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zmk1962

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Posts posted by zmk1962

    Tragedy and exploration

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Great report. Sounds like you had fun. I also believe if something is not working then mixing it up - different place different rig etc. 

    Regarding the safety reminder and sad news - the papers reported 6m craft and 3 onboard something like 40, 60 and 70yo washed onto rocks. So it sounds like the rig that you encountered. As you say you must do your homework especially  if you plan to do that type of trolling in close and keep one eye on the sea at all times and a skipper at the helm. So sad and so avoidable. 

    Stay safe raiders!

    cheers

    Zoran

    Leave the chain attached

    in Boating

    Posted

    Hey Swordies — I think we need a whole section/Forum perhaps in Bar or Boating, dedicated to “Boat Ramp Bewdies” or “Boat Ramp Fails” to catalogue these events. As a learning tool - of course!

    cheers

    Zoran

    • Like 2

    Leave the chain attached

    in Boating

    Posted

    Oh Man ! .... I saw that same thing at Parsley Bay ramp several years ago - from memory it was a brand new white Haines Signature - the wife and daughter were in the boat when it was launched 2m short of the water. 

    What was worse than the initial bang and crunch sound ?  The sound of the hull being winched back up onto the trailer dragged across the ramp concrete corrugations ----  !!!!!

    Feel sorry for them. Just take the extra few seconds and undo the hitches when the stern is in the water.

    Cheers 

    Zoran

    • Like 1

    Can soft plastics be re used??

    in Fishing Chat

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Kaneo said:

    Yeah think illl do that just leave them on the jig give it a rinse and only keep the same lures together in their own original packaging :)

    With Berkley shads, I found if I leave them on the lead head jig and put them back in the liquid solution that the lead reacts with something and sort of dissolves making a mess - probably changes the taste as well.  So I remove the plastic from the jigs, rinse both under fresh water, leave jigs to dry - helps them from rusting and put the plastics go back in their original solution.

    Cheers Z

    Brisbane Water Flatties

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Got inspired by Science man... had 5min spare yesterday after cutting the grass so ground down an old screwdriver and now have my own ikejime - also drilled my cutting board so it sits with my knife and pliers etc. Thanks again.

    Now to find the flatties......

     

    IMG_7644.JPG

    Brisbane Water Flatties

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    11 minutes ago, Scienceman said:

    Happy to help out and I thought the 22 comments very funny. Just took a photo of the ikejime I use. Made by SureCatch so should be readily available. Probably needs a sharpen and starting to rust a little but I have had it for +10 years. I drilled a hole at the side of the cutting board mounted at the back of the boat that this fits nicely into and I just leave it there, ready to use when needed.

    IMG_1496.JPG

    Sorry can't resist.... that handle would just encourage me to look where to load the 22 cartridge !!!!   he he he :gun_bandana:

    Cheers Z 

    Best of luck with more flatties over the break... 

    Brisbane water 19 December

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    18 hours ago, antonywardle said:

    Going outside Saturday morning to get the flathead that @zmk1962 didn't get on Tuesday ;-)

    Nice one Mr Wardle !! ....   He he he.  Of course, being the sharing caring fishraider I had to leave some behind for you.... are we going to start keeping score ?   BTW, the very very subtle plug for ETEC has not gone unnoticed.

    Best of luck on Saturday mate !

    Cheers Z

    Brisbane Water Flatties

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    15 hours ago, Scienceman said:

    Ikijime, basically a spike with a handle. Much better than having them die slowly in the esky and it also makes it easier to get the hook out and transfer into the esky. I do this with all the fish I keep. Most good fishing shops sell them.

    Hey Scienceman... as I mentioned I am very interested in stuff like this. I do carry an awl on board (which I use for bait rigging but could also be used as an ikijime) however I never really knew where exactly to spike the different fish species - very much a hit and miss approach.  

    But since you shared the correct name for this technique, I googled it and found a free iphone app  (https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/ikijime-tool-lite/id704317893?mt=8) which had all the info for common species.  Very useful.

