Prawn hauler blows up the fuse

[ericl]

If you look at the blue seas wiring gauge size calculator, for return wire run distance of 30 feet or less for a non critical circuit, and a 40 amp rating, they recommend 8awg.

I was going by the critical area of the table. & like I said, I present the info for others to decide as the "it works for me" response is a little too imprecise for me. If you are fine with a 10% voltage drop good for you; I however am not - why buy a more expensive puller then not be able to use it at full capability, & why keep blowing & replacing fuses - don't the prawns tend to escape in such a situation?
So like butcher says, the wire gauge table has values for critical (3% or less voltage drop) & non-critical (10% voltage drop) circuits. I will say the puller is a non-critical circuit but for those who may wish to get more performance from their devices, wiring per critical circuit specs is an OPTION. Also note that the wire you use & the fuse/breaker you use are separate but related issues. IMO using & replacing 30 amp fuses when they blow is insanity.
As for how many traps are legal, WTF is this puller made to be used in BC only?

 

[Rockfish]

I was going by the critical area of the table. & like I said, I present the info for others to decide as the "it works for me" response is a little too imprecise for me. If you are fine with a 10% voltage drop good for you; I however am not - why buy a more expensive puller then not be able to use it at full capability, & why keep blowing & replacing fuses - don't the prawns tend to escape in such a situation?
So like butcher says, the wire gauge table has values for critical (3% or less voltage drop) & non-critical (10% voltage drop) circuits. I will say the puller is a non-critical circuit but for those who may wish to get more performance from their devices, wiring per critical circuit specs is an OPTION. Also note that the wire you use & the fuse/breaker you use are separate but related issues. IMO using & replacing 30 amp fuses when they blow is insanity.
As for how many traps are legal, WTF is this puller made to be used in BC only?

As I previously indicated, in our case running very heavy crab traps on occasion with a 30 amp breaker, it is a rare event to blow the fuse from a very short time duration overload, and then it is usually when the trap loses buoyancy at the surface with a rare and exceptionally heavy load of crabs.
We once had a smoking/melting situation at the rigger plug with a rigger connected which did not blow the 30 amp fuse and which I unplugged very quickly and replaced the plug. The plugs can wear out over time or develop electrical resistance from say corrosion and a heat situation develop and if that were to occur, would not a 40 amp fuse be even less likely to blow when you need it to than a 30 amp fuse? To me it is not just a question of fuses blowing when you don't want them to, but of fuses that don't blow when you want and need them to and the heavier the fuse it seems to me, the less likely it is to blow when you want and need it to. The fuse at the battery and the wiring form only part of that circuit and one you reach the plug things change and the the factory wiring on the rigger/puller from that point on may well be of a lesser gauge as perhaps is the electrical capacity of the plug assembly.

I am not an electrician and my logic may be faulty and if so, perhaps you can explain it to me, but given that I was surprised the 30 amp fuse did not blow the one time we really wanted it to, we have been hesitant to increase it to a 40 amp fuse simply to eliminate the rare event when the 30 amp fuse blows as a result of an exceptionally heavy load of crabs in a heavy commercial trap breaking the surface of the water.

The Scotty plugs are expensive and very good quality, but it may be a good idea to inspect them and perhaps a good idea to replace them once they have years on them as a preventative measure, particularly if those plugs spend their life on a boat at the marina and not in a warm heated garage and have had a lot of use. I usually keep a spare male and female plug on the boat and now consider the plugs maintenance items.

 

[the butcher]

Getting into a situation where there is melting wires or electrical lines can be terrifying on a boat. Luckily I have yet to experience this and hope I never have to. If you are getting into a situation where your wires are melting or smoking and the 30amp fuse doesn't break there is a problem somehere. Perhaps faulty fuse? If the 30amp fuse is not faulty and you are experiencing smoking or melting there is something not right. Is your electrical lines from battery to scotty female plug too small in diameter for the load? In a proper setup the wire gauge used is significantly larger and has more capacity than the fuse...thats the sole rationale behind why fuses are used. Not questioning your setup or your knowledge, but if this happened to me I would look into it further because something isn't right and next time you may not notice until a fire erupts. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Rockfish]

Getting into a situation where there is melting wires or electrical lines can be terrifying on a boat. Luckily I have yet to experience this and hope I never have to. If you are getting into a situation where your wires are melting or smoking and the 30amp fuse doesn't break there is a problem somehere. Perhaps faulty fuse? If the 30amp fuse is not faulty and you are experiencing smoking or melting there is something not right. Is your electrical lines from battery to scotty female plug too small in diameter for the load? In a proper setup the wire gauge used is significantly larger and has more capacity than the fuse...thats the sole rationale behind why fuses are used. Not questioning your setup or your knowledge, but if this happened to me I would look into it further because something isn't right and next time you may not notice until a fire erupts. Just my 2 cents.

