martintheduck

So the charger is bad. Need a new one. I leveled off the fluid in the supposed "bad batteries," and hooked up my friends charger to one of them. Still getting bubbling and a rotten egg smell. Would a faulty charger have "fried" my batteries irreparably? **My apologies for so many questions. I'm a complete novice when it comes to a large portion of electricity. Plus I'm trying to avoid pulling the batteries out the boat at all costs since it's a huge ordeal.... super tight squeeze and have to move the gas tank out of the way.... and it's a full 30 gallons at the moment.

So I started charging the batteries today since draining them out Saturday in the tournament... I've been nervous to charge them since I found one battery getting hot during last charge. Well, after about an hour on the charger I checked the batteries and none of them were warm or hot, BUT --- The battery that got hot last time I charged had small was making a little air bubble around one of the reservoirs... like maybe the fluid inside was boiling or at least having some kind of reaction? None of the other batteries were doing this. Odd thing is I just bought these batteries brand new about 2 months ago. Think I should just remove this one battery that appears problematic and bring it back to Academy - tell them it's bad and see if they'll replace it. What do you think?

AWESOME! Will start tracing stuff down tomorrow with voltmeter. Will keep y'all posted

3 bank charger. Minn kota. how can i deduce if i need new batteries vs a new charger?

I just replaced both trolling motor batteries 2 months ago and I replaced my cranking battery last season! Any pointers or direction? Could this be caused by, as CrappieBasser said, the charger?

What does that mean?

This issue started maybe 2 weeks ago. The bilge area of my boat STINKS of rotten eggs. Had the boat for two years. Don't have a carport to put it under, so it does get water in it regularly and I always remove the plug for rain. What is causing this smell? I was charging the batteries today and one of the batteries was getting a bit warm and that worried me. Any input fellas? Many thanks! Cheers! Boat is a 2011 Xpress H18SS w/ a 150 Yamaha VMAX

Everyone mentioned the right products already. And if you're trying to find exactly WHERE on the hull the leak is, try resting the boat up on some 2x4's and fill it up with water... see where it leaks out.

There's some stuff at Auto Zone called "Never Dull". Works wonders on cleaning old rusty metal (if that's what you're talking about).

It's already been said --- saltwater and the carpet aren't going to mix well. Also, that trailer is going to get screwed pretty good if you don't rinse it SUPER well after each trip. As for the motor, we've always flushed motors with freshwater after fishing in the gulf.... even "saltwater" engines... still run a good 5-10 minute flush through them afterwards.

Ive been off here for a few days... Sorry i couldnt chime in to help you more. So happy you got it fixed up. What part did you end up purchasing? An 11ft teleflex?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Teleflex-SSC13415-15-Backmount-Rack-Single-Cable-/291262163352?pt=Boat_Parts_Accessories_Gear&hash=item43d093e998&vxp=mtr That's similar to the part you'll need. Maybe a little bit shorter than 15 feet. But see, it's just a pre-assembled package. Super simple. I know, it's the first job you'll be doing on the boat, but you're lucky it's an easy one. Wait till you get to change the lower unit oil!!! hahaha

I've replaced a steering cable setup before and it's really straightforward and simple. I would definitely NOT pay a professional.... let me break it down.... You literally unscrew a nut/bolt to separate the cable setup from the linkage arm. Then you unscrew the little cap holding the setup in place and slide the sucker out. Tie a long rope to it then pull it out carefully from the helm. Untie. Take the NEW pre-assembled, all in one steering cable setup, tie the rope to it, and finagle it back through the length of the boat. Slide the setup back through the motor, screw a locking cap back down, then re-attach the linkage arm. It will take MAYBE 30 minutes, a 1/4in socket, an adjustable wrench, and about 10 feet of rope. It's probably just the steering cable is broken. Common issue.

Wear some rain gear on your legs... rain bibs or some kind of waterproof pants... that's essential. Fished out of a yak for about a year before I bought a boat. Bring 2 rods 7ft or less. Bring only a tiny tackle bag.... hooks, weights, your favorite confidence plastics and maybe a cpl crank baits. Remember, vertical hooksets! Cheers

Is that a 150hp? 18ft? What kind of speed are you getting?

