Heya, I'm chiming in to express my thanks for this fantastic video! I too, started having issues with my own T-18 and was nearly ready to scrap it when I discovered your instructional. I gathered my tools together, dissambled the motor and discovered exactly what you were talking about. I spent about three hours all tokd and the results were beyond my wildest imagination. A note about sealing. I used a marine grade sealant for the seams. I couldn't tell if it has the acid in it you mentioned so I'd welcome your perspective on that. Also, I took apart the bushes and found that the springs were hopelessly corroded. I took them out and after I cleaned everything up, I hit upon an idea. I butchered a couple of ballpoint pens for their springs and cut them to fit and it seems to have been the perfect solution. The bushes move beautifully in their housings and the motor runs beautifully. I use my motor with my 14 foot sailing boat and I spend a lot of time on the sea off Adelaide. In the 18 months since I've had it, I have never performed any sort of maintenance on it. I now plan to make this a regular schedule where I'll strip everything down and repeat the process. My sincere thanks to you for this invaluable instructional. Salut!
Thanks for that. Yeah marine grade stuff is perfect. I have another video where I made even more improvements to this motor. ua-cam.com/video/mknCjNDaYa0/v-deo.html
Mate, you are a legend I have a 44/36 Watersnake and it just decided last week not to work anymore. Watching this video I have the confidence to take the motor apart now since have checked everything else all the wiring is good with the correct voltage, Now I will have a look at the motor.
Your video helped me immensely yesterday. Got my 54lb thrust watersnake running! I wondered about tapping in a drain plug, in the nose cone perhaps, to let the later out after each use. May be preferable to stripping it down each time?
Looks like pre-maiden maintenance (sealing up the motor unit) and checking the seals after each use will prolong the life of the trolling motor in saltwater. Thanks for sharing!
It's possible that the cool water is causing condensation inside the down tube and motor housing. With humid air above water and cool below and free air exchange along the tube, it could happen. However, sealing it may cause vacuum/pressure problems with temp changes.
That's the problem. The humid air gets pulled right down to the cool tube and housing while it's in the cool water. I do refrigeration and it's the same problem there. Any small hole in a walk-in cooler will draw the moisture right in causing condensation, so we are careful to seal any penetrations. The moisture will move from warmer humid air to cool air. Just a thought. Tight lines.
Old Wello point, great vid mate, I’ve just brought a new 34lb Watersnake motor, I put marine grease on all bolt heads and a smear on any metal surfaces, wondering in I should just slap some silicone around the body before I use it. Cheers mate.
Excellent info and tutorial, cheers mate. I'm about to buy one of these snakes, would you recommend I put some Sika around the joins straight off the bat before using? Thanks for the clip
Great video mate ! Im getting a new one today and after i saw this video i decided to just apply the silicone before the first use but how frequently do you recommend to service it as I am only going to use it on saltwater as much as 4 times a week. Thanks again !
Omg thank you for posting this. I firgured out why mines wasnt working. The spring for the two teeth were worn out and were not pushing up against the metal rod.
How has the seal around the shaft tothe propeller, and jointed housing pieces held up for you out on the water and during maintenance times? Any new ideas?
Just got a new water snake venom SXW 34/30. I live in Michigan US, but plan to use this motor in salt water next winter. Ran across this video which is excellent for explaining how to clean it. I could not make out the name of the water displacement spray you used? Anyway thx for all the info.
Mate.i couldn't find replacement brushes that were an exact fit. BUT I have some makita 9503 brushes from a makita belt sander and you can if you are gentle. Grind them down to fit in. you could do this with any brush so long as they are bigger so you can grind and fit them
It still has original brushes. I guess it would be about an hour to do job as you might as well service and clean during process. i had to replace the wire attached to the brush at one time. i have another video of some good modifications to do. ua-cam.com/video/mknCjNDaYa0/v-deo.html
I believe you mentioned that you use a 30ah lithium battery. Can you let us know how long it lasts? Thanks for the video it very helpful since I am getting one soon and trying to decide on which battery to get.
looks like a new condition motor with water penetration. seems to me watersnake is low quality product. feeling it completely with gear oil is a good solution?!
