Thread: Making lemonade out of a lemon situation...

Thursday "squeezed" in a trip before starting a home water softener install, behind me now & online. Went back to a first luv= Long- lining a local lake. Motor out to a 1st spot & the depth finder is showing 3 vertical bars & nothing else. This Lowrance unit was replaced after it's 1st yr of service & in yr 2 looks like the same issue. So used a phone app to track speed, however, had no info of the depth they were holding. So in initial troubleshooting check power & only have 1 of 4 battery symbols showing, so decide to idle motor & charge system while trolling. 2 1/2 hrs of this & a few good fish come aboard in the morning fog....then things take a turn & the motor dies, easy diagnosis, NO GAS!. So about this time most of the fog lifts & I'm on the further side of the lake from the ramp & know the river current will expend more power in the final stretch, but tilt the motor for less drag & start the 2 hr journey back. 7 more specks lifts the sprits & overall many throwbacks for the day makes things tolerable. Get through the lake entrance current & couple fellas ask if they can help tow, thank them & know I'm within 3/4 mile of the ramp & still haven't switched to the 3rd battery, so forward & onward @ snail pace wanting to see if any river bank activity is happening, which turns out to show fruit, but the mercury reminds the senses to wrap things up & call it a day. All is well that ends well, back to the ramp. Turns out had a false power reading due to positive wire that had came loose from connector @ post, but have things wired in parallel so didn't fully effect all accessories. Things also came to light that motor maintenance schedule is do & all necessary items are on order. Take time to run down your check list is the moral of the story.....Btw do have sea tow on insurance, but sure they wouldn't have beat the 2 hr window. Pics of the morning....

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Originally Posted by Crappieday

Great catch Jeff. Glad to hear it was just an electrical problem and not your depth finder. I carry a old hand held gps in my dry bag just in case the depth finder craps out on me. Got my new starter in and replacement heading sensor installed so I’m back in business for now.
No gas??? Thank goodness for the trolling motor!!!

Glad your back in business Andy, unfortunately my depth finder is toast, appears to be the same problem it was replaced for last yr....the wire issue was giving a false battery strength signal, which means I didn't really have to use motor idle & recharge & in turn, run out of gas

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