Article by Capt. Steve Katz
The electric fishing reel has become a necessary part of fishing tackle for today’s offshore angler. Electric reels are used for many purposes, such as pulling dredges, teasers, deep dropping, downrigger and kite fishing. There are many manufacturers of electric reels, with prices beginning at $500 for the drive (to mount to your existing reel) to over $5,000 for a powerful, top of the line set-up. The popular manufacturers are Kristal, Miya Epoch, Lindgren-Pitman, Diawa, Elec-Tra-Mate, Cannon, Hooker Electrics and Dolphin Electreel.
I will leave it to the fishing experts to review and discuss the pros and cons of each manufacturer and model. I want to review the electric part of the electric fishing reel. Most of the manufacturers above have specifications and detailed instructions on how much electricity their reel requires. Some of these reels are powered with large electric motors, similar in size to the starter on your cars engine. These can consume a lot of power when doing the heavy lifting, just as your car would when starting the engine. Providing proper power to the reel is very important to both the performance of the reel and the safety of your boat. The possibility of starting a fire by melting wires is a valid concern. Many manufacturers provide or recommend a specific plug and receptacle, sized to carry the power to the reel.
The size of the wire and source of the power are critical to proper reel operation. As an example, the 12 volt Lindgren-Pitman S-1200 Electric Reel uses a computer circuit board to operate the reel, and in a discussion with Lindgren-Pitman, a low voltage condition can cause damage to the circuit board that is not covered under their warranty. At least in this case, Lindgren-Pitman (L&P) does provide some of the best wiring diagrams, specifying the size of the wire, the part number of the circuit breaker and part numbers of the receptacle and plugs that can be obtained locally.
When it comes to wire size, while bigger is always better, it may not be practical or cost effective to oversize the wire. ABYC (American Boat and Yacht Council) has standards for the size of the wire and the location and capacity of circuit protection (fuse or breaker).
Remember the fuse or breaker is there to protect the wire, not the device at the end of the wire.
Using the ABYC calculations, along with the manufacturer’s specifications, can lead you to select the proper wire size for your installation. As an example, The L&P S-1200 wiring diagram specifies the wire to be 8 gauge or thicker with a 30 amp circuit breaker and a 30 amp, 28 volt receptacle and plug. Using a wire that is too small can reduce the available voltage at the reel, causing performance issues or even overheating the wires. In the example above, the 8 gauge wire can carry up to 80 amps, BUT the farther away from the source of power, the less voltage and amperage is available at the plug. Using the same example, if the source of power is 20 feet from the receptacle and the 12 volt reel uses 30 amps, the 12 volts at the battery becomes 11.2 volts at the plug. A larger diameter wire will reduce this voltage drop and a smaller wire, such as a popular 10-gauge, will further reduce the voltage below 11 at the plug.
Source of power – While most reels are 12 volts, some are 24 volts and even 32 volts so be sure you supply the proper voltage. Some operate off a transformer that plug into a standard 120 volt AC household receptacle. Though most reels are 12 volt, it is recommended to connect these electric reels directly to a 12 volt battery using proper ABYC fuse and switching. Electric reels draw a large amount of electricity. Connecting the reels to other circuits can drop the available voltage to other critical equipment, causing sensitive navigation electronics to shut off. Electronic engines and engine controls can have problems if the reels cause a low voltage condition.
Connecting the reel circuit directly to the battery avoids overloading other electrical circuits on the boat. Lindgren-Pitman has some helpful advice that can be used with many electric reels. They recommend that a separate battery be installed just to power the reels and this can be connected to a battery charger to replenish the battery at the end of the day. This is not a bad idea for any of the electric reels, making it simple and clean without tapping into other shipboard systems.
Electrical plugs and receptacle – Most of the electric reels use an off-the-shelf electrical plug, such as Hubble and CEE Norm (used by Kristal) or popular trolling motor plugs. The most important factor is that the plugs and receptacles match each other and the connection is rated to carry the reel’s electrical load.
Circuit protection – this is a fuse or circuit breaker to protect the wire. It should be located as close to the source of power a possible (7-inches or so) and rated to match the wire size. Most installations benefit from the use of a circuit breaker, eliminating the need to carry spare fuses. The Blue Seas System 285 or 187 series circuit breakers are the most popular and readily available.
Planning out the wiring for your new electric reels is as important as how you plan to fish the reel. If your boat is already wired for electric reels, review and check the wiring to be sure it meets the needs of the reels you are using.
Captain Steve Katz is the owner of Steve's Marine Service and holds NMEA MEI, AMEI, NMEA2000 certificates, ABYC Master Technician certification and factory training from many manufacturers.
