Scotty High Performance Downriggers

[Happy Gilmore]

If you have Scotty HP Downriggers be sure not to wash it down. Johns Sporting goods just said its my fault for washing my Downriggers with fresh water after being in the salt water. He said it washes off the grease that water proofs the expensive units. He said it was my fault for spraying the hose water on the units.

[pickardjw]

What does the manual say? Rinse with fresh water is the 1st maintenance step in the manual I found.

Vendor probably doesn’t have any role in a warranty claim. Manufacturer packaging often has a note in the packaging that mentions this. Not familiar with that shop but I always go straight to the manufacturer for a warranty claim.

If my Vortex bino’s take a crap I don’t contact Sportsman’s Warehouse, I contact Vortex.

[SeaRun1]

When your boat goes into saltwater everything gets rinsed when you get home.  I have been washing mine off with a hose since I was a kid and never had a problem.  Those hp models are not cheap.  Why are they not sealed off from the environment?  Scotty is a company with long NW saltwater salmon fishing roots.  I am interested to hear what Scotty has to say about this when you call them.  Also seems like the company you were talking to really dropped the ball (pun intended) with customer service.  Good luck.

SR1

[EnglishSetter]

That looks like salt.  I suspect you're rinsing them with too much pressure, driving salt in.  Same thing happens to reels.

I've had the non HP model for 20 years.  I rinse them off, but with a gentle "shower".

Let us know what Scotty says.  Scotty uses specific vendors as their repair stations.

[Happy Gilmore]

I rinse everything. Do not use a pressure washer. The dealer in Everett said it happens all the time. So, buyer beware with the new HP model.

I went in Englunds in Westport and he said hes sold three in the last week to people with the same exact problem.
.

[KP-Skagit]

What does the manual say? Rinse with fresh water is the 1st maintenance step in the manual I found.

Vendor probably doesn’t have any role in a warranty claim. Manufacturer packaging often has a note in the packaging that mentions this. Not familiar with that shop but I always go straight to the manufacturer for a warranty claim.

If my Vortex bino’s take a crap I don’t contact Sportsman’s Warehouse, I contact Vortex.

Scotty themselves generally stand by their products so I would go straight to them. Not applicable for this situation but they will not stand by anything related to a ball hanging up. I had a brand new DR ripped off the side of the boat last year when the ball hung up and the swivel base tore in half. Never spooled an inch of cable despite being factory present. Also, the base broke before the cable. All I got was a discount on a new dr.

[EnglishSetter]

What does the manual say? Rinse with fresh water is the 1st maintenance step in the manual I found.

Vendor probably doesn’t have any role in a warranty claim. Manufacturer packaging often has a note in the packaging that mentions this. Not familiar with that shop but I always go straight to the manufacturer for a warranty claim.

If my Vortex bino’s take a crap I don’t contact Sportsman’s Warehouse, I contact Vortex.

Scotty themselves generally stand by their products so I would go straight to them. Not applicable for this situation but they will not stand by anything related to a ball hanging up. I had a brand new DR ripped off the side of the boat last year when the ball hung up and the swivel base tore in half. Never spooled an inch of cable despite being factory present. Also, the base broke before the cable. All I got was a discount on a new dr.

I don't think Scotty puts a lot into a "factory preset". 

I adjust mine to just hold my ball (20#) at scope and speed (up to 300' and 2.5 knots).  They're not a very sophisticated drag and can take a lot of "start up torque" to get them moving.  A small adjustment (60* on the nut) has a large effect on the drag. 

[Crunchy]

that looks bad.  I am in the market to upgrade from the 1106s to the newer HP models.

