grounding downriggers ?

[roguerick]

Should i have my downriggers grounded to my aluminum boat? I am putting out over 9.6 volts on my rigger cable.

[bluedevil]

Very good question, 9.6 does seem high.

I am curious to the answers you get. Guess I better check mine this spring.

[roguerick]

I have scotty riggers and to date I have checked and cleaned all rigger connection's and clean my Zincs. Now heading under the dash looking for corroded hook ups and grounds. How about the radio where should it be grounded??

[Hoosier_Steelheader]

This is an interestion subject that I have never considered, but this is my first aluminum big water boat I'd better check and see what I'm putting on the downrigger cables.

One question I do have is, would this be kind of like Cabelas Black Box?

[roguerick]

hosteel; the boat must be in the water with the riggers in to get a good test.

I test running the kicker with riggers down 1-2 mph.

[1mainiac]

I don't know about grounding the riggers but you have a serious ground problem somewhere. For best over all setup all 12vdc grounds should go to the water this includes the radio. Any electrical mismatch that puts voltage between the hull and water will cause electrolis (sp) this is what eats your Zinc's and on a Aluminum boat the hull as well. Once properly grounded you should see improved radio performance as the ground is part of the antenna you could also see better fishfinder performance and you should never see voltage on the downrigger or any other cable entering the water.

[Priority1]

Normally there may be some natural voltage between the rigger cable, in the water, and the boats ground. You have a major problem if it's 9.6 V. Boat wiring is completely different than Auto wiring. A boats hull should NEVER be used to complete an electrical circuit. This means that a positive and negative wire must be run to all electrical devices. Electrical shorts can occur, from worn insulation screws run through wires etc.

[Rayman96]

Should i have my downriggers grounded to my aluminum boat? I am putting out over 9.6 volts on my rigger cable.

....How many riggers?

....Do they all put out the same discharge?

....Do these riggers have auto stop? If so check the rigger manual for specs.

....Who installed the riggers?

The first thing I would do is disconnect the power to the riggers. Then check to see if the discharge is the same. This should tell you whether the riggers are a concern or there is a problem elsewhere.

Just some thoughts, but I would start with the riggers.

[1mainiac]

Frank is correct about not using the hull as a ground return path you need wires going to and from each device with good connections. However the Hull, Engine, Outdrive and or lower unit all need to be grounded. A curious thought is did you try turning off your fishfinder and checking or seeing if there is a frequency on the cable. Since your in OR in your info I assume you are doing this in salt water. So it is possible you are actually picking up the inducted signal from your fishfinder on the cable which could actually vary depending on how deep the rigger cable is in the water.

[roguerick]

Wow thanks for all the help, keep them coming.I am checking all recommendations today until the super bowl starts.

Two riggers,yes they have auto stop and both put out the same voltage.

I use the boat in fresh water fishing Kokanee and trout derby's.

I have a 175 sport jet engine, but fish using a 9.9 pull start kicker, radio, two fishfinders/gps in 19 ft alum forward helm sled. I primarily fish fresh water, run rivers and crab in the bays.