ermghoti Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 (edited) Finally got the boat wet. It's the maiden run for the more or less fully rigged version of the Prowler 13 I bought last year. Gopro decided to not actually video anything, so that update will have to wait. Meanwhile, I put dielectric grease on all the connectors, battery inside the hull, transducer and battery to the head unit in the cockpit. When I got to the pond, the cockpit cables had all manner of schmutz on the contacts that I had to spend a few minutes cleaning up. Pretty obvious, in retrospect. Crap falls on the kayak in the garage, crap blows off the kayak onto the grease. Is there a nifty cover out there, or should I just velcro a baggie over the connectors? Also or: is it safe to leave the head unit installed and plugged in during travel? Edited May 4, 2020 by ermghoti Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricM Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 Small plastic bag and rubber band works. ermghoti and ne_dan 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbjpb Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 Sometimes less is more . You may want to consider reducing the amount of dielectric grease you are using? fishguts430 and EricM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermghoti Posted May 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 54 mins ago, dbjpb said: Sometimes less is more . You may want to consider reducing the amount of dielectric grease you are using? It's not that gummed up, but this is its first time out too. I tried to get just enough to get a layer throughout the contacts. Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy2000913 Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 I havent taken off my ff or unplugged cables in 3 years. Leave it the way it is unless you need to take it off. Before that i was taking it off and ended up corroding the connections n all. Leaving it on is fine EricM and ermghoti 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 14 hours ago, ermghoti said: When I got to the pond, the cockpit cables had all manner of schmutz on the contacts that I had to spend a few minutes cleaning up. Pretty obvious, in retrospect. Crap falls on the kayak in the garage, crap blows off the kayak onto the grease. IMO, you don't really need grease when fresh water fishing if that's all you do.... it's the salt that does all the corroding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermghoti Posted May 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 I plan to be in the salt quite a bit, I'm tuning up my stroke and finding my limitations before I get myself into real trouble. BillZ 1 Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drmevo Posted May 4, 2020 Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 I actually started a thread with the same exact question a couple of years ago. I bough some small caps to go over the connectors but in the end I just coiled them up and stuffed them in the map pocket and I haven't had any issues. I do try to avoid getting salt water on them when loading/unloading, though. ermghoti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermghoti Posted May 4, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2020 I don't have a convenient pocket, and I installed the cable too short to reach the hatch, thinking of keeping the cockpit cleaner. I can bag them for storage, and either transport like that, or mount the head unit. Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafalot Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 You would think fish finder manufacturers would be jumping at the chance to charge $10 a pop for cheap rubber caps ermghoti 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermghoti Posted May 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, lafalot said: You would think fish finder manufacturers would be jumping at the chance to charge $10 a pop for cheap rubber caps I guess if you're conspiracy minded, you figure there's more money to be made replacing head units from corroded contacts. Edited May 7, 2020 by ermghoti Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick67 Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 Lowrance did have them standard with the cheapest models. These were from a $200 4" model from 3 years ago. Now spend $800 and get nada. ermghoti 1 KFA-NY Kayak Wars/Team Fishing Lab Yellow Eyed Devils (*member formerly known as ''rick smithtown) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafalot Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 (edited) Since I'm in the process of installing a fish finder and wiring up my kayak I did a little searching.. seems like a slightly more elegant solution than a baggie: Edited May 7, 2020 by lafalot Spazzoni 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kombi_rs Posted May 7, 2020 Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 baggy and rubber band will do for travel, for storage i would advise against it I've had plenty of customers bring in their boats to get transducers replaced because they tried to protect it with a bag and moisture couldn't escape so it corroded their plug Africaster 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ermghoti Posted May 7, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2020 1 hour ago, lafalot said: Since I'm in the process of installing a fish finder and wiring up my kayak I did a little searching.. seems like a slightly more elegant solution than a baggie: I had seen that. I bet he can sell you some propane and propane accessories, tell you hwhat. drmevo and Spazzoni 2 Massachusetts EPO: 1-800-632-8075 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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