    THANKS SO MUCH !!!

    Cheers

    Zoran

    • Thanks 1

    Brisbane Water Flatties

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    50 minutes ago, blaxland said:

    Nice catch BTW i usse a club seems brutal,  is the spike more humane and how do you now where to use it on most species?

     

    I really thought it was a 22 and wanted to know how Scienceman stopped the shell going thru the hull !!

    But it seems Scienceman uses some Ninja tactics instead - ikijime !!!

    But hats off -  just joshing with you Scienceman wish I could show that catch of  flatties from my Mondays effort!

    cheers Z 

    Long Reef Monday 19/12/2017

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Well during the week the surface temp charts showed a tendril of warm water 22C pushed to around Sydney at about 100m. So I originally planned to fish 12mile (100-130m) out of Sydney harbour but then the conditions changed to N NE winds so the plan changed to Long Reef and wide so we could return with the stronger afternoon wind at our back.  Perhaps the N NE winds accelerated some of the hot water at the surface. 

    Cheers Z

    6BAEC88D-357E-4D9B-8093-1378036CE436.png

    BBB0ABBE-C150-4B66-8ACC-670B6C337C85.png

    Long Reef Monday 19/12/2017

    in Fishing Reports

    Posted

    Hey Raiders,

    What unsettled mixed weather we are having here in Sydney, for most of the week Sunday 18th looked the goods for a day offshore up until the day before when Seabreeze showed 20-25kts Southerly and so we cancelled the day --- then Sunday comes around and it turns out 5kts bah humbug. 

    Anyway, managed to go out yesterday Monday 19th with a mate - plan was to launch at Davidson, pick up live bait at balmoral and then hit Long Reef. Forecast was for 13kts NE for most of the day.

    The  mixed unsettled weather continued through the day… scorching sun and some wind and then a thunderstorm at the ramp. … 

    Started off so promising - armed with 9 live yakkas from balmoral hit long reef at 8am -

    Rigged live yakka near bottom, and another under a balloon. Two paternoster rigs with squid, pillie and plastics. 

    Moved from Long Reef out to Murphys (60m) and some other interesting marks....

    The bottom rigged yakka got taken twice, but still at the end of the day the tally was ----

    3 maori wrasse
    4 juvenile snapper
    1 sergeant baker
    2 kingfish (63cm and 35cm)
    1 morwong keeper
    1 nannygai keeper

    Not a flathead in sight 30-40-50-60m zippo … water 23.5C …colour - blue when sun out, dark oily green with the clouds… it just kept changing !!!

    On the way back down rigged a live yakka at 10m depth around north head for 1hr on the outgoing tide…zip … eventually released him.  The pro boat guides were down rigging same area… zip  very quiet day they said.. who can pick it !   NOT ME !

    Cheer,

    Zoran

     

    Second Battery Suggestions needed

    in Boating

    Posted

    1 hour ago, TSCTSC said:

    Hi everyone. Interesting thread.

    So is it better and less hassle to install a vsr instead of an 1,2,1+2, off isolator switch? I can imagine that I might forget to switch the isolator. And how much is the vsr compared to isolator?

    As for dropping plates, is optima the best then? My dealer says marine century is just as good. Is that true?

    Is there a way to mount the battery on the deck to reduce pounding to the battery?

    Hi TSCTSC.... VSRs do not replace battery isolation switches they have separate functions. 

    I run Century Marine batteries... a few months back I just retired a 10yo century battery... still working but boat mech was concerned about the structural integrity of the 10yo plastic casing - no experience with batteries that old.  

    The battery that had a plate failure... was an AMARON  Marine battery. Long story short - boat was in for a service Saturday, battery 1 tested bad, I had a trip offshore planned the next day, service yard only had the AMARON battery left at the CCA I needed, I had it installed.   4yrs later it dropped a plate while planing at 4000rpm. When I checked it at home it had started to expanded like a puffer fish - I guess the 40amp charge from the motor charging circuit had to go somewhere - according to my mechanics I was very lucky the motor charging circuit, Voltage Regs or ECM weren't fried. SO with my particular motor, this is another consideration to run with 1+2 switched on ... there are more plates to spread the charge current across.... and why I have Battery 3.  