Thank you for nice video but came to late for me.Newer I thing that water enter engine.so after some time I want to use it and suprice suprice it do not work.So I took it apart as you but in side is so much rust , I do not know if it will work again.I will try.What I want to say is water enter in side probably trough one of that bolt,I find on one side was rubber ring on other side not,and inside I can see rust come from that hole.So thank you again.Jerry
give it a good wash out with detergent. remove the coil housing wash that too. be gentle on the copper cores . scrape off all the rust. spray the housing with inox spray. NOT wd40. wipe clean and assemble. it should still run.
Great vid. thank you! I don’t know whether you’ve done a complete strip down, but have you discovered how they vary the speed? The circuit diagram on their website shows a resistor symbol which they have labelled as a coil in the high speed connection between the motor and the speed switch. This seems a bit odd, as low throttle could be achieved by simply limiting the current with a power-wasting resistor, but what the coil is doing in the high speed circuit beats me, especially as from you vid, there is clearly only the black and red leads going to the commutator. Could you see from the strip down where the blue lead in the high speed circuit is connected?
I honestly hadn't given that much thought.i don't remember seeing anything inside the head mount either. I still have it stripped down from last outing.i will have a look tonight and see if there is a resistor
@@nigelcbf g'day Nigel. Just been looking at insides of motor.i cannot see anything.only thing I am thinking is a small resistor in line somewhere. pics the black wire at brushes looks a lot thicker than the red..possibly a resistor under heatsink. i wouldn't have thought that by just having the length of blue wire would given that much resistance.seems that's all that's there.
oh i forgot to say that there quite literally nothing under top cover apart from the 2 switches. you definitely got me wondering now.i might do a full stripdown before i use it again.cos i really wanna know . the only thing you cannot see is the end of the blue wire down the shaft .that-ll be my next target.
Gizmo's Adventures that would be great. As you say, I guess there could be an in-line resistor in the blue lead (or maybe the lead is made of higher resistance material, the resistance to drop the current down from 20A to 9A would only be around 0.6 ohm) which then presumably must be joined to the black lead somewhere in the leg? Mind you, if the circuit diagram is correct, (www.jarviswalker.com.au/media/pdf/Watersnake-ASPT18-ASPT24.pdf), the blue lead connects to the high power connector on the speed selector switch..... In trying to work it all through, I suppose the acid test is does connecting power to the black or the blue lead result in the higher speed. The circuit diagram is weird as it implies that the black lead doesn’t even get directly connected to one of the brushes..... It’s frustrating as I am currently in the U.K. whereas the motor is sitting in France and it will be a couple of weeks before I can get back out there, otherwise I would have stripped mine down to do some detective work too... I’ve emailed Jarvis Walker about a week ago querying the diagram but have had no reply. Hope you’re having a good day!
Yes that does sound like it .thats what happens when it gets water in it. Thankfully it is fixable.and I cannot remember how long ago I did this video but my motor is still going strong .admittedly I have had to change a few things .including the switches. But they are a great little motor.
you said " I have ordered some good quality seals for it! to go above the axle shaft below propellor :) could you tell me what seals and where you ordered them? THX
G,day Rick H..I picked up these seals from China ( see link below ) they are perfect and just slid onto the shaft into the recess below the propellor. i siliconed it in place . been good so far. there is a piss poor seal in the watersnake housing that doesn't work at all. rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fthermalarc11
i got the seals from ebay. rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fthermalarc11
@@vqphan this guy sells lots of oil seals. you will need to measure the thickness of the shaft. i think from memory mine was about 8mm. he has seals that will fit from about 5mm to 11mm. rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fitm%2FSelect-Size-ID-5-11mm-TC-Double-Lip-Rubber-Rotary-Shaft-Oil-Seal-with-Spring%2F272209335210%3Fhash%3Ditem3f60f0d3aa%3Am%3AmIDk5aYEt1xpcCOziHP996w this suited my snake .if you message him and tell him shaft width and outer seal diameter. my OD was 22mm?from memory. or just select from his pull down menu
Well technically it is.but the torpedo shape was designed to move forward through the water not backwards. that being said ...you can just spin the watersnake 180 degrees if you want the same speed
Gizmo's Adventures but then the control panel is not facing you...right?...or was my Snake reverse wired by mistake...I have the torpedo facing the front of the yak and the prop aligned to the rear and the only way I go forward is in reverse mode....weird huh...I’m ok with this as long as it goes equally fast in both gears
@@vqphan i would try Dinga. they sell lots of watersnakes.i guess they'd be your best bet rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fdinga-fishing_australia%3F_trksid%3Dp2047675.l2559
Heya, I'm chiming in to express my thanks for this fantastic video! I too, started having issues with my own T-18 and was nearly ready to scrap it when I discovered your instructional. I gathered my tools together, dissambled the motor and discovered exactly what you were talking about. I spent about three hours all tokd and the results were beyond my wildest imagination.
