fishingrod

You might want to double check that your motor has a rectifier and regular installed. I think some smaller motors could only have a AC voltage lighting coil installed (i could be wrong). Then you need rectifier to turn it to DC volts, and then a regulator to make sure it doesnt over or under charge or fry your battery. Im a electronics tech by trade ... but not 100% familiar with outboards. The previous owner might have already checked it. The 18AH hour battery sounds a little small if you want to run a a anchor light and maybe a fluro/work during the night. There may only be a little power left to run the bilge pump if needed ... or the red and green lights. You could always start the motor and you should get a few amps of charge coming off that. Ideally you dont want to drain your battery past say 50-60% capacity depending on type of battery. AGM as a rule is a bit more resistant to extra discharging. How long is your piece of string ? 18AH doesnt always mean you can pull 1amp for 18hrs. Check what discharge rate has been allowed for. You can always get LED anchor and nav lights to save some battery power. They use less current than conventional bulbs. You might find that you only use your spot light for less than 1hr per night. Those deep cycle, AGM or sealed typed batteries are generally suited to your application as you dont have a heavy starting load. You only have a slow discharge with slowish recharge from the outboard (or home plug pack). There are SO MANY different battery technologies around at the moment im not sure what direction to steer you in without spending lots of money ! If it was my boat id look at a 40-50AH deep cycle for maybe <$150. There are a few specialised battery shops around Sydney that will have more choice than your normal dedicated marine outlet. Have you been out with the old battery in the boat and did the weight effect the trim or balance? That might dictate how big you can go. cheers Rod EDIT : PS just noticed that AndyT typed while i was typing. All good comments there

Im not sure if there is any Australian Standards or ADR type rules that you need to follow for fuel tanks. You might want to do a bit of a surf and see if you can find any rules that are applicable, even for small recreational boats. They might include pressure testing, baffles, breathing points etc. Not all welders will (or can) make a fuel tank I found ...... especially with my past experience with survey and commercial applications. Definatly do not go galvinised ! You might be better off looking for a second hand stainless CruiseTank 40-60lites for a reasonable price ready to go. (+ you could offset the cost slightly by selling your existing plastic tank for a few bucks) cheers Rod

No worries .... im just reading your other post now

Boban is on the right track with points 1, 2 & 3 EDIT BELOW: Boban has just corrected his original post. His maths calculation is correct when looking at typicaly resistive type wattages/loads on a battery (such as a light bulb) HOWEVER the output of a sounder is not a direct relationship as calculated.... but 10 points to Boban for trying I'd be suprised if either the Navman or the Lowrance 500w sounder draws any more than 1-2 amps. Upgrading the sounder will not use much more power from the battery. A 100amp/hour battery will not supply 100 amps for 1 hour or 50 amps for 2 hours. The rating is done at a certain discharge rate and allows to battery volatge to fall to a certain figure. There is a standard somewhere for how they calculate it. Not all the power stated will actually be usable !! It might be 5 amps for 20 hours for example. However after (say) 15 hours the battery voltage may have already dropped to 11-11.5 volts meaning that you will struggle to start your motor or run your Marine Radio sucessfully. They still call this a 100amp/hr battery ! Sorry for all the techno stuff .... its in my blood and I want to point people in the right direction cheers Rod edited: Boban corrected his post while i was typing !

Hi JM You dont mention what area you are from (or your profile). Areas such as North Qld have different sea conditions to those experienced in Sydney or Victoria. Im a cat lover, but in some cases a large mono can be a better alternative. Rod

A bad fuel connection letting air in ..... or a maybe a closed/blocked breather in the fuel tank giving the fuel pump a had time? Rod

Thats not meant to be a good sign from what ive read on other forums. I cant help you any further from here, sorry. I was just trying to cover some basics and preventitive stuff. Please post up the outcome so I can keep it in mind incase I have a similar problem cheers Rod

