Pretty much had my fill of these digital devices. Only 2 wks. old on new high speed and counter failed. I know scotty outsources production but come on guys get it together. Maybe enough posts re: digital counters will wake them up. Last year another new high speed............3 counters. Also mid to end of season guess what................no spares left so many failed they ran out.
Scotty high speed riggers digital counter
- Thread starter speydog
- Start date
tubber
Well-Known Member
As you know, Scotty will take care of you eventually. In the meanwhile, you should mark your line with brass or yellow (wire) or red (braid) stops every 20 or 25 or 50 feet and do some math as the line goes out. PITA for all the stopping though. Commercial trollers don't have line counters.
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Gear'n'beer!
Well-Known Member
Do you have the new style with the on/off switch spey? I haven't had any issues with the new ones at all, scotty gave me a couple spares also and haven't needed them. If your local I could lend you a couple
Part Timer
Member
I've had the same problem. Brand new HP and have gone through 3 counters in 2 weeks. Gone Fishing has been good and replaced but not good when you are out west and no access to replacements.
Seafever
Well-Known Member
tubber:-
Commercial trollers may not have line counters...but most do have high-tech sonar/fishfinders that can show them exactly where their cannonballs are at.
And anyway the commercial guys aren't using Scotty sport downriggers.
Scotty may take care of you "eventually"....what is "eventually"?......3 days ? 3 weeks ? 3 months?
Their digital line counters are crap........and there's no getting away from it.
And they need to address the issue.........because this has been going on for quite awhile....
My last new truck had bumper to bumper warranty....which sounds awesome...but it isn't when you have to keep going to the shop to have the same part replaced 6 times (which happened on mine).
And that was just one of many pain-in-the-arse warranty visits.......always occurring at the most inconvenient time......
A good warranty does not indicate how well an item is made in the first place........
Commercial trollers may not have line counters...but most do have high-tech sonar/fishfinders that can show them exactly where their cannonballs are at.
And anyway the commercial guys aren't using Scotty sport downriggers.
Scotty may take care of you "eventually"....what is "eventually"?......3 days ? 3 weeks ? 3 months?
Their digital line counters are crap........and there's no getting away from it.
And they need to address the issue.........because this has been going on for quite awhile....
My last new truck had bumper to bumper warranty....which sounds awesome...but it isn't when you have to keep going to the shop to have the same part replaced 6 times (which happened on mine).
And that was just one of many pain-in-the-arse warranty visits.......always occurring at the most inconvenient time......
A good warranty does not indicate how well an item is made in the first place........
Rayvon
Well-Known Member
I had the same thing happen to me,a real pita when your out on the water.I replaced the riggers I had stolen this summer and upgraded (I thought) to the new digital high speed riggers.On the second trip out one of the digital readouts froze up.couldn't adjust,zero or even turn it off.I took it out to Scotty in Sidney and they gave me a complete new cover and told me I should carry a spare as they do fail sometimes.I'm lucky I live close enough to Scotty it's not a huge deal for me to see them,but if I'm out off Bamfield on an annual trip and it goes out I will be P'd.Off.They should recall these things if their unreliable.I've been very happy with Scotty's warranty in the past.I hope they can keep their good reputation for service.
Hookin'up
Well-Known Member
Call Craig or Bill at Scotty
There is a new counter in the works
Its been working well on my boat for quite some time now and I am sure nobody went thru as many as I did
But they do seem to have it fixed now, I haven't replaced one since last fall and it was almost a weekly occurrence
For the last couple years
Sent from my rotary phone using tapacrap!
There is a new counter in the works
Its been working well on my boat for quite some time now and I am sure nobody went thru as many as I did
But they do seem to have it fixed now, I haven't replaced one since last fall and it was almost a weekly occurrence
For the last couple years
Sent from my rotary phone using tapacrap!
I was an early adopter of the Scotty High Speeds 4 or 5 years ago and the digital counters are original and still working well as are the riggers and Scotty's factory service of them when needed, has been excellent and without cost.
Recently I purchased a new digital counter which is on the boat as a spare because I understand that the battery is expected to run out in about 5 years so I did not want to be caught without a counter while fishing. Don't know if the spare which is on the boat is of the new type with the switch that will allow you to turn off the counter and save battery life. I don't know if there is a recent manufacture run which may be of lesser reliability than the original ones but I guess I will find out when the batteries on my first generation digital counters burn out and we give the replacement counter a try.