A note about sealing. I used a marine grade sealant for the seams. I couldn't tell if it has the acid in it you mentioned so I'd welcome your perspective on that.
Also, I took apart the bushes and found that the springs were hopelessly corroded. I took them out and after I cleaned everything up, I hit upon an idea. I butchered a couple of ballpoint pens for their springs and cut them to fit and it seems to have been the perfect solution. The bushes move beautifully in their housings and the motor runs beautifully.
I use my motor with my 14 foot sailing boat and I spend a lot of time on the sea off Adelaide. In the 18 months since I've had it, I have never performed any sort of maintenance on it. I now plan to make this a regular schedule where I'll strip everything down and repeat the process.
My sincere thanks to you for this invaluable instructional.
Salut!
Thanks for that. Yeah marine grade stuff is perfect. I have another video where I made even more improvements to this motor. ua-cam.com/video/mknCjNDaYa0/v-deo.html
Mate, you are a legend I have a 44/36 Watersnake and it just decided last week not to work anymore. Watching this video I have the confidence to take the motor apart now since have checked everything else all the wiring is good with the correct voltage, Now I will have a look at the motor.
Your video helped me immensely yesterday. Got my 54lb thrust watersnake running! I wondered about tapping in a drain plug, in the nose cone perhaps, to let the later out after each use. May be preferable to stripping it down each time?
Looks like pre-maiden maintenance (sealing up the motor unit) and checking the seals after each use will prolong the life of the trolling motor in saltwater. Thanks for sharing!
yes .i think this is the only reason my motor still works after 3 years of use .cheers
Thank you so much. Going to use all of your advice.
It's possible that the cool water is causing condensation inside the down tube and motor housing. With humid air above water and cool below and free air exchange along the tube, it could happen. However, sealing it may cause vacuum/pressure problems with temp changes.
The tube is vented at the top
That's the problem. The humid air gets pulled right down to the cool tube and housing while it's in the cool water. I do refrigeration and it's the same problem there. Any small hole in a walk-in cooler will draw the moisture right in causing condensation, so we are careful to seal any penetrations. The moisture will move from warmer humid air to cool air. Just a thought. Tight lines.
Thank you, my motor has been running rough lately
Old Wello point, great vid mate, I’ve just brought a new 34lb Watersnake motor, I put marine grease on all bolt heads and a smear on any metal surfaces, wondering in I should just slap some silicone around the body before I use it. Cheers mate.
Yes definitely do that. Even though there is a rubber seal in the joints water always seems to get inside.
Excellent info and tutorial, cheers mate. I'm about to buy one of these snakes, would you recommend I put some Sika around the joins straight off the bat before using? Thanks for the clip
yes absolutely do that. cannot hurt
Great video mate ! Im getting a new one today and after i saw this video i decided to just apply the silicone before the first use but how frequently do you recommend to service it as I am only going to use it on saltwater as much as 4 times a week. Thanks again !
yeah i would check every few months to see its watertight
Omg thank you for posting this. I firgured out why mines wasnt working. The spring for the two teeth were worn out and were not pushing up against the metal rod.
How has the seal around the shaft tothe propeller, and jointed housing pieces held up for you out on the water and during maintenance times? Any new ideas?
its has kept all water out so far
Thank you very much for posting this video! great work!!
Great video
Just got a new water snake venom SXW 34/30. I live in Michigan US, but plan to use this motor in salt water next winter. Ran across this video which is excellent for explaining how to clean it. I could not make out the name of the water displacement spray you used? Anyway thx for all the info.
the spray is called Inox
Hi there!
