Downrigger wiring

Lineman11

New Member
Hi everyone,

Picked up my new kingfisher 2025 Escape HT, and I need to wire in my electric Downriggers.

Should I be going directly to the battery or to the night switch? Which battery should I pick to wire too?

Any advice would be appreciated!
 
1) Wire to the house battery, never to the starter.

2) Best is to wire after the house battery switch so when the house is switched off the down rigger outlets are not energized. You can wire directly, but your downriggers will always be "on".

3) Several different types of fuses you can use. You can do a simple inline fuse, which is probably simplest, but least preferable. If you have a central location where you can mount on a vertical surface, a fuse block is better.

4) Use the largest wire you can Scotty recommends 12 Ga, or 10 Ga for longer runs, but you can go up to 8 Ga in the Marinco plugs. Especially if you are going to use an Ace puller as they take a 40 amp fuse which requires 8 Ga wire.
 
I personally would run a breaker rather than a fuse...but that's just my choice for convenience sake and speed when the bite is hot and heavy.
 
Direct to the house bank with auto reset breakers at the battery end. 1106's have a factory auto reset breaker near the motor as well.
 
I built a small buss bar to connect auto-reset breakers to (4, two downrigger, one pot puller, one spare). I use "short stops"and wire in a 80 amp relay to the house battery, controlled by a switch on the dash. That way I can turn off the downrigger plugs when not using them but leave the house battery on. I find there is less corrosion in the scotty plugs when they are powered off when not in use.
 
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