How do you avoid rust in your Fish Finder Connections?

Hi All, Please Help !

I have a few questions regarding Fish Finder Maintenance.
     
I have two Kayaks and both of them have their own FF, one of them
is a Eagle Cuda 168 and the other one is a Hummingbird Piranha 210.

I have been using both FF on salt water and I noticed the connections on both are rusty witch is causing damage to a point
that I have to cut one of the connections and hard wire it into
the screen but that is not going to work unless I find the way to keep it still. Now, my questions are:

Can you buy the connections separately ?

How do you clean the connections after been wet ?

I'm glad I got the cheapest ones on the market but even they
were cheap, I would like to save them if I can. no tengo dinero to buy an other one.

 Before I use to go fishing with out FF.
Now, I don't want to go with out it...

I rinse my connections with fresh water and apply WD40 once they are dry. I don't know if this is the right thing to do. But, I haven't had any problems for the last year now with corrosion or rust. It will be interesting to see what others do. Good topic - Ben

Spray it with Corrsion X before and after fishing.  you can also buy and use dialectric grease.....expensive.  Bulb grease from orchard supply works just as well.

Corrosion X is the best.  Once your pins are toasted, you have to replace them, start out fresh and always keep them coated with.....Corrosion X

Allen

I too rinse mine well with fresh water as soon as possible, I also fashioned a watertight cap for the plug end to keep it dry when not hooked up since the transducer is glued in place the wire and plug are always in the baot even if the FF isn't.  

Something I haven't tried on the FF is grease.  On my trailer plug I always had problems especially on the ones that were exposed to the weather for a long time. A few years ago I gobbed both the male and female ends of the plug with regular NON metallic automotive grease and haven't had any problems since.

Marine grease might work even better.

But like I said I never tried the grease on the FF connections

Corrosion X is the best.  Once your pins are toasted, you have to replace them, start out fresh and always keep them coated with.....Corrosion X

Hey Allen, Hope your mending well Where can I buy the Corrosion X? - Ben

That Corrosion X stuff is great, if pricey.  After looking in all the hardware stores
Allen told me to go to a bait store, where I found it.   Alan Tani suggests it for reels, and I've used it to loosen frozen bolts, so you know it penetrates well.
   I went back to OSH to get some more lightbulb grease, but they were out, and got a tip to get it at the Honda watercraft/ATV store - a little more expensive, but a much bigger tube. 

Also, the manual on my FF says to make sure the power supply is disconnected when not in use, because even if the unit is off, it tends to increase corrosion otherwise. 

Thank you guys. I'll definitely get corrosion X.

Do you know if you can buy only the connections ?

  Kayakito
~~ramon~~

Go to West marine and get their waterproof "trailer" connections.  if you are talking about the pin connectors riht at your FF, you'll have to go to the FF manufacturer.

Fuzzy Tom!  Good to hear from you!!Thinking about you just this morning while at the Capitola beach. Remember we chased halibut there about 1 year ago.

Ben, healing is proceeding, just not as fast as i would like.  Maybe the leson is slow down and smell the roses.....?

For corrosion X, I think Bayside Marine carries it, I know that Johnson Hicks has it.  Maybe West marine carries it?  I also use and swear by Reel X for lubing the reels.

Allen

Now, my questions are:

Can you buy the connections separately ?

How do you clean the connections after been wet ?

Ramon, call Eagle and Humminbird customer support to see if they can simply send you what you need.  On several occasions I called Humminbird for replacements for small parts like battery terminals that were corroded and they sent them to me for free.

In the past, I always rinsed off my FF's with fresh water.   I learned the hard way that can sometimes create more problems by forcing water into the unit.  I found it better to simply wipe it off with a damp rag and just make sure your connectors and terminals are well coated with di-electric grease to keep water out, prevent corrosion, and ensure conductivity.

You can get a can of CRC Di-electric Grease at Autozone for less that $5 and it's enough to last you a couple years.  This stuff is a must for anyone who owns a FF.

You can get a can of CRC Di-electric Grease at Autozone for less that $5 and it'll last you a couple years.  This stuff is a must for anyone who owns a FF.

This is exactly what I use...no problems with my Matrix 17 so far in over a year on the water.

I use di-electric grease and never pull the connector out of the head unit. just leave it plugged in all the time and connected to power.

Now, my questions are:

Can you buy the connections separately ?

How do you clean the connections after been wet ?

Ramon, call Eagle and Humminbird customer support to see if they can simply send you what you need.  On several occasions I called Humminbird for small corroded parts like battery terminals and they sent them to me for free.

In the past, I always rinsed off my FF's with fresh water.   I learned the hard way that can sometimes create more problems by forcing water into the unit.  I found it better to simply wipe it off with a damp rag and just make sure your connectors and terminals are well coated with di-electric grease to keep water out, prevent corrosion, and ensure conductivity.

You can get a can of CRC Di-electric Grease at Autozone for less that $5 and it'll last you a couple years.  This stuff is a must for anyone who owns a FF.

Thanks Chuck. I will call.

Go to the Electrical section of Home Depo or OSH and pickup a tube of Nolax, inexspensive and works great. Andy

Now, my questions are:

Can you buy the connections separately ?

How do you clean the connections after been wet ?

Ramon, call Eagle and Humminbird customer support to see if they can simply send you what you need.  On several occasions I called Humminbird for small corroded parts like battery terminals and they sent them to me for free.

In the past, I always rinsed off my FF's with fresh water.   I learned the hard way that can sometimes create more problems by forcing water into the unit.  I found it better to simply wipe it off with a damp rag and just make sure your connectors and terminals are well coated with di-electric grease to keep water out, prevent corrosion, and ensure conductivity.

You can get a can of CRC Di-electric Grease at Autozone for less that $5 and it'll last you a couple years.  This stuff is a must for anyone who owns a FF.

This is exactly what I use too.

I glued my connector in with silicone and that's worked fine.