Editor's Log
Electronic Greetings from Yamamoto Central!
October 10, 2008
At one time or another old wives tales as well as the Farmer’s Almanac may have (no doubt) offered the following can’t miss diagnostic procedures:
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Stick out tongue, say ahhh, check for white spots…
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Check for a cold, wet nose…
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Check for clear eyes with no fishy smell…
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Check for a fever…
While those methods pretty well cover sore throats, healthy dogs, fish fresh enough to be fit for the table and evidence of an infection setting in, they do precious little to help you diagnose what might be impending maintenance issues with the trusty ol’ bass boat. Except…hmmm, yep, that fever thing might bear some merit, and this is how.
Way back when I was in the enviable position to be out on the water around about 300 days a year on one of three boats – that was my living then, as well as my entertainment and quality time with my family. Out and about on the big pond on good days and bad, loving it all, except for even infrequent equipment failures which made me want to go postal. So, to prevent such I developed a few rituals to assure that my equipment was always ready to go.
Take Their Temperature
One of the coolest (no pun intended) things I ever discovered was the value of using an infrared/laser thermometer as a diagnostic tool - mine was a fairly pricey Snap-On model that ran about $250 back then but it was so worth the money. Having a problem with a motor that doesn’t seem to be running quite right, maybe assuming a dropped cylinder or fouled plug? On a warm engine just pop the cover or hood and then shoot the spark plugs or the exhaust header on each cylinder and let the temperature pinpoint the bad actor for you.
Believe me #1 – spark plugs that aren’t firing and cylinders that aren’t receiving a fuel charge don’t build up much heat as it turns out (duh!).
Living out west it was not unusual to make a 600-mile loop for even a one-day tournament. Preparing for such a flying road trip I often found myself wondering about the relative health of my trailer bearings, particularly after having made howitzer-like summertime launches of what seemed like more than my fair share of bearing buddies.
Believe me #2 – no matter how full of grease the trailer bearings are, at 75mph in the summer heat if there’s a rough bearing in the mix the axle bearing will get hot enough to shoot the bearing buddy out like a cork out of a champagne bottle.
The cure proved to be to hook up the boat first thing in the morning, make a 15-mile run to a convenient (and safe) pullover spot, and then shoot the inner and outer wheel bearing race areas on each axle. It’s simply amazing how much grief that little step saved me in the long run. As a result of this simple preventative step I never again lost a wheel bearing, launched a bearing buddy, or spoiled an otherwise enjoyable road trip by the need to perform a roadside bearing-ectomy. Those are but a pair of great uses for the temp gun and you’ll discover others, just as I did.
Believe me #3 – after a short run from a cold start all eight bearing race areas (inner and outer on a tandem trailer) should be reading within just a few degrees of each other. If not, you’ve managed to locate a problem, before it ever became a problem – change the bearing.
Fry That Bacon Boy
My three boats and two tow vehicles equaled a grand total of thirteen batteries. Thirteen batteries was no part of grand, although they did equal a royal pain. Only a portion of that pain was in my wallet, although all of the pain was located in the same anatomical area.
Believe me #4 – thirteen is not a lucky number in batteries, either.
The cure proved to be a simple as writing a $175 check for a nifty Snap-On battery tester, a real battery tester. When you mash the trigger these load bank-style testers will draw a 125-amp starting load on a battery – that’s a very heavy load, just shy of a dead short.
After the recommended 10-second test interval there will be no doubts about the health of a battery and its fitness for service. If the battery flunks the test there’s no guesswork and no room for arguments - you just pull it out of service and take it back to your vendor for a full or pro-rated warranty.
There are many reasons for a battery’s weakness but from the time I got my tester I didn’t have to worry about any of that. You can forget about that shallow charge or surface charge crap-ola. These meters are the ultimate truth tellers. Oh, and by the way, after a ten-second interval you can fry bacon on the shielded heat sink on the back side of the tester, so exercise caution.
Believe me #5 – Bad batteries usually look good, nice and shiny, while the crappy-looking batteries may be the only ones that were actually allowing you to run the trolling motor at all.
I’ll leave you to ponder and digest these five “believe mes”. Look for five more next log.
Good fishin’
Jerry Puckett