Great video!
Do the brushes need to be replaced at some point?
If so, can you reference some Aliexpress replacement brush?
Thank you!
Mate.i couldn't find replacement brushes that were an exact fit. BUT I have some makita
9503 brushes from a makita belt sander and you can if you are gentle. Grind them down to fit in. you could do this with any brush so long as they are bigger so you can grind and fit them
Very nice video! Are you ever change you motor brushes? If so, do you have a estimate time do it?
It still has original brushes. I guess it would be about an hour to do job as you might as well service and clean during process. i had to replace the wire attached to the brush at one time. i have another video of some good modifications to do.
ua-cam.com/video/mknCjNDaYa0/v-deo.html
@@GizmosBushEscapes thanks very much for reply!! How long have you been using this motor with the original brushes?
@danibetitto6006 6 years
@@danibetitto6006 6 years
Excellent video
I believe you mentioned that you use a 30ah lithium battery. Can you let us know how long it lasts? Thanks for the video it very helpful since I am getting one soon and trying to decide on which battery to get.
if i ran the motor continuously it would last about 2 hours i reckon. but i run it off and on. lasts me entire weekend out.
good vid mate, I just bought a watersnake and was told not to use a lithium battery, is that correct? what battery system you running?
30 amp lithium .works fine. it weighs nothing. can run it down a lot lower than a gel .. lithiums do need a special charger though?
For some reason my motor has freaking sockets instead of flat head. I cant seem to find a socket that fits in it.
Bummer
looks like a new condition motor with water penetration. seems to me watersnake is low quality product.
feeling it completely with gear oil is a good solution?!
well they just needed a better seal. Mine is fine now with this fix.
Thank you for nice video but came to late for me.Newer I thing that water enter engine.so after some time I want to use it and suprice suprice it do not work.So I took it apart as you but in side is so much rust , I do not know if it will work again.I will try.What I want to say is water enter in side probably trough one of that bolt,I find on one side was rubber ring on other side not,and inside I can see rust come from that hole.So thank you again.Jerry
give it a good wash out with detergent. remove the coil housing wash that too. be gentle on the copper cores . scrape off all the rust. spray the housing with inox spray. NOT wd40.
wipe clean and assemble. it should still run.
Did that purple home made seal really work?
No .but the aftermarket seals I put in have been working for 6 years
Great vid. thank you! I don’t know whether you’ve done a complete strip down, but have you discovered how they vary the speed? The circuit diagram on their website shows a resistor symbol which they have labelled as a coil in the high speed connection between the motor and the speed switch. This seems a bit odd, as low throttle could be achieved by simply limiting the current with a power-wasting resistor, but what the coil is doing in the high speed circuit beats me, especially as from you vid, there is clearly only the black and red leads going to the commutator. Could you see from the strip down where the blue lead in the high speed circuit is connected?
I honestly hadn't given that much thought.i don't remember seeing anything inside the head mount either. I still have it stripped down from last outing.i will have a look tonight and see if there is a resistor
Gizmo's Adventures Thanks, that would be great!
@@nigelcbf g'day Nigel.
Just been looking at insides of motor.i cannot see anything.only thing I am thinking is a small resistor in line somewhere. pics the black wire at brushes looks a lot thicker than the red..possibly a resistor under heatsink. i wouldn't have thought that by just having the length of blue wire would given that much resistance.seems that's all that's there.
oh i forgot to say that there quite literally nothing under top cover apart from the 2 switches. you definitely got me wondering now.i might do a full stripdown before i use it again.cos i really wanna know . the only thing you cannot see is the end of the blue wire down the shaft .that-ll be my next target.
