Toad Machine Tales, episode 3
Repowering the Fish Finder
June 8, 2020
David Hutton,
Palmetto Fly n' Fish
The Toad Machine
Location: Lake Murray, South Carolina
Conditions - high clear skies, hot and humid
Temps - 90+ degrees F,
Wind - vairable, 5-10 mph
Water temp, surface: 80.6° F
Sunrise: 0615
I got the Toad Machine on the water pretty early today.
If you wait too long around here, it gets nasty hot, and any chance of finding fish in shallow water, fly-fishing range goes out the window.
As it turned out, a 6:20 launch time didn't matter, as there were no fly-taking fish anyway.
I wasn't skunked - but I came as close as one can get.
Fish Finder Power
But catching fish was just a side-gig.
The goal today was to repower my Humminbird fish finder, by running it on the same batteries that power the trolling motor.
I have been juicing up the sonar on a separate battery of its own. but as an experiment, I left it home and rigged up a temporary power feed from the motor's 12v battery bank.
Now, some of ya'll people gonna go to howling that I should keep the sonar separate, but let me explain.
This whole idea of separating devices like sonar units from the main battery came about for two reasons:
1. The CHARGING CIRCUITS on boats used to be notoriously "noisy."
2. One might drain the battery with too many loads on it.
As for the first issue, outboard charging circuits are not well filtered, or at least the weren't in the past. Any electronic noise on these circuits is coupled straight to the batteries... and anything else hooked to them.
The result was that fish finders, radios, and other gadgets would act squirrely when the motor was running.
So it became part of boating lore, handed down over the years, that you should run everything separate from the main battery and its charging circuit.
As for having too many loads on the battery, well, that's not a problem for The Toad Machine.
I have plenty of juice to spare with 110 amps hours in her big batteries - the fish finder doesn't even come close to putting a dent in the supply.
However, there is one other concern: trolling motors themselves are inherently noisy, since they are nothing more than brushed DC motors.
Since fish finders are designed to pick up and amplify electronic signals, well, having one hooked up to the same power as a trolling motor offers a potential for noise to enter the system.
And before anyone says it, yes, there are brushless trolling motors.
But they are FIRMLY outta my price range, and their controllers are potentially MORE noisy that a brushed motor!
Going For It
But I was undeterred. This was gonna happen.
I was pretty sure nothing was gonna fo wrong, anyway.
If it didn't work, I could just go back to a separate battery and chalk it up to experience.
So I attached the fish finder power leads to the trolling motor connections at the battery, and for good measure added a noise suppressor.
Noise Suppressor
This "suppressor" is nothing more than a ferrite choke, which dampens transient noise in electrcial circuits.
We use them a lot in fire alarm systems on the AC power, as we dont want electrical noise getting into these systems!
RESULT - Success!
The Humminbird ran like a champ without even the slightest hint of noise being coupled in. At any speed, forward or reverse, it was clean as a whistle. I like it when a plan works out.
Next up....
Power Distribution Panel
With the power for the sonar working satisfactorily, the next plan is to tidy up all the ad-hoc wiring and get everything shipshape under the circuit covers.
To that end, I've made a simple power distrution panel.
Power Panel
As you can see this is pretty basic. I don't need more than a fish finder and perhaps an auxiliary power feed in the future, so that's what I fit in.
It consists of...
- Some bolts in a piece of wood
- A terminal block
- A 50 amp connector
- Wiring stuff
The large plug at the top has a matching connector coming from the battery (not shown).
The trolling motor connects to the bolt lugs on the right. Power for the sonar and auxiliary circuit feed out the bottom.
This panel will be mounted to a bulkhead within easy reach of the seat, and the whole thing can then be protected by the rain and dust cover.
FISHING
In a word, the fishing sucked today.
I was saved from the blank in the worst way possible, but I can at least say I didnt strike out.
The Toad Machine
Location: Lake Murray, South Carolina
Conditions - high clear skies, hot and humid
Temps - 90+ degrees F,
Wind - vairable, 5-10 mph
Water temp, surface: 80.6° F
Sunrise: 0615
I got the Toad Machine on the water pretty early today.
If you wait too long around here, it gets nasty hot, and any chance of finding fish in shallow water, fly-fishing range goes out the window.
As it turned out, a 6:20 launch time didn't matter, as there were no fly-taking fish anyway.
If you wait too long around here, it gets nasty hot, and any chance of finding fish in shallow water, fly-fishing range goes out the window.
As it turned out, a 6:20 launch time didn't matter, as there were no fly-taking fish anyway.
I wasn't skunked - but I came as close as one can get.
Fish Finder Power
But catching fish was just a side-gig.
The goal today was to repower my Humminbird fish finder, by running it on the same batteries that power the trolling motor.
I have been juicing up the sonar on a separate battery of its own. but as an experiment, I left it home and rigged up a temporary power feed from the motor's 12v battery bank.
Now, some of ya'll people gonna go to howling that I should keep the sonar separate, but let me explain.
This whole idea of separating devices like sonar units from the main battery came about for two reasons:
1. The CHARGING CIRCUITS on boats used to be notoriously "noisy."
2. One might drain the battery with too many loads on it.
Fish Finder Power
But catching fish was just a side-gig.
The goal today was to repower my Humminbird fish finder, by running it on the same batteries that power the trolling motor.