Hi Chris You dont mention if you have the Optimax or Carby motor and your method of testing. We sell electronics at work and we always ask how/where people are making their measurements if they complain about our product. I dont mean to offend you. Ive got the 2000 model carby and I get 12.6-13.0'ish volts at low revs and 13.5-14.1 up on the plane. But i've never measured it accurately with my multimeter, these readings are only off my sounder. I think there is a extra <0.5 volts to be had if i measured direct off the battery. I know the voltage may go high if the regulator is blown. But im not sure if it can go low if it fails. Any idea what caused it to fail the first time? It sounds like a pattern may be forming. Our mate Huey will be on the case i the morning I would say. You need to make sure that you are not running the motor with the battery switch off or without the battery connected/loose terminals. This can damage the charging system. A number of battery switches are make before break, meaning that there is always power connected when switching between position 1-both-2 etc. A good way to test this is to switch your nav lights on with the motor off and slowly switch your battery switch between different positions. If the lights go off between position 1 and Both it means you do not have make before break. In this case it is not recommend to switch between batteries when the engine is running. Some switches can have fancy alternator protection and would normally be marked to say so. If you have been recharging at home from a plug in charger or solar panel (without regulation) it would be advisable to isolate the engine from the battery while charging. Or has someone tried jump starting you with the leads reversed? Thats never a good thing. I dont suggest that you go out with it in the current condition cheers, Rod

Adding to the above statement that is mostly correct: -Minimum 3 satellites is minimum required for Lat/Long position. -Minimum 4 or 5 satellites is required for altitude (for boaties it doesnt mean much, but can be handy if bushwalking for 4wding) Im 99% sure most parrallel receiver GPS units can comminicate simultaniously with more than 3 satellites at once ...... but dont sweat .... your original reply was definatly on the right track cheers, Rod

I normally wouldnt comment on a topic im not up-to-speed on. I know that 12 channel parrallel units are a great upgrade over the older 6-8 channel jobs. Im not even sure if you would ever have reception from 16 satellites available at the same time. In this case it it may sound good on paper, but actually no benefit in real life. You may need to do some research. I cannot comment for sure. Rod

Hi AdamV Welcome to the site The Vseas are good boats, especially the 5m versions. Ive never been in one, but very rarely hear a bad thing about them. If i was after a used 5m boat they would be very high on my shopping list. They hold their value well. Seafarer added about 100kg weight to the 5m Vsea about 2-3 years after it was originally released (in 1993?). I think the 98 model would definatly be the heavier version, which is meant to be better. The only downside is they are heavy for small to medium cars. The V4 90 or 115hp would be a a good match. I looked at some of the 5.5m Vikings when choosing my boat and was very impressed with them. cheers Rod EDIT - "Buster 1" has put up a post if his new boat thats a similar 5m Seafarer.

Ive worked closely with a Volunteer Marine Rescue organisation and have never heard if this 2 mile limit "law". Id like to see it written somewhere? Thus my previous quote : But like JewGaffer, I fully endorse that everyone with a radio in their boat does the FR or similar radio course regardless of their area of operation. Rod

