willisride
Well-Known Member
Ok folks. This is going to be a longer post, but I would feel horrible if something happened and you guys didn’t have the info. The “back story” we bought a brand new princecraft 177 sport in April 2017. We had some upgrades added from the factory and the dealer. This included a 24 V 70lbs thrust trolling motor. Again, these were purchased WITH the boat at the time of sale. On this particular model there is wiring that is concealed from the double battery bank up to the pronged plug mount for the trolling motor. Ok, fast forward to August 2018..... another full week away fishing lake st Clair. Day one, trolling motor is dead. After trouble shooting. The motor is fine. To avoid interruptions in the fishing week, I re wired the unit externally to get me through. Got the run around from princecraft and the dealer regarding any warranty and it wasn’t worth my time pushing the issue (long story) so I had a technician deal with the problem end of season. Now for the scary part...... princecraft wired these boats, and their previous 16 and 17s and some other models ALL WITH UNDER Gauged wiring! And to boot the wrong fuses!! My concealed wire melted, and could have started a fire. It was also inhibiting trolling motor performance because it couldn’t draw the proper ampriage from the batteries! The set up that came with the boat was clearly for a 12V or smaller set up. If anyone else has these models and upgraded either from the factory, or on their own I strongly suggest you get the wiring and fuses checked. After investigation this was apparently a KNOWN issue at prince craft that has been remedied for 2018 model year but they fu*ked me off re warranty none the less...... still love my boat, but damn that’s some negligent craftsmanship right there. Stay safe all!!