That said, it has always bothered me that Scotty designed the counter so that the battery was sealed into it and you have to replace the whole counter at rather high cost rather than just replace the battery. Why not design it with an O-ring sealed battery compartment, so you just replace the battery, unless the battery is most of the cost of the unit which seems high. Even with the new design, with a switch which means the unit does not have to be on all the time and thus have greater battery life, you are still going to have to buy a new counter at some point. I think the manual counters on the older design riggers have a life time warranty unlike the new digital ones. The life time warranty is how Scotty grew market share, dominate the local BC market and why I have purchased many Scotty Riggers. For that reason I don't like it when they play around the edges with the warranty as they seem to have with the digital counters but I understand it because batteries have a limited life.
When my original digital counters die I am going to cut one open and see what would be involved in sourcing a battery and resealing the unit just to see if it can be done. Since the battery is sealed in and not intended to be replaced I doubt Scotty went to the trouble to make the battery a proprietary design as some manufactures sometimes do to create a cash cow. It may be worth trying to refurbish my original very reliable counters if they stop working for no other reason than a dead battery. Has anyone tried this already?
I am curious, does Scotty warranty the digital counters for the expected life of the battery which I think is about five years or are you required to buy a new counter because it is consider a consumable because the battery is sealed into it, no matter when it fails.
Recently I purchased a new digital counter which is on the boat as a spare because I understand that the battery is expected to run out in about 5 years so I did not want to be caught without a counter while fishing. Don't know if the spare which is on the boat is of the new type with the switch that will allow you to turn off the counter and save battery life. I don't know if there is a recent manufacture run which may be of lesser reliability than the original ones but I guess I will find out when the batteries on my first generation digital counters burn out and we give the replacement counter a try.
That said, it has always bothered me that Scotty designed the counter so that the battery was sealed into it and you have to replace the whole counter at rather high cost rather than just replace the battery. Why not design it with an O-ring sealed battery compartment, so you just replace the battery, unless the battery is most of the cost of the unit which seems high. Even with the new design, with a switch which means the unit does not have to be on all the time and thus have greater battery life, you are still going to have to buy a new counter at some point. I think the manual counters on the older design riggers have a life time warranty unlike the new digital ones. The life time warranty is how Scotty grew market share, dominate the local BC market and why I have purchased many Scotty Riggers. For that reason I don't like it when they play around the edges with the warranty as they seem to have with the digital counters but I understand it because batteries have a limited life.
When my original digital counters die I am going to cut one open and see what would be involved in sourcing a battery and resealing the unit just to see if it can be done. Since the battery is sealed in and not intended to be replaced I doubt Scotty went to the trouble to make the battery a proprietary design as some manufactures sometimes do to create a cash cow. It may be worth trying to refurbish my original very reliable counters if they stop working for no other reason than a dead battery. Has anyone tried this already?
I am curious, does Scotty warranty the digital counters for the expected life of the battery which I think is about five years or are you required to buy a new counter because it is consider a consumable because the battery is sealed into it, no matter when it fails.
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On/off switch on counters. Not a battery problem but condensation issue. Water must have shorted out electronics. Second new rigger the same now could fail any day. Have to take whole rigger to tackle shop, be registered with serial #, fill out replacement report, tech must perform changes, to get warranty.
Good idea marking braid with color. Not to sound arrogant but still an excuse for Scotty failure, they know very well this has been an issue for several years. Put the roller counters back on the high speeds at least they worked.
Good idea marking braid with color. Not to sound arrogant but still an excuse for Scotty failure, they know very well this has been an issue for several years. Put the roller counters back on the high speeds at least they worked.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I am not really surprised it probably has nothing to do with Scotty a offshore supplier. Its doubtful the counter is made here it probably is from overseas. That being said I heard they replace them pretty quick. Only thing I do know is they have an extremely small R and D team, so that can be hard when dealing with issues like these without the technical staff... I am sure they will figure it out. Sure its a pain in butt... I used them I do like them...
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Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
My Scotty HP digi-counter works just fine. It consistently indicates incorrect depths within a bracket of 3 to 7 meters (depending on what day of the week it is and how it feels on that particular morning) but it powers up just fine and shows me numbers, which is important because otherwise how else would I have conclusive proof that I am reading the incorrect depths?
I agree--- a good match would be the new HP DR's coupled with the pre-industrial revolution paddle wheel counters
I agree--- a good match would be the new HP DR's coupled with the pre-industrial revolution paddle wheel counters
walleyes
Crew Member
Tourque has nothing to do with a free spooling mechanical counter there is no energy transferred to the counter itself and if they last on the old ones for years and years when free spooling out at high speeds they would last in a high speed retrieval.
saanauk
Well-Known Member
For $30 you can have a back up mechanical one added: http://www.johnssportinggoods.com/index.php/scotty-2106-counter-2/