Gizmo's Adventures that would be great. As you say, I guess there could be an in-line resistor in the blue lead (or maybe the lead is made of higher resistance material, the resistance to drop the current down from 20A to 9A would only be around 0.6 ohm) which then presumably must be joined to the black lead somewhere in the leg? Mind you, if the circuit diagram is correct, (www.jarviswalker.com.au/media/pdf/Watersnake-ASPT18-ASPT24.pdf), the blue lead connects to the high power connector on the speed selector switch..... In trying to work it all through, I suppose the acid test is does connecting power to the black or the blue lead result in the higher speed. The circuit diagram is weird as it implies that the black lead doesn’t even get directly connected to one of the brushes..... It’s frustrating as I am currently in the U.K. whereas the motor is sitting in France and it will be a couple of weeks before I can get back out there, otherwise I would have stripped mine down to do some detective work too... I’ve emailed Jarvis Walker about a week ago querying the diagram but have had no reply. Hope you’re having a good day!
where can i get a diagram of my watersnake ,tracer fwt 44 lb thrust control box wiring
not sure? but maybe try this place
www.anglerscentral.com.au/watersnake-shadow-swdr-54-54.html
I think mine now has water in it as it runs like crap,and in reverse is really slow compared to forward
Yes that does sound like it .thats what happens when it gets water in it.
Thankfully it is fixable.and I cannot remember how long ago I did this video but my motor is still going strong .admittedly I have had to change a few things .including the switches. But they are a great little motor.
you said " I have ordered some good quality seals for it!
to go above the axle shaft below propellor :) could you tell me what seals and where you ordered them? THX
G,day Rick H..I picked up these seals from China ( see link below ) they are perfect and just slid onto the shaft into the recess below the propellor. i siliconed it in place . been good so far. there is a piss poor seal in the watersnake housing that doesn't work at all.
rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fthermalarc11
the ebay sellers name is thermalarc11
i got the seals from ebay. rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fthermalarc11
Gizmo's Adventures the link sends you to the Sellers store but what’s the is the gasket called? Thanks
@@vqphan this guy sells lots of oil seals. you will need to measure the thickness of the shaft. i think from memory mine was about 8mm.
he has seals that will fit from about 5mm to 11mm.
rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fitm%2FSelect-Size-ID-5-11mm-TC-Double-Lip-Rubber-Rotary-Shaft-Oil-Seal-with-Spring%2F272209335210%3Fhash%3Ditem3f60f0d3aa%3Am%3AmIDk5aYEt1xpcCOziHP996w
this suited my snake .if you message him and tell him shaft width and outer seal diameter. my OD was 22mm?from memory.
or just select from his pull down menu
did you notice a speed increase after servicing?
Yes mate the speed slowed considerably when it filled with salt water. It sped up quit a bit after the work
Hay gizmo great video it’s helped fix my water snake. Let’s be friends on you tube
subbed ;)
Will be great make a UA-cam video with you how can I send you a personal message? I got some great ideas 💡
@@lethosadventures you got it 👍
Question....is reverse the same speed in high and low forward?
Well technically it is.but the torpedo shape was designed to move forward through the water not backwards.
that being said ...you can just spin the watersnake 180 degrees if you want the same speed
Gizmo's Adventures but then the control panel is not facing you...right?...or was my Snake reverse wired by mistake...I have the torpedo facing the front of the yak and the prop aligned to the rear and the only way I go forward is in reverse mode....weird huh...I’m ok with this as long as it goes equally fast in both gears
@@jeffw3776 looks like maybe your switch is wired just backwards.it shouldn't make any difference.
Gizmo's Adventures that’s what I thought....I’ll make reverse my forward...and vice versa.....they also shipped me the wrong prop nut....
@@jeffw3776 wow they did screw you around a bit .hope you sort it easily
Will it tilt out of the water when not in use?
Yep
Can the shaft be screwed off from the housing
good question ? but i am not sure as i haven't had to try that
Do they sell a new shaft. Being that I cut mines short. And now I want it long again
@@vqphan i would try Dinga. they sell lots of watersnakes.i guess they'd be your best bet
rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?ff3=4&toolid=11800&pub=5575356278&campid=5338231571&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com.au%2Fusr%2Fdinga-fishing_australia%3F_trksid%3Dp2047675.l2559
After seeing there are no ball bearings, only bronze bushings in this motor, I will not be buying this brand of motor.
Have you seen what salt water does to ball bearings?
Yes, and proper maint. will take care of it. Bushings wear out and are not as free running as bearings.@@BornAgainCynic0086
Why would you not buy a motor based on whether it has ball bearings or not?