Sorry to the mods if the links here are out out of place. Its a bit hard to give links to websites here as it can clash with our sponsors. All this equipment would be available for order via Huett Marine. Plus they have already offered to give some advice to wire it all up. Im not sure how sensitive your boat is to weight balance and trim. A small deep cycle battery would be ideal in your case (but they can be rather heavy). Or the 500CCA battery that Huey suggested would work a treat too. You could really get away with a medium sized car battery if your are only in the river and not giving it too much vibration (thats my humble opinion) A battery Box http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...b5653bbd4be5d94 A waterproof fuse holder right near the battery in the positive lead. Load with a 20-30 amp fuse. http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...b5653bbd4be5d94 The plastic box idea is good to mount a switch panel. The box should have some kind of o-ring seal around the lid. Run a bead of silicon around the edge when screwing the panel front down. Its not a bad idea to drill 1-2 small holes at the bottom of the box to let any water that might get in to drain out. Also use cable glands where the cables go in and out to keep it sealed. http://www.cabac.com.au/ims_docs/GN9PG/GN9PG.htm You want a water resistant switch panel. There is heaps of models and suppliers to choose from with 4 switches upwards. Its always good to be able to access the fuses from the front without pulling the whole thing apart. But its hard to find a water resistant panel with front fuse holders. http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...b5653bbd4be5d94 Use 40amp wire to run from the battery to the switch panel, then, use the 16 amp wire for running from the switches to each of the electrical devices. Most retail marine shops will sell the wire to you by the metre. http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...b5653bbd4be5d94 Bilge pump. 500-1000 gph http://www.bla.com.au/index.php?fn=product...b5653bbd4be5d94 Whoever you buy the pump off can suggest hose and fittings. There is many variations available for all these items, including better, worse, cheaper and more expensive ones. Im just using these as ideas and examples. Im not endorsing any of the brands or models here. All connections need to be well sealed. You can use automotive style crimps and heatshrink with glue lined heatshrink. There is also various brush on "liquid" electical sealers that i have used with good sucess. I normally give a few coats over a few hours to give a good layer. The switch panel will need one positive wire going to it from the battery. Thats the red of the 40amp cable. (If the panel has indicator lights it also needs a negitive wire run to it) The positive wire from your sounder and lights would each go to their own switch. The packets often have a simple diagram to help. You need a common negitive point where all the negitive wires join up. Run the black 40amp cable to it. All the negitives from the electrical devices meet up here. You can get a "buss bar" or even just a stainless steel bolt in the side of the plastic box can be a good common point. Use some crimp rings under a nyloc nut and washer. hmmm maybe im getting too enthusiastic here ... its only a tinny. But it would be a installation to be proud of cheers Rod

Throw up some pics and we can try and give some hints on switch panels and locations etc. It would probably be worth putting in a small but reasonable system (backbone so to speak) that can give you the opportunity to expand to 4 or 6 electrical devices later on. If your going to the trouble of wiring it up, i strongly suggest a bilge pump as well. They are relitivally low cost and good piece of mind. Around 500-1000gph would be a start. If your motor doesnt charge the battery then try not to get to carried away down the track and decide you want a live bait tank. You could run it off the battery, but there is a chance of flattening it. cheers Rod

You should make sure that it has a (INT) international channel setting as well. Our local repeaters require that INT or AUS is selected ALSO In USA mode some channels have restricted output power. Other channels such as 87A and the seaphone channels may not be available on the radio. But both are generally defunct and not in use any more here (seaphone has vitualy gone in Australia now) The problem with a US sourced unit is that the default setting may be USA and everytime you switch it on it goes into USA meaning you need to manually select INT or AUS. But in a nut shell, it will generally work here. cheers Rod

Id rather reduce the chance of a spark under the floor where there could be fuel vapours. Under the floor may be ok as long as they are run neatly and bundled or supported from rubbing and chaffing + dont get caught or squashed under any ribs etc. Obviously dont have any joins under the floor and try and keep them away from fuel hoses. cheers, Rod

No worries mate. Murphys law can work in your favour sometimes. With a multimeter and a small amount of electronic apitude its easy to check the basics. Well done to your neighbour. Im not sure how common practise it is running wires under the floor though (unless its a centre console) cheers Rod

What sort of Electrics do you want to wire up ? (just lights ... or radio, bilge pump, sounder etc as well) Re the battery choice. That depends a lot on: -how many electrics you want to run -how long you plan to be out at night -does your motor charge your battery -and do you start your motor with the battery -area of operation (for very calm waters you can get away with a low cost generic car battery if its not critical to start the motor) You should use double insulated wire with tin plated copper for marine applications. Its expensive, but will last the longest. We can suggest wire thicknesss etc after we know what you need to do. All connections need to be well sealed against moisture. You will get MANY suggestions from people here on the techniques and products to use. Lets work out what you want to wire up first ... then we can elaborate on diagrams, instructions etc. Re Safety wise A waterproof blade fuse holder located very near the battery is my first suggestion. Then smaller rated fuses for each individual electric item. cheers Rod