Craigslist is great if you are patient and check daily. I shopped around for close to a year and did a TON of research before pulling the trigger on my boat. I ended up in an 2011 Xpress H-18SS w/ Yamaha v-max 150hp. STELLAR boat. I went aluminum because a ton of people pointed out "if it's your first personal boat, you'll probably make a lot of mistakes and aluminum is more forgiving than glass." I'm glad I went aluminum because those people were right... I have definitely made some mistakes in the learning process and aluminum is way more forgiving. Just to put it out there --- these XPRESS boats H series and better run just like glass boats. Mine will pull 60mph now that I have it setup perfect and it runs safely too. Great boat and would recommend one.

I remember watching an episode of Bill Dance where he was declaring "water reflects 99% of sound waves... so there's no need to just fish without talking. BUT what does transmit very well in water are the vibrations from jumping around on the deck and knocking stuff around." So with that --- I'll talk some BS with my partner, but I really only listen to music when I'm night fishing... and that's through a small bluetooth speaker at the bow of my boat.

Trees is def. correct. Not familiar with the boat and google searching hasn't helped... planing hull or old school style? If it's old school style, then disregard most of the upcoming commentary....I'm oblivious when it comes to performance on old school hulls..... Need to be getting a proper RPM reading before you start fooling with stuff. Go with the most modest and conservative fixes first. If you do decide to get a jackplate, you will need a reliable RPM reading when tuning your jackplate into it's sweetspot. So get a proper RPM reading and if it really is only running 3800RPM then fix that problem first. 3800 is super low. If you fix the gauge and are actually running 5k+RPM's then we can start making some fixes.

I KNOW MAN! It was nutty. I think they are a little old calendar wise, but they are still as it they are brand new. Also got a TON of zoom flukes for $1, a bunch of Strike King Lizards for $1.... They even had a ton of the old school floating Stanley Ribbits that were discontinued in favor of the hollowbodies. SICK!

Local tackle shop was having "clean out the old stock" sale and a TON of soft plastics were on sale for $1 a pack. I snagged about 20 packs of Senko Pro's in colors I normally throw. Anyone had any success fishing them like a normal Senko? Are they only good for shakey heads? Never used this bait before and hope I can find a use for them.

sick

Link?

Might want to swap out the fuel/water separator, since it had water in the lines. Also, I've got a 150 vmax and it's real bad with ethanol. Really suffers performance wise --- really tough to crank, lower top speed, will die often. Stickin' to the non ethanol.

Yes, motor came with a warranty. I know my Yamaha warranty is transferrable, not sure about other types. Even if you do have a warranty, a lot of things can happen which aren't covered. Also, before buying a used boat (regardless of condition) the proper protocol is to bring the boat to a certified technician to have it looked at. They will be able to tell you exactly what you're getting into. In my case, mechanic told me everything looked great and it was an A+ boat -- I bought it and have never had any problems that needed a warranty claim.

So, I went through almost this same process you are talking of (about 2 years ago). I wanted a new boat and didn't want to spend more than $20k. I was looking at a Tracker 175. I was steered away from that boat by a friend who told me words of wisdom --- "No matter what you get, you will have it for a year and start wanting more." THAT was very true. I learned from doing research for around a year prior to buying, there are - sometimes - some MINT PERFECT condition boats that pop up for sale. Maybe I'll get one of those? I kept leaning towards a tracker 175 NEW but looked around on craigslist in the mean time. I went and looked at 3 or 4 used boats and non of them were in the kind of condition I was willing to buy. NOW.... I just so happened to log onto craigslist one day and a man had posted an 2011 18ft Xpress w/ a Yamaha 150. It looked like it was pristine. So I called him and went to see it the next day. I pulled up, the man was about 65 years old and lived in an incredible home with nice cars. Insurance salesman. The boat was in his covered garage and not a scratch was on the thing. I looked like it had never seen water before! We took it for a test run at the nearby lake and I gave it the inspection. I mean MINT condition. I ended up buying that sucker for $19k. I spent less on the practically brand new Xpress than I would have on the actual new Tracker 175. I got substantially more boat for less money. I am SO very happy I held out for a perfect condition used boat to pop up. I got a better boat. I encourage you to move very slow and keep your eyes peeled for some mint condition used boats. You can really save some money AND get into something much better.