I have been juicing up the sonar on a separate battery of its own. but as an experiment, I left it home and rigged up a temporary power feed from the motor's 12v battery bank.
Now, some of ya'll people gonna go to howling that I should keep the sonar separate, but let me explain.
This whole idea of separating devices like sonar units from the main battery came about for two reasons:
1. The CHARGING CIRCUITS on boats used to be notoriously "noisy."
2. One might drain the battery with too many loads on it.
As for the first issue, outboard charging circuits are not well filtered, or at least the weren't in the past. Any electronic noise on these circuits is coupled straight to the batteries... and anything else hooked to them.
The result was that fish finders, radios, and other gadgets would act squirrely when the motor was running.
So it became part of boating lore, handed down over the years, that you should run everything separate from the main battery and its charging circuit.
As for having too many loads on the battery, well, that's not a problem for The Toad Machine.
I have plenty of juice to spare with 110 amps hours in her big batteries - the fish finder doesn't even come close to putting a dent in the supply.
As for having too many loads on the battery, well, that's not a problem for The Toad Machine.
I have plenty of juice to spare with 110 amps hours in her big batteries - the fish finder doesn't even come close to putting a dent in the supply.
However, there is one other concern: trolling motors themselves are inherently noisy, since they are nothing more than brushed DC motors.
Since fish finders are designed to pick up and amplify electronic signals, well, having one hooked up to the same power as a trolling motor offers a potential for noise to enter the system.
And before anyone says it, yes, there are brushless trolling motors.
And before anyone says it, yes, there are brushless trolling motors.
But they are FIRMLY outta my price range, and their controllers are potentially MORE noisy that a brushed motor!
Going For It
But I was undeterred. This was gonna happen.
I was pretty sure nothing was gonna fo wrong, anyway.
If it didn't work, I could just go back to a separate battery and chalk it up to experience.
So I attached the fish finder power leads to the trolling motor connections at the battery, and for good measure added a noise suppressor.
Noise Suppressor
This "suppressor" is nothing more than a ferrite choke, which dampens transient noise in electrcial circuits.
We use them a lot in fire alarm systems on the AC power, as we dont want electrical noise getting into these systems!
RESULT - Success! We use them a lot in fire alarm systems on the AC power, as we dont want electrical noise getting into these systems!
The Humminbird ran like a champ without even the slightest hint of noise being coupled in. At any speed, forward or reverse, it was clean as a whistle. I like it when a plan works out.
Next up....
Power Distribution Panel
With the power for the sonar working satisfactorily, the next plan is to tidy up all the ad-hoc wiring and get everything shipshape under the circuit covers.
To that end, I've made a simple power distrution panel.
Power Panel
As you can see this is pretty basic. I don't need more than a fish finder and perhaps an auxiliary power feed in the future, so that's what I fit in.
It consists of...
- Some bolts in a piece of wood
- A terminal block
- A 50 amp connector
- Wiring stuff
The large plug at the top has a matching connector coming from the battery (not shown).
The trolling motor connects to the bolt lugs on the right. Power for the sonar and auxiliary circuit feed out the bottom.
This panel will be mounted to a bulkhead within easy reach of the seat, and the whole thing can then be protected by the rain and dust cover.
FISHING
In a word, the fishing sucked today.
I was saved from the blank in the worst way possible, but I can at least say I didnt strike out.
This panel will be mounted to a bulkhead within easy reach of the seat, and the whole thing can then be protected by the rain and dust cover.
FISHING
In a word, the fishing sucked today.
I was saved from the blank in the worst way possible, but I can at least say I didnt strike out.
The Skunk Beater - Tail Hooked!
When you catch a fish in the tail, "foul-hooked," they call it, you don't want to brag about it.
I did it, not sorry.
To his credit, the little, up-side down red-ear in the pic nailed a killer-style fly, tied from pheasant and dubbing.
This is usually a great pattern when the fish are there, and biting.
But today, they were mostly neither.
I got some pestering nips from little fish on top water.
A few half-hearted grabs happened, here and there, but that poor little fish was it.
The one and only.
Foul Hooked.
For the most part, it seems the fish have vacated the shallows, thanks to the bright sun and warm temps of Summer.
So far I haven't found just WHERE they went, but I have a few ideas.
Thanks to a clean running fish-finder and Navionics, I may be able to find them!
I continue the series, "Toad Machine Tales": here: Toad Machine Tales, Episode 4
I hope you enjoyed this and learned something from it. I get nothing from this other than the satisfaction of a job well done, so if you enjoyed it, a like and share is appreciated.
And if you are inclined, feel free to join our no-drama, no-hype Facebook group:
Palmetto Fly n Fish
(click the link)
A few half-hearted grabs happened, here and there, but that poor little fish was it.
The one and only.
Foul Hooked.
For the most part, it seems the fish have vacated the shallows, thanks to the bright sun and warm temps of Summer.
So far I haven't found just WHERE they went, but I have a few ideas.
Thanks to a clean running fish-finder and Navionics, I may be able to find them!
I continue the series, "Toad Machine Tales": here: Toad Machine Tales, Episode 4
I hope you enjoyed this and learned something from it. I get nothing from this other than the satisfaction of a job well done, so if you enjoyed it, a like and share is appreciated.
And if you are inclined, feel free to join our no-drama, no-hype Facebook group:
Palmetto Fly n Fish
(click the link)
Thanks for reading and Tight Lines,
David
Palmetto Fly N Fish
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