Fishing Forum

My brother fisherman. I would like to know how you feel about having a positive or negative charge when trolling with down riggers. Is it worth being concerned about?
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IMO it all has to do with what kind of boat you have, if it is fiberglass, there is no need to worry, if it's aluminum, then it could be a problem but you will have to measure it with a meter to tell for sure. Personally, I've never had any problem with it on any of my boats and I think it is less of a problem than most people think but there are those people that swear it can cause problems.
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Yes I am running an aluminum bass tracker. How and where do you check the voltage?
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Here is a link that tells you all about it: https://www.protroll.com/bb-chapter-3
Looks like fiberglass boats can be affected by this as well.
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Thank you for the info. I don't have electric start, but will test it . Can't say I've worried about it but would like to know if others do.
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[quote wiperhunter2]IMO it all has to do with what kind of boat you have, if it is fiberglass, there is no need to worry, if it's aluminum, then it could be a problem but you will have to measure it with a meter to tell for sure. Personally, I've never had any problem with it on any of my boats and I think it is less of a problem than most people think but there are those people that swear it can cause problems.[/quote]


I studied the death out of this about 15 or so years ago. I made some interesting observations then, but I am not sure if they are still true.

My first observation is that Cannon made the claims (that was my unit), and sold a "black box" to fix this. The other downrigger makers never made the claim, at least at that time.

My second observation was that if the boat was properly grounded to the boat, like your car battery is grounded to the frame of the car, then the problem should go away. I grounded mine.

"I think it is less of a problem than most people think but there are those people that swear it can cause problems"

I totally agree. I don't know how you would ever test the effect. I guess two identical boats could be set up, one with a positive charge, one with a negative charge, and they could troll the exact same set-up, through the ..................... Well, I guess that does not make a lot of sense.

Still, one has to wonder. Many fish are noted to produce electrical fields when in schools, or when in distress. It is logical, if not easily provable, that a positive or negative charge, or even variations in in the strength of these charges (think black box) makes sense.

Personally, I have also never observed that it made a difference, but............ I can't prove it won't make a difference to others or their boats.

you don't want a negative charge or voltage over 1v dc ,i cant remember for sure but you measure from the battery grount to the down rigger cable with the weight in the water .
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Guess I don't understand your "second observation", saying if you properly ground your boat to your boat, then the problem should go away...?? If you properly grounded (something else) to your boat, I'd like to know what it was, and how you did it....maybe I'd like to try it....tks....
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I think what Anglinarcher is saying is that all of the negative sides of the electrical systems in you boat need to be grounded in your boat, if not properly grounded to the negative side of your battery, it could leak voltage, in theory and this could cause a higher than .6 or .7 vt reading when testing the way indicated above. I would have to agree and I think all boats are set up that way from the factory but over time, wires can wear through or electrical modifications can cause shorts to the hull or other non grounded metal in your boat. I just don't see that happening when a boat is new but over time I think it is very possible.
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As mentioned the negative side can throw unwanted voltage into your hull or outdrive. Anytime you have 2 dis-similar metals in contact is a corrosion point as well. Its a preventive measure one has to take. Stainless steel for example is commonly used thru out both aluminum & glass boats but corrosion will be seen more up against aluminum. I bought my boat that seen a lot of salt water use from the Everett WA area. The salt added an extra boost in corrosion in some areas of the boat. Stainless latches & snaps had deep pitting under them into the aluminum gunnel. I have cleaned up those effected areas as a process of elimination of a "HOT BOAT".
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Interesting, do you check all your boats to find out if they are HOT? I've read about doing it but since I've never had a problem catching fish, I've never bothered to check.
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Another solution is to use non conductive cable, like braid.
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Cannon has a circuit in the Mag 5 & MAG 10 that keeps the voltage difference at a + 0.6 vdc. The DIGATROLLS have an adjustment capability to set them at what you want. Scotty's don't have this. I don't know about Big Jon or Walker. Two companies offer the 'Black Box' solution and I tried it on my 4 Scotty's last year with very little success. It just couldn't handle 4 downriggers on my boat. I sold it to somebody in Washington State on ebay. He's very happy with it on his 2 downriggers.[/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]You can measure the voltage by putting your boat in the water, dropping the downrigger weight into the water, and use a DIGITAL volt meter to measure the DC voltage difference. Put the negative meter lead on the battery negative post and touch the positive lead to the metal wire cable on your downrigger. It doesn't produce a difference reading if you are running braided line on the DR. Ideally, you should be reading about .5/.6, plus or minus .2. If considerably more than that, then you have a grounding problem somewhere in your boat. You shouldn't have a problem from any boat made in the last 10 to 15 years as the MFG's have improved the grounding systems in all their products. In a 20 year old boat (or older) their COULD be some significant problems in this area. You won't know unless you measure it.[/#800000][/font]
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