Are we getting carried away and not covering the most basic checks ? BayRunner sounds very competant with his first detailed description. If he can clean a carby and check for spark im sure he will know how to prime it. However no one has mentioned the basics: - Fuel lines connected secure with no leaks. - Primer bulb squeezes positivally and firms up after a number squeezes. - Use of choke or prime function + idle speed lever The spark issue does sound concerning. I do a reasonable amount of electronic tech supoort at work and its always good to get the whole picture from grass roots. Its amazing how many basic things can get overlooked. Ive seen some people connect a fuel line and turn the key expecting a carby tech 2 stroke to start within a few seconds. (no ETEC jokes please). No offence mate, im not saying you are in this category ! cheers Rod

Does this mean that no lights come on at all ? .... or no sound/static .... more information please (im happy to help) Hey Dan What does it look like? (a photo maybe) Microphone on left hand side, 3 slide switches on the top, 3 smallish knobs under the slide switches and one larger knob on the right hand side? Rod

Ive never heard of the above. The Class Licence really doesnt mean all that much to a boatie. Previously (roughtly 10-15 years ago) all boats with marine band radios needed a ship station licence. I was paying approx $30-60 per year. This basically licenced the radio equipment/appartus on board that vessel. The federal department (currently called ACMA) did away with this. You no longer need to pay for the individual ship station licence. They called the new "situation" a class licence. Which in lay-mans-terms means its now free of charge with no paper work required. You need to make sure you are using type-approved equipment that 99.9% of over the counter unmodified marine radio equipment is. If the boat was equiped with a VHF or HF radio the requirement was that a person on board must have a personal qualification (which is similar to what is being offered at the FR radio course) This is was the case 10-15 years ago and still is the case now. Thats a very valid comment that you have made. Ideally everyone should make themselves aware of the rescue and radio facilities available in your area and their times of operation. cheers, Rod

Hi Dan What is it doing .... or not doing ? (and what brand/model) We'll see if we can offer some advice. I dont know any shops I can suggest. Labour is expensive these days ........Sometimes with the price of electronics it may not be worth doing repair. It could be an antenna or installation or user issue. (no offence) Rod

I had a bit of a look around. There are a number of newly issued repeater licences in NSW and im guessing a lot of the new sites dont have repeaters actually installed and activated yet. If all the sites I found actually get repeaters installed there is a good system on the way ! On second thoughts, im a little hesistant to put up a the list of repeaters because a number of them arent switched on and I cant verify the ones that are on. A number of the repeaters are owned and run by the AVCG and RVCP, so if there is a repeater the local base should be able to tell you of its existance. Just a bit of general info: -There are 5 repeater channels in the VHF marine band. Channels 21, 22, 80, 81 and 82. -Most repeaters have a short "tail" after you let go of the microphone. You can hear the repeater still transmitting a silent signal for 1-2 seconds. This is not a static hash tail like when the squelch is off. It sounds like someone is holding a microphone down and not talking for 1-2 seconds. Occasionaly some repeaters have a roger beep that sounds at the end of each transmission. -Depending on your radio brand/model you need to have AUS Australian or International channel mode selected. If you are in the USA mode some channels operate differently and have power restrictions. (IE certain channels will only transmit on low power for example) I hope thats of some help Rod

If you can you should run (extend) the inlet hose from the pump down into the bottom of the tank. Without seeing a pic of the inside of the tank, you might find that all the new water sits on the top and goes straight out the outlet overflow, meaning little new water actually reaches the bottom on the tank. See how it goesfirst , it all depends what sort of bait you are keeping alive. Yakkas are generally pretty hardy. cheers, Rod

VHF 72 is not a repeater channel. You are talking to each other directly boat to boat. I mite have a hunt around on the weekend re repeaters VS area of operation Rod