The wires per say were not smoking but the plug sure did and I was very happy to catch it. We don't leave the riggers mounted when not on the boat. Here is the thread on it and some responses.
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...ed-out-today-but-did-not-blow-the-fuse.76405/

 

[the butcher]

The wires per say were not smoking but the plug sure did and I was very happy to catch it. We don't leave the riggers mounted when not on the boat. Here is the thread on it and some responses.
https://www.sportfishingbc.com/foru...ed-out-today-but-did-not-blow-the-fuse.76405/

Interesting read and good info to know. Good reminder that items on boats including connections, plugs, wires, hoses switches etc... should be checked regularly. Easy to fall into the mentality of if it ain't broken dont fix it. Will be doing a checkup of the connections and wires and lines on boat shortly along with the winter maintenance

 

[Breakin"even]

Does anyone know the amp. rating of the Scotty downrigger plug and receptacle are?

 

[noluck]

Does anyone know the amp. rating of the Scotty downrigger plug and receptacle are?

according to marinco the plug is designed for 8 gauge wire with is a 40 amp wire up to 10'

 

[Breakin"even]

according to marinco the plug is designed for 8 gauge wire with is a 40 amp wire up to 10'
Thank's for that noluck, plug rating is as important as wire rating. I was advised to up my wire to 10 g.
so I did, now I'm going back with 8, best get it right even if it works for some at lower guage. The unit
can lift more weight and not heat up as much with 8 so I'm in. But will it help catch more Jumbo's. Lol

 

[ericl]

We once had a smoking/melting situation at the rigger plug with a rigger connected which did not blow the 30 amp fuse and which I unplugged very quickly and replaced the plug. The plugs can wear out over time or develop electrical resistance from say corrosion and a heat situation develop and if that were to occur, would not a 40 amp fuse be even less likely to blow when you need it to than a 30 amp fuse?

That is correct. Something (corrosion/water) caused current to flow where it should not be flowing; most likely between the 2 plug prongs for positive & negative, and the current wasn't enough tp blow the fuse but large enough to heat the area where the current was flowing to make it very hot. The fuse/breaker size recommendations are of values that will allow the protected device tp operate but prevent a fire in case of a short circuit. I always tap my connectors & blow into them before connecting to make sure there is no water. The male side of the plug is easy to check for corrosion but the female side is not. The is probably some recommendation somewhere saying the female side should be replaced on a maint schedule .

according to marinco the plug is designed for 8 gauge wire with is a 40 amp wire up to 10'

Great info - thanks. Just realize that the 10' run includes both the pos + neg wires, so each wire can only be 5' long. This is kinda my original point as a 5' distance is probably impractical in many circumstances, and splicing a short piece of #8 wire to a longer piece of #4 wire is a good OPTION.

The unit
can lift more weight and not heat up as much with 8 so I'm in. But will it help catch more Jumbo's. Lol

Very true; the speed of a DC motor is closely related to voltage, and smaller gauge wire consumes more voltage because it's resistance is higher.

 

[Breakin"even]

Side question about Ace Hauler, just tried mine for the first time the other day
and when retrieving one trap with a P. T. combo rope with nylon hollow rope and
lead core rope at the top. The puller worked good on the lead rope but slipped on the nylon
rope so I had to help by pulling on the coiling discharge to bring in the trap. Was that becouse it's
new or something else, I had the bulldog hooked up to the Hauler.

 

[Rain City]

Side question about Ace Hauler, just tried mine for the first time the other day
and when retrieving one trap with a P. T. combo rope with nylon hollow rope and
lead core rope at the top. The puller worked good on the lead rope but slipped on the nylon
rope so I had to help by pulling on the coiling discharge to bring in the trap. Was that becouse it's
new or something else, I had the bulldog hooked up to the Hauler.

Do you have the rubber gasket installed on the big wheel?

 

[Breakin"even]

Do you have the rubber gasket installed on the big wheel

No, Thank's Rain City.

 

[Saltwater Cowboy]

So last year I had this exact problem with the fuse blowing. I have a resettable fuse and I upped it to 50amps.. still was tripping.. it’s a Scotty plug but the run is only 3 feet.. then the gear box stripped and basically was useless.. I called Ace they said they have a new upgraded gear box (even though my puller was only 8 months old). They sent ti to me fee of charge, took 10 minutes to install.. the new gear box changed everything.. it has never tripped since, doesn’t get hot and works perfectly. So I believe they should be reaching out to customers about this.. unless it’s a far run of wire.. for most uses it should be fine with the new gearbox.. call them and get them to send u a new one. Literally did 10 days of pulling 4 strings of 2 Bauer traps (loaded with prawns) twice a day with not one issue after the swap!

