Troubleshooting dead Scotty line puller

[Squire]

I posted the other day about having to haul up my prawn traps by the Muscle Armstrong method when my Scotty line puller didn’t show up for work. It worked fine about 3 days prior but only provided some scratchy hissing sounds similar to passing a terminal end over a battery terminal. This led me to believe the issue is a bad connection, possibly in the switch, but others with this experience may narrow my troubleshooting search?
Or should I just bring it somewhere to have it fixed professionally?
Thanks in advance if you can help speed the process up for me.

 

[tubber]

Do you run it off one of your downrigger plugins? If so try the other side first. Could be boat wiring connections need a check over.

 

[Squire]

Do you run it off one of your downrigger plugins? If so try the other side first. Could be boat wiring connections need a check over.

lol, You sound the the tech you call for tv or internet support who asks you if you’ve tried unplugging it and plugging it back in.

Not trying to bust your balls but what could make you even imagine that I wouldn’t try the other receptacle before I resorted to the hand over hand method?

And just for clarity I was running my downriggers on both sides immediately prior and I had replaced both the receptacles in the boat and the male ends of the downriggers just a couple of weeks ago. Because the line puller plug is original and about 7 years old, I took a file to the prongs and cleaned them up as the first course of action.

The issue has been narrowed down to the line puller, now I need to go from there… ?

I must add a disclaimer to my seemingly testy response; two days ago I spent 2 hrs on the phone late evening with a Telus tech because one Optik TV box had bit the dust. It took the first 45 minutes to convince him that the issue was in their box as I had already tried all of the recommended troubleshooting procedures prior to calling Telus for help and he had me repeat them all. In the next 75 minutes the procedures he had me follow cut off my other two Optik tv boxes and my internet access as well. All while I was leaving in the morning to catch the last day of the winter Chinook season with a wife who was left at home with no tv or internet.

 

[InterMechanico]

Sir…SIR!….I am just here trying to help you. Have you disconnected your box? Good and reconnected? Oh, I see. And the other box is ok? Ok…

 

[Squire]

Sir…SIR!….I am just here trying to help you. Have you disconnected your box? Good and reconnected? Oh, I see. And the other box is ok? Ok…

You’ve been there lol

 

[BC Coast Pilot]

Motor or switch.....can't be anything else, plug er back in? Fuse blow?
I had one fry and took it in, came back with new motor in 2 days

 

[RiverBoy]

lol, You sound the the tech you call for tv or internet support who asks you if you’ve tried unplugging it and plugging it back in.

Not trying to bust your balls but what could make you even imagine that I wouldn’t try the other receptacle before I resorted to the hand over hand method?

And just for clarity I was running my downriggers on both sides immediately prior and I had replaced both the receptacles in the boat and the male ends of the downriggers just a couple of weeks ago. Because the line puller plug is original and about 7 years old, I took a file to the prongs and cleaned them up as the first course of action.

The issue has been narrowed down to the line puller, now I need to go from there… ?

I must add a disclaimer to my seemingly testy response; two days ago I spent 2 hrs on the phone late evening with a Telus tech because one Optik TV box had bit the dust. It took the first 45 minutes to convince him that the issue was in their box as I had already tried all of the recommended troubleshooting procedures prior to calling Telus for help and he had me repeat them all. In the next 75 minutes the procedures he had me follow cut off my other two Optik tv boxes and my internet access as well. All while I was leaving in the morning to catch the last day of the winter Chinook season with a wife who was left at home with no tv or internet.

you still have time to delete this.

buddy offers a suggestion after you chime in on a online forum, and that’s what he gets. wow

 

[chille51]

This may fall into the "of course I tried that" category too, but for what it is worth... I bought a used Scotty puller last fall and at first it did not work at all. Problem ended up being the male plug - broken wires inside it.

I took the whole thing apart though to check out the rest and clean it up, as it was definitely a well used specimen. Its a pretty simple machine so I'm sure some time with a multi-meter can sort out the problem. If it is the motor then I don't think those are that cheap to replace but anything else should be a reasonable fix. The switch has some little bits that need to be in the right place and would be easy to lose so pay attention when you take it apart.

 

[Squire]

you still have time to delete this.

buddy offers a suggestion after you chime in on a online forum, and that’s what he gets. wow

I offer my apologies to tubber for my testy response. No excuse but I was predisposed to frustration over repeating the most elementary steps with my home entertainment services provider just prior.

I accept responsibility for getting a ‘step one’ response by not first explaining the steps I took to determine the issue was within my puller itself:

I pulled up to my prawn trap buoy and plugged my puller in the starboard receptacle and pulled the switch to confirm it was working as per my normal procedure. I only got a bit of a hissing sound so I unplugged it, checked the prongs which were a bit corroded and plugged it back in - no change. I then grabbed a file out of my spare parts bag and cleaned up the prongs - no change when I plugged it back in. I then unmounted the puller and tried it in the port side receptacle with no change. I put my ear to the puller and felt the hissing sound was coming from the puller itself. I grabbed one of my downriggers and plugged it in to confirm the plug was still working and no fuse had blown. I was fairly certain it wasn’t the receptacle because I had replaced both a couple of weeks ago just before putting the boat back in the water.

I guess my question should have been more like,”What are the common failures folks have experienced with Scotty line pullers?”

 

[NOOMA]

Squire - having the same issue with my 15 year old Scotty puller. Found if I hand turn the drum a couple times, it starts up and will pull without failing for the rest of the day. While I was at Scotty last fall, I asked if there was any maintenance that could be done to the puller. The answer was - No, it's a sealed unit. Hope this helps.

 

[tubber]

Do you run it off one of your downrigger plugins? If so try the other side first. Could be boat wiring connections need a check over.

No offense taken. My balls can't be busted so long as my wife keeps her purse safe. I leave my boat in storage in Ukee over the summer. One year my rigger wouldn't fire up on the trailer when I was trying to get back in the water. Neither would the new one I ran and bought. Chased the wires second instead of first. I"m dumb like that.
Scotty will take care of you.

 

[InterMechanico]

Squire - having the same issue with my 15 year old Scotty puller. Found if I hand turn the drum a couple times, it starts up and will pull without failing for the rest of the day. While I was at Scotty last fall, I asked if there was any maintenance that could be done to the puller. The answer was - No, it's a sealed unit. Hope this helps.

This sounds like an open winding in the motor armature. Example: your in tank fuel pump, vehicle no start - trick is to have someone kick the tank while you crank the engine - Jars the pump motor and allows the brushes to contact next leg of armature.

OPs issue sounds to me like worn or stuck motor brushes. I don’t know if they’re accessible or not.

 

[RELIC]

I haven't had the scotty line puller apart but the downriggers have a square automotive style relay in them with push on spade connectors that have come loose on me before. On the down riggers the on/off switch controls the relay which supplies power to the motor which may be the same on the puller?

 

[Squire]

Squire - having the same issue with my 15 year old Scotty puller. Found if I hand turn the drum a couple times, it starts up and will pull without failing for the rest of the day. While I was at Scotty last fall, I asked if there was any maintenance that could be done to the puller. The answer was - No, it's a sealed unit. Hope this helps.

I actually tried turning it by hand with the switch on to get it started but no go. I also tried giving it a good bump with the heel of my hand but to no avail. I tried everything I could think of before I accepted I was going to have to pull those two traps up by hand. Lol

One benefit of the whole process is that I'll now follow the tip I've seen to change the harness from going across the trap to across one end to make pulling them easier.