Xpress 1546D Makeover... -- SOLD!

[Nick Jones]

Thanks man! That is way more room than I thought it was it was going to be.

 

[ober51]

Just caught up - looks great Russ. Any plans for covering the batteries?

 

[russ010]

yea, I've still got to extend the front deck... I had to get it tournament ready for the weekend, so the back deck was all that was worked on. I do have a front deck framing built, but I just have to cut the wood to make it work. Maybe i'll start on that next week

 

[ober51]

yea, I've still got to extend the front deck... I had to get it tournament ready for the weekend, so the back deck was all that was worked on. I do have a front deck framing built, but I just have to cut the wood to make it work. Maybe i'll start on that next week

Sounds good, man.

 

[russ010]

just finished up the electrical box... got the switches from BluewaterLED and they are definitely what I needed.

 

[dyeguy1212]

Looks good... are those little rocker switches the ones from bluewater?

 

[russ010]

Looks good... are those little rocker switches the ones from bluewater?

yea... and you can't beat them for $2.99 each and the tinboat.com 10% discount when you use TINBOAT (all caps) in the "redeem coupon" on the checkout page -- https://bluewaterled.com/catalogdetails.php?id=36

Mike is a great guy to work with and will help in anyway he can

 

[poolie]

Man Russ, it's hard to believe that's the same boat you pulled out of that ladies back yard. You have no doubt raised the bar for mods.

So does the garden gnome help you navigate?

 

[russ010]

So does the garden gnome help you navigate?

that little buddy will ALWAYS be in my boat. I have caught more fish with him than I have anybody. I didn't have him in the first few tourneys, and that's when I realized he was the reason I hadn't caught any fish. I fished the SWAT tourney with him and me and Chris finished 2nd - and I caught my first 3 fish of the year!

We're gonna be at Acworth tomorrow.. went to look at the lake this morning and it is up and MUDDY... should be pretty interesting out there tomorrow with 10-11 boats

 

[poolie]

So does the garden gnome help you navigate?

that little buddy will ALWAYS be in my boat. I have caught more fish with him than I have anybody. I didn't have him in the first few tourneys, and that's when I realized he was the reason I hadn't caught any fish. I fished the SWAT tourney with him and me and Chris finished 2nd - and I caught my first 3 fish of the year!

We're gonna be at Acworth tomorrow.. went to look at the lake this morning and it is up and MUDDY... should be pretty interesting out there tomorrow with 10-11 boats

A good luck Garden gnome... I like it

Acworth is only a couple miles out of my way between work and home, so I rode by today and oh yea... MUDDY is the word. On the bright side, I think you guys might get the tourney in without rain. I should be working tomorrow but really, really need a break and think I'm going to hit a private lake up in Paulding for a couple hours. I may swing by and check out weigh-in.

 

[phxbuckeye]

i think i saw on a mod you did some time ago you put lights on it. i check bass pro and they sell a brand called seasense. its a recessed light, you can get all kinds of them. anyways, the ones i want to get, i want to drill a hole, attach the light, and run the wiring with a toggle switch next to the chair in the back. question is, how do you run wiring for this idea, and how do you set it up with a toggle switch? is there anywhere i can go to figure this out?

 

[russ010]

are you referring to navigation lights?

Before getting the removable style nav lights, the bow had a permanent light. I just wired it back to the battery, but never hooked it up until I needed it. I didn't have a switch for it. BUT - if you want to do this, all you have to do is run the negative to the battery, then run the positive wire to the switch, then run another wire from the switch to the battery. The switch is nothing but a link for power from the battery to the light.

I have mine set up now as a plug in style. I have the base permanently wired to the battery. Then all I have to do is put the pole into the light socket and it comes on - no switches to mess with.

Does that make sense?

 

[Mojo]

I Have to throw out a word of caution to the set up Russ talked about. If you have the light socket strait wired to the battery and are just relying on plugging it in to complete the circuit your one bad wave away from a short circuit.

If it's not switched and you don't have an inline fuse then any water that gets into that socket will complete the circuit and pull max amperage from your battery.
At best it would just melt the wires. At worst you would have a fire onboard when those wires get red hot and set something on fire.

Put an inline fuse in everything in a boat, or at least put a switch in line. It's not that much trouble.

 

[bAcKpAiN]

I Have to throw out a word of caution to the set up Russ talked about. If you have the light socket strait wired to the battery and are just relying on plugging it in to complete the circuit your one bad wave away from a short circuit.

If it's not switched and you don't have an inline fuse then any water that gets into that socket will complete the circuit and pull max amperage from your battery.
At best it would just melt the wires. At worst you would have a fire onboard when those wires get red hot and set something on fire.

Put an inline fuse in everything in a boat, or at least put a switch in line. It's not that much trouble.

Correct me if I am wrong but even if there is a switch, without a fuse you are still one bad wave away from a short circuit. I would encourage fuses in every circuit regardless whether or not it is on a switch. I have mine wired the same way as Russ for convenience sake, but all of my wires run to an auto style fuse panel.

 

[russ010]

your right backpain - the switch will short and cause the same problem if a fuse is not in line.

I guess I take my chances, seeing as how I've been fishing in the rain all year (and for the last 2 years) with no problems. It's not a big deal to add a fuse, but I'm still not done with the front of the boat to worry about it right now.

In the end - it will probably stay just like it is though. And I know, that's my decision - so be it.

 

[RStewart]

WOW! This thing is looking good. Awesome work man. How thick is the aluminum used for the livewell?

 

[russ010]

WOW! This thing is looking good. Awesome work man. How thick is the aluminum used for the livewell?

1/16"... I think. I'll check tomorrow and post if I'm wrong. It only weighs about 20 pounds

 

[kcatto]

did you ever find the thickness of the aluminum he used???

It looks like it would be easy enough to make one up.... because after seeing yours I want one....which would be much better than using a cooler as a livewell....

Do you know if he mig, or tig, welded your livewell???

 

[russ010]

it's 1/16" aluminum for the livewell...

I'm fairly certain it's TIG welded... I think that's the best way to weld aluminum.

Don't hesitate to call Danny - it might take you a few times to get intouch with him, but he'll eventually get back to you. I talked to him the other day and he was slammed.

 

[kcatto]

I weld aluminum all the time usually mig then go back and tig to make it look pretty... that is how we used to weld thecamper/ horse trailers at exiss and 4 star when I used to work there years ago....

that is where I learned to weld and got certified in welding....

I like danny's product but his turn around seems to be spotty....

besides like you said before "why pay someone else for things you can do yourself"

I really like your livewell setup.... Do you like the bluewater LED setup???