    Cheers Z 

    Second Battery Suggestions needed

    in Boating

    Posted · Edited by zmk1962

    On 12/14/2017 at 6:10 PM, Sigma said:

    Hi Zoran,

    You are correct. All of my electronics bar the bilge pump have been wired so that power is drawn from battery 2.

    I wired it that so that nothing can drain the main starting battery therefore knowing that I have plenty to start the engine. Bilge pump is wired to the main battery as you wouldn't want it wired (in case of an emergency) to a battery that could be almost drained (batt 2).

    VSR's are installed as a piece of mind so that you don't need to worry about forgetting to switch over your switch manually. Also, the VSR switches the charging automatically (as your driving) from one battery to the other keeping them at their peak all the time.

    In the case where you mentioned that if battery 2 died for whatever reason, you can then switch it to "1+2" on the switch and still use your electronics. Yes, it would drain battery 1 doing this but if I ever had that circumstance, then it would tell me that it's time to pack up and go. Some might choose to stay using the one battery.....it's no different to the boats that don't have a dual battery system installed and run the risk of discharging their battery. I'm fortunate to having a third gel battery (not big...like a small car battery) that I have as a spare if we plan doing an all nighter or weekend away fishing......but I have yet to use it.

    The whole idea is to isolate your starting battery from other things that can drain it, automatically.....not worrying if you did it manually. Before I had a VSR, I forgot so many times to switch it over and that could have been costly. So, for a few $$$, I found that it wasn't worth the headache. 

    Reading your posts over a long time now Zoran, and knowing how handy and knowledgeable you are, I personally don't think you would have too much (if any) problems installing this on your boat.

    I will see if I can dig up my instructions that I got with the VSR and PM you the drawing.

    Cheers

    Dave

    Hi Dave,

    Thanks so much for your comments and the PM with your VSR specs.

    I learnt something new from reading that...which is that some newer VSR set-ups come with a Dual Circuit Battery Switch - which keeps BOTH the starter and electronics circuits live at the same time but separate (ie they each run off their own battery)... and the VSR automatically charges one battery at a time, giving preference to the starter battery.  The dual circuit switch lets you isolate everything (turn everything off), run with both circuits active (but separate) or combine circuits to run everything of both batteries. 

    All very handy and automated for every day operation and keeping both battery's charged. 

    The only downside I can see to this set up is that it relies on both batteries being in a working condition.

    So if you consider the scenario I described where you have a battery failure  (eg. one that has dropped a plate) with this set up you will either lose your electronics or drain the good battery if you combine the circuits. I know you say, that losing a battery would be the signal to call it and head back, but I fear I would not be able to start my motor at all if I combined the bad battery into the circuit and it dropped the combined circuit voltage to less than 8-10V (I posted before that some EFIs can have trouble priming the high pressure pump if voltage drops).

    As I see it, to protect myself from this with your VSR set up, I would need to install additional battery isolation switches to be able to completely isolate one or the other of the batteries..so I can still combine circuits to get the electricity to where I need it - but keep the bad battery isolated.

    I know catastrophic failure of a battery is a rare occurrence, but it has happened to me - with a 4yr old heavy duty marine battery - mounted at the stern where the vibrations and pounding are minimal.

    Personally I have solved my battery charging issues with a trickle charge set up that I connect with one cable (mutli pin plug) when home, but if I was to install a VSR I'd probably go down the path that jeffb5.8 has installed... a VSR with a standard 1, 2, 1+2 battery isolator switch (with combined start and electronics circuit). I'd then have both batteries charging while on board and be able to choose any combination of batteries to operate from.

    Note: with this set up since everything is sitting on the same electricity circuit, I have a large capacity suppressor installed to filter out spikes, engine and electric motor noise that might interfere with radios, sounders etc. Suppressors are standard car electronics stuff that has been around for years.

