One of my Scotty Electric Downriggers is descending approximately four times slower then the one on the other side of the boat. I popped the case off and everything appears ok, any suggestions on what I should be looking for?

How about the retreival speed, Dave? Is it the same as the other one or slow also?

If the retreival speed is OK, but the drop speed is slow, perhaps the wire at the switch, or possibly the switch itself is at fault (broken wires, corrosion?) Any sign of heat? (Grab the wire and the switch and run the downrigger) Heat could be an indicator of the above mentioned.

It's probably a defective motor. You are describing the exact same problem I had with one of mine. But, I know the cause of my problem.

My brother in law was fishing with me. He'd never used a downrigger before. All was fine until we picked up to move to a different spot. When he secured the DR ball to the hook on the boom he didn't attach it to the loop that is integral to the ball but attached it to the DR clip (Doh!). I didn't notice it becasue I was busy getting the kicker up, engine started, etc. While we were running to the next spot we hit some chop. The DR ball broke free, swung down into the water at 30 MPH and spooled out backwards at Mach 10. Luckily I had my drag setting such that nothing visibly "broke".

This is where you are describing exactly what was now the condition of my DR. The decent was super super SLOW. We thought the magnets were disturbed somehow. That's the only thing we could think of because we took the thing completly apart on the boat and even called a Scotty Rep in Canada.

I turned it into my local Scotty Dealer and they replaced the motor and even upgraded the belt. FREE.

I think you've got something wrong with the motor and it needs replacement.

Sounds like the brake is too tight to me! Loosen the brake nut and re-test it.

Nothing wrong with your line or motor. Last post is absolutely correct. Open the lid, pop off the crank handle (do you know how to use this? I didn't and had to be shown. turn it around and stick the small end into the slanted slot in the drum. there's you emergency handle!).

Anyway, take off the first nut. It is lose, and it only intended to give something to attach the crank handle end to. Then turn the exposed nut 1/8 turn ONLY and try it. It takes very small adjustments to make big changes in speed. Put the second nut back on, slide the emerg handle over the loose nut, and pop the hole in the other end onto the pin on the motor housing, and you're good to go!

should work fine, now.

Dave,
I'm having the same problem with mine. I thought I had a short or bad motor. I will try some of the suggestions from the other posts and I will let you know the results.
Good Luck,
Tim

What he said. Check the brake.

RVW

I've got another question. Should it auto brake after the cable stop beads trip the switch? Or do I have to manually move the lever to stop the cable from going down?

After it stops, the weight of the ball will pull a few inches of cable back out until the brake lever hits the stop. If your brake is adjusted properly, the cable will stop just as the lever goes up against the stop. The stop is also adjustable. If the cable is slipping a little when against the lever stop, just move the stop a little to the right so you get a little more braking.

It was the nut, loosened it up a little and they work fine now.

Thanks guys