garfield28

Hi all, I have the Lowrance elite 7 with chirp and I'm having issues keeping bottom and also with the display. When at speed I lose bottom picture and the depth flashes 0.00 along with fuzzy lines all over the display. I went out the other day for the first time in near 3 months and the display was mainly all white with the bottom showing faded and in the middle of the screen. I never seem to be able to get arches show either.. are these units supposed to hold bottom even at speed? I thought the unit was a late technology unit and capable of doing so, did I think wrong or is it my settings or software? Anyone with answers or a solution after having the same problem very much appreciated. Thanks Geoff

Sounds awesome, thanks mate

Looks delish Danmac, what's the process for how you cooked them up please? Sick of trying to fry mine but haven't too many recipes. Cheers Geoff

Hi All, One for my uncle here if I may. He has an Aluminium boat that had a lot of small pit holes from electrolysis. He had the holes repair welded, but would like to add an extra barrier of protection over the welded holes. Just wondering if anyone has ever done that before and if so what they used, or if anyone could suggest a product or a way for him to do it. He was going to fiberglass over the welded holes but hasn't really got a clue of what would be best option. Thanks heaps Geoff

Thanks everyone for the advice, and especially my old mate Frank S for the offer of his axle and to Yarraone for the offer to help and for the phone number. I ended up taking it to a place to be replaced with a new axle and have the brackets welded on. Thanks Geoff

Hi all, I'm just wondering if anyone can please tell me if it will matter if I disconnect my cable brakes from my trailer. I've chewed a bearing yesterday and the end of the axle has a decent sized gouge in it just towards the end where the castle nut screws on. I dare say it wouldn't interfere with the nut nor the bearing but I guess I don't know for sure. I don't use the brakes as it is now (even though they are currently connected) so was wondering if I could legally take them off so I can get myself a new axle without having to have the plates welded on for the brake pads. Thanks Geoff

Was good to see you and catch up Scratchie as its been a while mate, and congrats to the young fella on his catch, makes up for the king he lost at the boat when we first got to that spot... certainly had his rod buckled over and would have been nice to get that one inside the boat for a look. How beautiful was the water and conditions yesterday.... absolutely sensational! Wish I stuck around mate, I'll continue my fishing apprenticeship lol..... Must admit I saw so much bait yesterday when the boy and I were at the sisters, it was busting up all over the place, I've never seen anything like it. Hopefully I'll have another crack next weekend. Cheers

I went to the Hawkesbury River on Friday and got nothing! I tried everywhere from Bar point to Barenjoey and near the rail bridge for about 4 bites for the day. Between 6 of us only 4 fish were caught for the whole day.... pretty disappointing.

Hey all, Just wondering if Snapper still get caught this time of year please? Thinking of getting out tomorrow morning at Broughton Island but not sure if I'd be wasting my time as I want to target some Snapper. Thanks Geoff

Hey Antony, Mate I just got off the phone with the boat mechanic and he has replaced the impeller for me, done a service and filled me in on that hose fitting that has caused me dramas. He told me that I need to change that fitting and get a "check valve" as it's not good for the water to be coming from there while the outboard is running. He also told me that they were put on the outboard to flush the power head, and that water should be flushing through the leg not back through that hose piece. He also told me that is probably the best way to flush my outboard is to use that hose as it will flush the power head blah blah I've forgot half of what he said, and the words for parts he used, but he said that it would be more beneficial to the outboard to flush the motor with that hose rather than the muffs. Thanks everyone for the help and advice, very much appreciated, Geoff

Thanks mate. Yeah, I'm getting my boat serviced next week and I'm going to ask the guy to order and fit the factory part for that hose.

Actually, now I think of it Rod... do you think that because I have this attachment on that plumbed in hose, that it is the reason I have water coming back out? Would you think that the water is not meant to come back out, and if it does would you expect that it would be hot? Thanks Geoff

Thanks for the reply Rod. Mate the water is only coming out when I have the muffs on and the motor going.....I never tried that with mine, I might try and close it with my finger and see if it has a spring loaded thingy inside mine too. Thanks for the reply Stevefish, The water coming out of the tell tail only feels a little warm, it's just the water that is coming back through the other hose which was hot. I might take it for another run and see if the sea water coming through is any different and hopefully no alarms. Here is some pics of the hose that is plumbed into the outboard.