    So net is, I don't think there is a right or wrong set up, but its a matter of understanding what you have, your boat/motor and its limitations. One is more automated (but is exposed in the rare case of catastrophic battery failure), the other is a bit more manual (but has no exposure).

    Cheers

    Zoran

     

    Second Battery Suggestions needed

    in Boating

    Posted

    1 hour ago, jeffb5.8 said:

    Ok

    So I if select Battery 1 everything works on my boat, If I select battery 2 everything works on my boat, So I guess they have just wired the battery two in series.

    Hi Jeff, they are wired in parallel through the battery isolation switch. Starter battery to 1, Aux battery to 2 and they have wired your start and electronics circuits to run off the common out (+ve) from the switch.  So all your electricity needs are supplied from either battery 1 or 2 or 1+2 ... and the VSR just keeps both batteries charged, with a preference to keeping battery 1 charged at all times.

    BTW this is the way I have batteries and switches wired up (without a VSR). I do not separate my starter and electronics circuits.

    Cheers Z

    PS - if the batteries were wired in series you would have 12+12=24V running.

    Second Battery Suggestions needed

    in Boating

    Posted

    13 hours ago, Sigma said:

    When I turn off the engine, leaving the switch on "1", the voltage on display for battery 1 doesn't move but once I turn on lights, live bait tank or radio, the voltage drops on display for battery 2.....which is basically isolating my starting battery (battery 1) and drawing power from battery 2 (which is what you want it to do). No need to switch over as your VSR does it for you.

    Hi Sigma, given what you are seeing on your voltage gauges, in your set up it looks like the electronics are all hard wired to run off battery 2.  So in effect the battery switch mainly controls which battery will be used to start the motor. 

    I'd be interested to know what happens if battery 2 dies - say two plates collapse and create a short?  Can you run your electronics? 

    As I see it:

    Position 1:  provides no power to electronics.

    Position 2: has the shorted battery so no electronics.

    Position 1+2: power is supplied to electronics from battery 1, but the shorted battery 2 would be draining battery 1.

    --

    Also, do you have another switch somewhere to isolate your electronics from the battery 2?

     

    14 hours ago, Fishop said:

    My understanding was you dont need the 1 - 1+2 - 2 - OFF switch anymore with the VSR.

    Hi Fishop. I understand VSRs are aids to charging - so I agree that you don't need the switch to keep both batteries charged. 

    But I still thought you needed the switch to chose the battery (or combination of batteries) for starting the motor or for powering high current devices like anchor winches. Are you saying that the VSR can carry high current loads and your run the heavy current draw circuit through it ??

    -------------------

    Thanks guys... I don't have a VSR installed and I have not worked my way through a VSR installation wiring diagram (it would be great if someone could post one) so just trying to better understand the new model VSRs and their application. 

    Bear, I hope this is not straying too far of your original post on this topic.

    Cheers

    Zoran

     

    Second Battery Suggestions needed

    in Boating

    Posted

    As I understand it a VSR will keep both of your batteries charged (it charges start battery and then when that is at capacity starts to charge the Aux, when start battery charge drops it switches back)... so if you are running with 1+2 just to charge them you may not need to do this if the VSR is installed correctly and operating correctly.

    It's ok to switch to 2 when at rest so as to keep your starter battery in best condition for starting. But if you don't switch to 2 and stay on the starter battery do you find that you are draining the starter?

    Personally unless I was pulled up for a long time like overnight I would find it too much hassle switching back and forth (esp if the battery switch is not able to be reached easily) and I'd get a bigger capacity starter battery. and keep the Aux as the backup start battery.  Overnight stays are a different ball game though.

    Cheers Zoran

    PS - In my case, I run with 1+2 since installing the anchor winch as that was the recommendation from Stressfree - those winches suck juice and its good to spread load across a lot of battery plates !!  I keep 3 as Aux starter. 

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