I got a cursed tank!!

[BentRod]

I bought a new 35gal Super II earlier this year that I believe is cursed. The light never worked in it from the start, but that was mainly due to Vests shady wire job. The pump worked great the first 2-3 times I used it then I didn't fish for a few weeks. Got out to start catching gizzards again a week or so ago and have had trouble ever since. Hadn't seen a tank run in a month, so I didn't really notice that the pump flow/aeration was low. I did notice that the Super II filtered (or what I thought) like crap. I thought man a Creekbank filters 5x better. My only thought was the greater surface area of the filter. A buddy mentioned that if the flow is the same through the filters that one couldn't be better than other..the Super ii would just clog faster. That made sense. Next time out, I noticed my shad really struggling and my aeration looked terrible, so I got to looking around at things. Didnt notice anything off hand, so I pulled the pump and Dannco out and found two big scales in the Dannco. Problem solved I thought. Wrong. I couldn't figure it out so I wired the pump straight to the battery, bypassing Vests stuff and it still ran like crap. Ok my tank had some frozen water in it for a bit earlier this month, maybe the new Rule pump in it is going bad. Went and bought a new Rule pump this week. Hook it up. Same problem. Now I'm scratching my head. So I decide to rewire the entire tank. Did notice Vests wiring is crappy to say the least and I did get the light working after rewiring but the aeration still sucked. I was ready to cry at this point. The only thing I knew left to do (which probably should have been the first to check!!) was check the battery. My 7 yr old AC Delco was dead as a doornail! I had thought with it being charged it each time it surely had enough juice to run that small pump full on for at least a bit. Wrong again. It has a new charger on it, so I'm wondering if I have a problem there too as that battery has run for hours n hours n hours as recently as the Meet n Greet. My new charger may be bad. I love boats.

Anyways, I hook the tank up to a good battery and life is good for a few hrs while I net a few shad. About three hrs in, I hear the brand new pump's sound change for about 30sec to a min then it goes dead. What?! I check my connections..everything's good and the light works. I'm ready to throw it all in the lake. I head back to house, pull the 3hr old Rule pump out and wire it straight to a good battery..nothing..dead as a doornail. I almost cried!

And that's where I've left things to prevent myself from losing it. Guess I'll hook the original pump back up and see what happens. Either that or sell the boat. I haven't decided.

[dogsbestfriend]

rotten luck, maybe you should just give it away. the money you get from it may be cursed as well.
i could use a boat like that!!!

[Deleted]

Have I mentioned, I have noticed EVERY TIME you start selling THINGS your LOVELIFE has IMPROVED considerably. LOL!!!!!

[FishON]

I am sure you have everything wired right but, just make 100% sure you don't have it wired backwards.. The first time I wired up my Super II . I had the wires switched and the light wouldn't work and the pump ran very weak.Then I switched the wires and it fixed the light and the pump.... I doubt you have it wired wrong but, figured I would throw it out there just in case.

The pump will still run if it is hooked with negative to positive on the battery. The pump will just run backwards with weak water flow..

Good Luck.

[FishON]

The wires that came out of my Super II tank were Brown and Black. Not Black and Red (Which would make a lot more sense)

[mwardncsu]

Brown is ABYC (American Boat and Yacht Council - or something like that) color standard for bilge pumps, so it make sense but I agree it can be confusing if not familiar with it, especially with black is "hot" in AC wiring, etc.

As example, blue is lighting, pink is fuel sender, etc.

[BentRod]

Yeah they've been hooked up correctly from the start. Initial problem was the battery and who knows why I burned a pump up in 3hrs. I have heard of a bad batch of Rules that burn out fast but I don't know if that's the case here. Guess Ill send it back to them.

[2 oars & a trash can]

The more of this thread I read, the more I like the oars

[FishON]

The more of this thread I read, the more I like the oars

LOL.. Good one..

[mytoyzfishing]

You know what they say about boats, Breack Out Another Thousand! If you just want to get rid of your boat I have a free spot in my driveway ;D electrical problems can be a pain to troublshoot. When you were running the pump when it died, did you have the light wired in as normal? Vest wires the incoming hot wire and connects both the light and pump together in one connection. Maybee try running one with out the light wired in? Possible the light is shorting out and causing a spike in the pump due to the spike in draw?

[BentRod]

Complete rewire (wired the light and pump separately), two new batteries, and some 12" shad and all is right with the world again!

I don't keep a clean boat...sue me!



A few more zip ties and we're ready to go fishing.



By the way, I think I'll keep the boat! Did a little fishing this weekend and discovered that..

..these guys..


..equal these guys..


Mward and Topwaterrush discovered it too, but they didn't have pretty enough backgrounds in their pictures to make the initial cut! Probably my fault as the photographer..Mward did good on mine.

[mwardncsu]

I'm for hire as a fish-photographer. I can make any 8 lber look like a high teens or bigger - regardless of if I am behind the camera or in front of it ;D

[BentRod]

That fish was 36.5" but you are right, it did only weigh 8lbs!!

By the way, the Walmart marine batteries are now the exact same maintenance free battery as the AC Delco voyagers. Think Johnson Controls makes both..just a different label. Walmarts are $30 cheaper.

[mytoyzfishing]

Glade you got the tank all worked out.

Ive been using Walmarts Everstart as well without any issues.

Id hire Bentrod to show me how to catch those bait

[SquidHound]

Advance auto uses johnson controls i believe. Use one of their $40 off 110 coupons to get a group 31 for $50. Plus a filler to get it up to $110