SWC

 

[Rain City]

So last year I had this exact problem with the fuse blowing. I have a resettable fuse and I upped it to 50amps.. still was tripping.. it’s a Scotty plug but the run is only 3 feet.. then the gear box stripped and basically was useless.. I called Ace they said they have a new upgraded gear box (even though my puller was only 8 months old). They sent ti to me fee of charge, took 10 minutes to install.. the new gear box changed everything.. it has never tripped since, doesn’t get hot and works perfectly. So I believe they should be reaching out to customers about this.. unless it’s a far run of wire.. for most uses it should be fine with the new gearbox.. call them and get them to send u a new one. Literally did 10 days of pulling 4 strings of 2 Bauer traps (loaded with prawns) twice a day with not one issue after the swap!

SWC

I had the exact same issue with the gear box. Stripped out once and they repaired it free of charge. Happened again so they just sent me the new gear box. Great warranty but maybe they shouldn't have cheaped out on that part. They're doing a good job of making up for it now I guess. Guy at the Dodge dealership basically the same thing happens with Truck parts. It's cheaper for them to sell ALL the trucks with **** parts then upgrade the ones that get sent back on warranty when guys actually use them as trucks and not just high-chairs.

 

[sparrow139]

I was going by the critical area of the table. & like I said, I present the info for others to decide as the "it works for me" response is a little too imprecise for me. If you are fine with a 10% voltage drop good for you; I however am not - why buy a more expensive puller then not be able to use it at full capability, & why keep blowing & replacing fuses - don't the prawns tend to escape in such a situation?
So like butcher says, the wire gauge table has values for critical (3% or less voltage drop) & non-critical (10% voltage drop) circuits. I will say the puller is a non-critical circuit but for those who may wish to get more performance from their devices, wiring per critical circuit specs is an OPTION. Also note that the wire you use & the fuse/breaker you use are separate but related issues. IMO using & replacing 30 amp fuses when they blow is insanity.
As for how many traps are legal, WTF is this puller made to be used in BC only?

Sorry didn't realize you were a electrical engineer for NASA...…. and yes its a BC sport fishing forum.

sounds like you plugged some info into the blue seas app and now your a self proclaimed electrical wiz... obviously you don't have a clue what your saying suggesting in your previous comment going from 4 gauge to 8 gauge through a plug that's obviously wasn't designed for that wire gauge/ amp load . good luck with that melt down ...plus what wire gauge is your harness on your ace line hauler?, guaranteed its not 4 gauge.

basically your mixing different wire sizes through a circuit with the smaller wire/ plug being the weak point.

 

[ericl]

Sorry didn't realize you were a electrical engineer for NASA

You are correct - I was however a computer consultant for NASA & a former FAA certified Avionics technician; perhaps you can share your credentials??
Previous posts rate the plug for 40 A. The puller draws 40 A max. I could splice in a larger size wire without increasing the current at either the plug or the puller - obviously you don't understand this stuff.
My puller is wired with 8AWG; it draws 30A.

 

[sparrow139]

HA that explains it! bet you couldn't wait to pull the NASA card/avionics tech totally makes sense to me now, the ultimate chest puff.

I do have a background in Aviation maintenance myself but I wont elaborate because its a waste of breath and no one cares. I havent Hit the impressive heights of being a Photo copy repair man for NASA but hey baby steps.


good luck with your space shuttle.

 

[RevyG]

good luck with your space shuttle.

Check your O rings

This thread sure got.........sidewacked

 

[SpringVelocity]

Oh good god. I am trained in engineering as well, but I don't push it on people on here. Remember there is theory and real world. Every comment is valuable.

Let me tell you a story. Many years ago I worked with an engineering team and we had a major product failure with one of our products. We probably blew the entire R and D budget just trying to prevent the issue, but not looking at what was causing the failure. Months later bingo it was a hardware/firmware issue. That didn't stop us in meantime from re-designing the entire mechanical system LOLOL. Had we found this earlier it would have saved us time and money!

If you go above you can see that Ace had stated that there was an issue with the component in puller. My feeling is that if your blowing fuses all the time phone Ace right away. I know as any manufacturer the person that makes them would want to know this.

I don't buy the plug/ electrical connection being the issue as many of you are using high power down riggers with 20+ balls. If your not tripping fuses every time it is possible the puller itself has issues.

BTW I think Ace knows what is doing. Local company and nice guys.

 

[Aces]

And another thread goes into the dumper