke don't fix it you'll just be wasting money . And i have no black box.

 

[arima arima]

I switched to braid simply because its easier to retie if something breaks off, no crimping, and less blow back. I have had no difference in catching fish, big fish or other wise or species it has made no significant change. I do however miss the hum of the lines through the water.

 

[Seafever]

I catch more fish on braid overall than I ever caught with wire..

I've been through the black box thing, with and without, with all the attendant fretting over correct voltage settings ad infinitum.

I agree that "if it ain't broke don't fix it"......but I would amend that to "if it ain't broke keep an eye on it anyway"....

No happy medium.......I like the toughness of wire...but I like the non-voltage issues of braid.....

Wish they'd make a line that combines the best elements of both.......

 

[FishWhisperer]

My boat catches fish (when it is running) both my downriggers have wire..they are brand new and untill i have a malfunction or line cutting incident i am not switching i checked with my multi meter and both wires are measuring .07 volts.. if it ain't broke don't fix it you'll just be wasting money . And i have no black box.

I agree Jeff, but I do use braided now for various reasons - less drag, no kinks, etc. There were many, many, many fish caught using cable on our downy's before braided line came on the scene. I've never owned a Black Box and I think that voltage testing your cables may be over-thinking it a bit. Use the KISS method bud. Unless you cables are connected directly to your deep cycle, I wouldn't worry 'bout 'em. They've caught literally millions of fish for decades.

 

[Seafever]

With wire lines, personally, my focus was not on the line "attracting fish".....it was more about making sure the line doesn't "repel" fish. If your wires are in the "normal' zone for voltage you probably don't have too much to worry about.

However if your voltage is such that you are in the "repel" zone........it's a long day.

IMO you can't "overthink" voltage..........either it's good or it isn't......

 

[lure-washer]

I found that the ground between my kicker and ground was not making good connections.
i`ll see what the voltage is like next time on the water.
I would switch to braid, but next year will be my last after many many years, and I`ve got a bunch of spare ss cables.

 

[Seafever]

LureWasher.......how come next year will be your last?

 

[Part Timer]

You have to try it first and then form your own opinion...Wire does have an advantage if used correctly perform well. But most people don't know how to manipulate the voltages to their advantage. There are lots of guys locally that get huge fish on braid and guys that get big fish on wire....

I changes not because of the advantage.... braid/ with ganion is so easy to deal with I just liked it... I ran a logbook last year on side braid/one side wire there was a definite advantage to the wire side with larger fish...but all in all the braid was not far behind...

This debate can never be solved just use what works best for you...

I have often thought about trying Braid, but for now everything is working great and I'm not wanting to chance, changing anything and screwing it up. One of my old boats was always hot .850 and up. Never did get the boat fishing properly.

 

[Part Timer]

My boat catches fish (when it is running) both my downriggers have wire..they are brand new and untill i have a malfunction or line cutting incident i am not switching i checked with my multi meter and both wires are measuring .07 volts.. if it ain't broke don't fix it you'll just be wasting money . And i have no black box.

I concur. Been there done that.

 

[Fishtank]

When fishing braid in a aluminum boat should I be checking my boat voltage??

 

[lure-washer]

Seafever, It`s beacuse I will be turning 80 and think that I should not push my luck too far.
So far I have had no very scary situations, but things can change very rapidly.
Lure-washer