I just got my downrigger back from the local service and thought I'd relate something that I learned recently. The spool was warped and it wasn't operating smoothly. When I called Scotty tech support and described the problem, the first thing they asked was "How much cable do you have on?". I told them about 700' of braid. I had a previous cable break last year when a Pacific white sided dolphin got entangled in it and since I fish deep (400') sometimes, I spooled 500' on top of what was remaining. The Scotty rep said - "If you put on more than 500' it can warp and crack the spool, especially with braid". Since it doesn't say anything about this in the manual, I thought I'd let people know. Also, when the rigger came back, it was only re-spooled with about 400' of braid since the repair person talked to Scotty and they recommended no more than 400'. Has anyone else heard of this?
Scotty Downriggers with too much braid on the spool - warning!
- Thread starter seadna
- Start date
fshnfnatic
Well-Known Member
I hope this isn't the case.I just finished putting 450 ft. of 200 lb. Power Pro on my 2 brand new Scotty 1106's.Haven't
had a chance to get out yet with these so maybe I should investigate this a little further before heading out for
a troll around.I'd hate to do any damage to them,as the're brand frickn' new.Thanks for the heads up there seadna!
had a chance to get out yet with these so maybe I should investigate this a little further before heading out for
a troll around.I'd hate to do any damage to them,as the're brand frickn' new.Thanks for the heads up there seadna!
Happened last year while fishing on one of the deeper banks down here in WA - it was either Blue Dot or one of the flats near JDF canyon. A big pod of pacific white sided dolphin came by to visit. Normally, they just swoop around the boat, turn on their sides to look at you etc but always miss all the gear in the water. Not this time one went past the downrigger and I don't know how but it must have gotten tangled in it. I thought the whole rigger was going to get ripped off the side of the boat but the cable snapped. I have to admit I felt bad for days wondering if that dolphin still had a down rigger ball attached but there was nothing I could do about it prior or after the event.
Don't you think that should be in the manual or online someplace? They replaced the spool without charging for it, but did charge the standard labor fee and a little extra for de-spooling/re-spooling. I'm not complaining about the service or the charge, they're always first rate. I just wish I had known about this so that I didn't create the problem in the first place.
Last edited by a moderator:
Hookin'up
Well-Known Member
which riggers are they referring to specifically?
because the scotty digitals are only accurate with 450' of power pro braid if using braid, Craig is aware of it too
see here I did some extensive testing a couple years back
http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum...p-downriggers&highlight=scotty+counter+issues
because the scotty digitals are only accurate with 450' of power pro braid if using braid, Craig is aware of it too
see here I did some extensive testing a couple years back
http://www.sportfishingbc.com/forum...p-downriggers&highlight=scotty+counter+issues
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
Why would you put 700 feet on anyway?
It was for convenience. I had a few 100 on after the dolphin broke me off and that wasn't enough to fish the bottom out on the deeper banks. So when I got a new spool of 400', I put it on too. Last year, when the algae bloom near shore was so bad, you couldn't see 20cm in the water nearshore and big springs along the kelp beds were hard to come by. They could be found on some of the banks in 450 of water and we were regularly catching them with 300-375' of cable out but that's as far down as I could go.
This past spring, I went to a seminar given by one of the best guides in Neah Bay and he's often fishing the bottom in such conditions with 400-500' of cable out. Also, some of the commercial boats out there are also fishing that deep for consistently large springs. It's a different game for sure but you can't play it with only 200-300' of cable. It's my belief that when our waters get warmer, more of the Chinook are down deep. Hence, I think I'll be fishing deep more and more often in coming years.
Olde School
Well-Known Member
How could extra line cause the spool to warp?
Not making sense to me (yet?)
Not making sense to me (yet?)
finaddict
Well-Known Member
When it dries, it shrinks a little so tends to put great pressure on the spool.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
Torque = r x f..The greater the radius the more torsion on the round spool. If you say say force(f) is constant ie.. down rigger ball.. Your drum is plastic so it tends to have max shear stress it can take. Plastics tend to be be ductile so it doesn't fail right away and crack it just starts and to warp when it get beyond yield. Increase the radius increase the stress in material.
That is the geeky answer for you..
Last edited by a moderator:
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I just explained it your increasing the radius on spool and going beyond the plastic yield of material. When you wind something on a spool it increases it radius... It means you have a stronger torsional force on the object... Kind of hard to explain... Every material has yield. There is so much force any material can with stand before it start to warp. Especially plastic.
scott craven
Well-Known Member
Kind of like the old Shimano spools when loaded up would explode under too much tension.
Only thing I don't get is braid has no stretch, so it shouldn't be putting that torsion on the spool ?
Only thing I don't get is braid has no stretch, so it shouldn't be putting that torsion on the spool ?
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
No it still will.
I think this is the correct answer. The change in radius from 400' to 700' of braid is a small fraction of the total radius. However, the force that can be obtained by a little shrinkage is huge. I also think that's why braid is a bigger source of this problem than steel cable (which has a much lower coefficient of thermal expansion).
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I agree it is part of it but not all 700 feet vs 400 feet is not a small fraction. I wish I could test it hmmmmm. I think coefficient would be negligible..
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I just had a look at thermal coefficients on materials in my book... Interesting I didn't know those coefficients difference were so large ( 6.5 time expansion than the spool itself)... Seadna may have a point and also do think the radius change also adds to problem... Thanks for making me dig that out...
Values in 10-6 m/(m K))*)
ABS -glass fiber-reinforced 30.4 (spool)
Polyethylene (PE) 200 (braid)
Steel Stainless Austenitic (316) 16.0 (wire)
Values in 10-6 m/(m K))*)
ABS -glass fiber-reinforced 30.4 (spool)
Polyethylene (PE) 200 (braid)
Steel Stainless Austenitic (316) 16.0 (wire)
Last edited by a moderator:
barkerfam
Well-Known Member
Trying to figure this out in my head. I'm an old Mech Eng who hasn't done that for 25 years;
The torque equation makes sense but I agree that the relatively small difference in radius seems to negate this theory. Also, 400 feet of 200#power pro almost certainly has a smaller diameter than 400 feet of cable.
By "shrinkage" (no Seinfeld reference) are you implying that the core of the spool is being compressed thereby warping the spool? I would think expansion with the material putting a force on the side of the spool would have a greater effect than skrinkage.
Codfather runs 500 feet of material on his riggers as per the nootka thread. I was just planning on changing mine to that as well.
Interesting problem to think about!
The torque equation makes sense but I agree that the relatively small difference in radius seems to negate this theory. Also, 400 feet of 200#power pro almost certainly has a smaller diameter than 400 feet of cable.
By "shrinkage" (no Seinfeld reference) are you implying that the core of the spool is being compressed thereby warping the spool? I would think expansion with the material putting a force on the side of the spool would have a greater effect than skrinkage.
Codfather runs 500 feet of material on his riggers as per the nootka thread. I was just planning on changing mine to that as well.
Interesting problem to think about!
