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I am new to the Basscat brand as posted before but have been pleasantly surprised at the customer support. I have 3 concerns right now that some of you on this board may be able to help me with or maybe BCB. 1. Easy one I believe, today the Basscat emblem on the left side of the boat rear started to peel off. I have pushed it back on but I have a lot of experience with decals like this and this one is going to finish peeling off. As some of you might have seen my boat has a black base to it and since in the automotive industry we use heat to remove this kind of decal I am wondering how frequent this is an issue. I think the boat got hot enough today that when I started running it the pounding from the water at that area of the hull started it peeling…I read somewhere on this board of someone else having a similar issue. Anyone come up with a good remedy for this or just put the new one on and hope for the best? 2. Hopefully another quick one…I ordered a butt seat as the boat was supposed to come with it per the ad when I bought it from the 1st owner. I got it just before the Holiday…thanks BCB…..my question is it appears to lean one way….Has been no issue when using it but wondered if they lean to one side or if this one was just mounted on the plate or threaded offset a bit? 3. Biggest issue…So far after 4 or 5 weekends of using the boat I have had to times that I could not start the motor due to battery drain…..I stopped relying just on the on board 3 bank charger and also charged with a trickle charger to make sure they were charged. I have some of the most modern test equipment for batteries and I did have at least on suspect trolling battery as it required me to run off the surface charge to re-test it and then it still tested marginal…. The boat sat for a few months for the most part before I bought it and wondered if any of you have seen issues due to sitting with the trolling batteries….Today we were outright flat dead on a very remote lake but I was able to use the trolling motor to get to a camp and after about 1/2 hour of jumping she finally bumped over….Stupid me I left my jumper pack on the floor of the truck at the launch….had it with me not just with me……At this point I am sure it is charging correctly as I have verified it with 3 sources….It also does not seem to be a starter drag on the motor as it kicks right over with charged batteries…… I ran it for about another 1/2 hour and shut it down and it started a couple times with no issue….Really seems to me that 1 of the trolling batteries is stealing power from the starting battery so to speak and causing the issue….I am not close to a dealer so I also wondered how I could go about warranty issues on a battery from where I am……I think the boat is considered well under a year old…….any input on the quality and reliability of the on board chargers on the 2008 Cougars? Thank for all your feedback in advance…I am quite remote right now for a few more days and access to this board really helps…. By the way we slayed a few good size small mouths today around all this hoopla……My 13 year old son hooked a 2 lb 6 ozs and I got a 3 lb 11 ozs and a 4 lb 6 oz….so the day was not all bad… Thanks again in advance…
Easy ones! 1. Yes the decal adhesive is something we have been constantly working on. We are switching vendors in the near term as colors rotate. 2. The spider mount under the butt seat is marked front or rear, either. The side lean is because you have it on sideways. The lean is to the rear. 3. Parasitic voltage drain from the engine ECM, dash components, electronics and especially if you have a stereo. We again have suggested a large battery for the cranking battery. It is not the trolling motors that are of issue, it is the drain we put on our main batteries. One of our latest suggestions was an Exide AGM XMC-31 or XMA-31, with like 1100 CCA and lots of reserve capacity. We toasted two SC-27 200 minutes of reserve, Trojan batteries and a couple of SM series and other brands in our testing. That Exide battery just kept holding up and we had three of them in a new style prototype. You need a beefy battery on the main lines. There are others, though we found this one to be adequate and we could remember the numbers. We suspect that a replacement of the same battery would only yield the same results you are seeing. We have recently posted on this board how much testing we have been doing and we found that we just use up a main battery. The trolling batteries we could usually get by with a lot less, though a cranking batteries needs has been underestimated. Glad your son managed to get hooked up on some nice fish this week! That makes you fuzzy inside! BCB
1. Never heard that color of the boat affected the decals. That is a point that could be a factor. The only times I have ever lost decals is when I rub them up against something. 2. Some of the bases have a front and back and it sounds like the seat needs to be turned so the front of the seat goes on the pedestal correctly. Normally there is an arrow w/ the word front. My 08 has arrows on both sides of the word Swivel Eze that will be the front of the seat side. Sounds like you need to turn yours. 3. I have run the 3 battery setup on my last 3 boats and the only problem I have ever had is when the charger said it was charging and it wasnt actually charging the cranking battery to full charge. Try another charger OR switch leads and see if it is a particular bank. Keep an eye on it though because if it is a charging deal it will just move around. Good luck and congrats on your new boat…I love my 08 FTD. Judd Lasiter Edit – BCB typing quicker than me this evening
The butt seat is leaning sideways not front or back and came mounted on its base???? Does that mean I can rotate the plate that came mounted on the underside is it a perfect square? Can I order a new decal? Is there a swap out deal of any sorts on the battery and if so would I go to a vendor? Thanks for the quick responses…….. Also I forgot I have a 4th one….The arrow on the top of my motor guide trolling motor is not staying in line with the motor…I can turn it and now easier then when I first tried…Anyone know how this tightens and how I can keep it pointing in line with the troller…??? Thansk again
Yes, you can rotate the seat on the base…4 screws is all that is removed there. They have caps on them but that is an easy fix, they put the seat on sideways instead of switching front and back. Contact [email protected] for the decal replacement. The batteries are warrantied by the battery manufacturer…so any battery dealer that handles them can get you fixed up. The MG arrow, I am sorry I cant help you with I have run MKs since at least 99. Good luck. JL
It is a ratchet, and you just press down and reset it occasionally. It will pivot till you find the direction it needs to point.
Thanks. The ratcheting seems to have just about gone away…That was my concern…At first it had some resistance and ratcheted well but as the day progressed that seemed to go away to almost no resistance at all. As for the battery issue if I install an “Exide AGM XMC-31 or XMA-31, with like 1100 CCA” for the starting battery and decide to change out the trolling batteries at the same time what would you recommend for those? Also I am not at the boat right now can you tell me what brand and type that would have been installed in it at BCB? Thanks for all the help
BCB does not usually install batteries. Those are a dealership item, unless they were a dealer meeting boat. The batteries are done at the dealership to allow a fresh battery, instead of a lot stored one. Also they have agreements on battery compnaies, and those would offer the best service for you and the dealer. On which trolling battery, we dont think anything in a 2– to 240 minute battery is an issue. Weight greatly determines the quality of a battery. If it weighs more it is probably better. BCB
My decals are coming loose too-put a little glue on left one seems to be holding but noticed right one coming loose on bottom of it and is tearing up-May-be a different type of decal would stick better to boat -Dont known-John
Decals on glass seem to be a difficult one. We have tried alcohol rub downs. different glues and we even had the decals tested on a glass panel in low temps, high temps, wind and spray washed. They seem to hold up on the panels, though obviously we and all other manufacturers are loosing a few in the field. You can get a new decal from parts. As long as you did not wipe it off on a tree or stump. BCB
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