[BigCutty3]

While the new Scotty’s sure do rip that ball up, they are not the work horses that the old ones are.  We’re still running the old ones we’ve had over 20 years and they have been serviced for a variety of things but they have ungodly hours on them and still going strong (we don’t touch them with a hose btw) but I have plenty of friends with the new ones.  One went through 3 counters in a summer, and by the end he was ready to go back to the old ones.  I’ve caught a lot of fish bringing up my ball
Over the years.  If I was fishing real deep a lot (200+), I might switch but it hasn’t effected my catch rate, still consistently out fish the pack with all their new whiz-bang.  We’ll see how many are still in operation in 20 years, I’m not sold yet. 

[GWP]

I rinse everything. Do not use a pressure washer. The dealer in Everett said it happens all the time. So, buyer beware with the new HP model.

I went in Englunds in Westport and he said hes sold three in the last week to people with the same exact problem.
.

Wow! That sucks!
When I transitioned from fresh only to salt only (for now) I sure got a surprise how bad the corrosion issue is. My first clue was two non salt poles and reels I used in the salt, lightly rinsed, got out two weeks later to find the reels totally frozen up, and the screw heads popped off when I tried to remove them to get inside. Great.
Bad that Scotty's would do that!

[hookr88]

Just got a Scotty HP back from Sportco. Scotty has very specific guidelines on “hang up” damage. The warranty does not cover it. One of the sales associates told me to write full service on the repair work order, the Downrigger wouldn’t raise. I wasn’t real sure about that as a full service is $90, so I also wrote warranty repair. So I picked it up today and was charged for a full service, plus repairs, because the damage was due to hang up. Apparently,I wasn’t very clear about repair work only. Because of the full service being performed he only charged me for half the repair costs and waived the respool fee, I had it respooled. Not a full refund, but at least he met me halfway.
My buddy and I rinse everything with Salt Away now. Boat, motors crab pots, downriggers and reels.

[KP-Skagit]

While the new Scotty’s sure do rip that ball up, they are not the work horses that the old ones are.  We’re still running the old ones we’ve had over 20 years and they have been serviced for a variety of things but they have ungodly hours on them and still going strong (we don’t touch them with a hose btw) but I have plenty of friends with the new ones.  One went through 3 counters in a summer, and by the end he was ready to go back to the old ones.  I’ve caught a lot of fish bringing up my ball
Over the years.  If I was fishing real deep a lot (200+), I might switch but it hasn’t effected my catch rate, still consistently out fish the pack with all their new whiz-bang.  We’ll see how many are still in operation in 20 years, I’m not sold yet.

I imagine the line counters are a product they purchase vs make in house so I won't hold that against them. That said, I did run through the counters for a while. I noticed they now sell 5 digit counters, yeah... 10000s of feet. Though i wont be trolling Marianas Trench that tells me they went to a new provider. We will see how they hold up, so far so good.

[storyteller]

I was talking with Connor last week at Johns, he is a authorized warranty station for Scotty, that alone lets him supply parts, cheaper than  most.   I am curious if  you talked to Connor  about  this, he  is the owner.

[EnglishSetter]

While the new Scotty’s sure do rip that ball up, they are not the work horses that the old ones are.  We’re still running the old ones we’ve had over 20 years and they have been serviced for a variety of things but they have ungodly hours on them and still going strong (we don’t touch them with a hose btw) but I have plenty of friends with the new ones.  One went through 3 counters in a summer, and by the end he was ready to go back to the old ones.  I’ve caught a lot of fish bringing up my ball
Over the years.  If I was fishing real deep a lot (200+), I might switch but it hasn’t effected my catch rate, still consistently out fish the pack with all their new whiz-bang.  We’ll see how many are still in operation in 20 years, I’m not sold yet.

Real old (2 belts) or just old (1 belt)?

I've been through a couple belts and a few mechanical counters.

[Happy Gilmore]

I was talking with Connor last week at Johns, he is a authorized warranty station for Scotty, that alone lets him supply parts, cheaper than  most.   I am curious if  you talked to Connor  about  this, he  is the owner.

Hes the one who said it was my fault for rinsing them off. He said I sprayed the grease layer off that waterproofs the motor. These things are super simple. Its a bad design at best