Hi Raiders, Just wondering if there are any Merc gurus who may be able to help me? My boat has been out of action for quite a while, about 2 and half months due to my bollard pulling off my boat (long story) to which there is a thread on..... anyway I have just finished the repair of the bollard and was keen to get back on the water, possibly tomorrow, but wanted to run the outboard for a bit to make sure she's good to go. Well I'm not sure of its purpose or what it's called exactly, but there is a hose that is plumbed into the motor which you can connect straight to the hose, well usually I connect the hose and the water comes out through the prop etc and also the tell tail. Well today it didn't seem to come through at first but eventually it did after a little burst of water from the hose and a blow etc, but it did seem as though there was a little blockage there. Anyhow I put the muffs on and no water was coming through the tell tail. I turned the boat off, connected the hose to the hose on the outboard water comes through the tell tail again. I switch and try it on the muffs again, and again no water through the tell tail.... I do this a few times and eventually water spurts through the tell tail using the muffs. I'm not mechanically mined about anything especially outboards, but my thoughts were that, the pressure from the hose made water come through the tell tail, but when it wouldn't spurt through from the muffs that maybe the impeller is gone - or possibly on its way out?? Well I run it on the muffs for about 10 mins without any problems, so I decided to take her for a quick run in the bay to see if she keeps the water spurting from the tell tail and make sure she's running OK, well other then seeming to cough a few cobwebs out of her at first she ran well, and was running like a charm toward the end, about a half hour into giving her a run. She started first go the water was spurting out strong etc and she run well. Here's the part that I'm concerned about and where I need advice on what may be the problem. I brought her home, hooked up the muffs to flush her, and it seemed to take a bit to get the tell tail showing again, so I turned it off, I moved the muffs around a bit a couple of times doing the same thing and then eventually she started showing through the tell tail. Well I noticed what I thought was smoke at first, but on closer inspection it was steam and fairly hot water running through the hose attachment thingy that is plumbed into the outboard. I've seen water come through that hose before, while idling and when flushing the motor, but I have never seen it have steam and hot water before. I stopped it straight away when I saw the steam, but now am worried as to why that may have happened. Any ideas as to what it might be and what I should do or try to see if it sorts it out would be much appreciated and worth a try. Thanks heaps Geoff

I know mate, but I started to think it would be less hassle to do it myself and I'd have the boat finished and on the water earlier. I don't want a "I hope it's OK job" either mate I've checked it this arvo after work and she's as dry as a &^%$ c#%!. It all feels quite firm in there now and there seems to be no moisture. Should I now maybe inject an epoxy or something to fill it and harden, and then glass up as I was going to do - As well as also putting a backing plate underneath the new bollard? Any advice much appreciated. Thanks Geoff

Thanks Fab1 Yeah the last bloke that owned it obviously had a problem with the bollard and replaced it with the one I had, but failed to put a backing plate underneath and failed to weatherproof it properly when he put this one on. The wood that is in there is fairly soft and almost came out in a mud type of consistency, and you could squeeze the moisture/water out from it. The stuff I got out and left over night was rock hard the next day, but I doubt it would be as structurally sound as it once was. Thanks mate.... you seriously think that would be good enough?

Hi All, I decided to try and fix my ripped off bollard myself. I started to sand back etc yesterday to star the repair. All looked to be OK and I was confident I could probably do the job no dramas, but once I got the dremel tool to open up the old screw holes I came across some worrying signs. I discovered that there were some old screw holes, so my guess is the last owner had lost a bollard also but failed to fix it properly. When I started using the dremel to open up the old screw holes, there was what appears to be wet and very soft wood. I gather it is wood that is sandwiched between the fiberglass in that part of the boat to add strength for the bollard etc. Anyhow I'm not sure what I should do now.... I'm not sure if I should give it to the professionals now to get it looked at properly, or cut the fiberglass back in that area and then re-glass it. I'm concerned If I try and give it to a professional now that I'll not be able to get it done under insurance as I have started to try and repair it. The wood I pulled out of the hole yesterday is completely dry now as it has sat there since yesterday, but the remainder inside the hole is still quite wet. I know there is a product that can be bought for rotted wood around window ledges, it hardens soft rotted wood, not sure if this application would work in this instance, but any advice really appreciated. I have attached a few pictures of the troubled area, and also some from underneath which shows what I believe is the thickness of a piece of wood sandwiched between the fiberglass. Thanks heaps Geoff

I got it done in Raymond Terrace locodave.... I don't know where you're located, but if it's not too far from you and you want his details I will give them to you mate. Thanks mate, and as for the bollard I haven't had time as yet Jeff... I had all sorts of dramas last weekend my truck broke down and I was behind on work etc and couldn't even pick the boat up when it was ready as I was working late... hopefully I'll sort something out this coming week/weekend. I'm super keen for a fish mate

Hi amkr, yeah the launchers are stainless, but the bimini is polished Aluminium

Hi all, Just wanna show off my newly finished custom made Bimini top and rocket launchers. All up cost me $800 which I think is quite reasonable, as a few other feelers had me over the $1000 mark. Anyhow attached are some pics. Cheers Geoff

4myson, mate in all honesty I'm blown away by how good a job you have done, and how bloody wrapped you must have been yourself when you step back and look at what you have created. A couple of questions if I may mate please, what thickness ply did you use and did you make lots of slit cuts to bend it to shape? How many litres does that hold? Would you recommend using chop strand over matting or visa versa mate? Thanks Geoff

Mate that looks TOPS!! You'd have to be wrapped with a finished project like that.....That really does looks like it was done at the factory 4myson.... obviously not your first project but mate, coz I couldn't imagine whacking something that great together on the first crack? I'm intrigued as to how you glassed inside and in the top corners while that lid was on mate?

My apologies for that was unintentional.

Thanks for that info Billfisher.... I do have a (()) near enough to me, they're pretty expensive aren't they? Have you built something out of fiberglass before mate, would love to see some pics of a project - either finished or in the process.

Another thing while on flow coat, does anyone know why some people add talcon powder to gel coat for some applications? I don't know why and whether or not it effects the waterproofing of the gel coat if mixed??