Repairing a Floating Fish Feeder - 06/11/11 02:50 AM
I went down to the pond when I got home last night. I've only been home one day in the last two weeks. The pond looked a little strange. Some of my catfish spawning buckets were floating -- and they hadn't moved much, if at all, for the last several years. Some of my close-in structure was askew. I was wondering what was floating on the north side of the pond -- it was my Moultrie fish feeder.
I rescued the feeder and put it on the dock. I noticed that shingles were missing from one side of one of my sheds.
I guess we had some real nasty weather in the last couple of days. Anyway, after drying out in the sun, the Moultrie feeder no longer worked. I pulled out the printed circuit board timer, and it was seriously corroded. I went to Gander Mountain where I found a Wildgame Timer Module for $29.95. It took just a few minutes to install it, in place of the original module. It worked. It unfortunately is about a quarter-inch thicker than the original timer, so I couldn't mount it, and still get the water-resistant case around it. It is loose with the battery, inside the accessory bucket. But, hey, it works. It saved me the cost of a new feeder.
The outside of the motor was pretty corroded looking. The wiring and internal structure looked OK. I saturated the motor with WD-40.
I also made a new combination lumber/welded holder for the feeder so it can't easily come loose in anything less than a major hurricane or tornado.
We'll see what happens.
The local weather radar again has lots of reds and yellows right now, and I'm hearing lots of thunder. Time to turn off and unplug the computer.
Ken
I rescued the feeder and put it on the dock. I noticed that shingles were missing from one side of one of my sheds.
I guess we had some real nasty weather in the last couple of days. Anyway, after drying out in the sun, the Moultrie feeder no longer worked. I pulled out the printed circuit board timer, and it was seriously corroded. I went to Gander Mountain where I found a Wildgame Timer Module for $29.95. It took just a few minutes to install it, in place of the original module. It worked. It unfortunately is about a quarter-inch thicker than the original timer, so I couldn't mount it, and still get the water-resistant case around it. It is loose with the battery, inside the accessory bucket. But, hey, it works. It saved me the cost of a new feeder.
The outside of the motor was pretty corroded looking. The wiring and internal structure looked OK. I saturated the motor with WD-40.
I also made a new combination lumber/welded holder for the feeder so it can't easily come loose in anything less than a major hurricane or tornado.
We'll see what happens.
The local weather radar again has lots of reds and yellows right now, and I'm hearing lots of thunder. Time to turn off and unplug the computer.
Ken