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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,898
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Well, I’m glad you got it back up and running. Although you and I keep our AquaPro feeders up and running, I doubt we do much to help their sales efforts.. whistle


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
Joined: Dec 2017
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Originally Posted By: SetterGuy
Well, I’m glad you got it back up and running. Although you and I keep our AquaPro feeders up and running, I doubt we do much to help their sales efforts.. whistle


Hell, they should pay me for all the R&D!!!


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Dec 2017
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Upper motor quit working.

Tore the POS apart again.
Found the upper motor power wire solder joint broken.
I replaced the motor with a new one since its such a pain to get at.
New motor was $10 from wildlife innovations.
Notice how the falling food hits the power wires what are poorly soldered to begin with.
Add the corrosive properties of fish food, vibration and humidity. I'm surprised it lasted this long.
Fingers crossed that the failing solder joint was the cause of the ghost jams that I have been fighting with.

Each time I tear it apart, i have to re-caulk the interior joints against moisture. I'm going to hold off on caulking for a week or two just to make sure things don't go belly up again. I trust this feeder less than slick Willy at an all girls school.

A day at the pond is still better than a day at work!!!







Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 07/15/18 05:23 AM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
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Posts: 277
It fed all week with no jam messages using the tractor supply multi species chow.

I only added around 3 lbs of chow as a test, so I'm still very skeptical.
I added 5lbs yesterday for week 2 testing.

I had a theory that the mixed size chow was jamming the feeder wheel but so far so good.


Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
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Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
It lasted 5 days before it quit.
That was a record.

Tore it apart and found my solder joint repair had failed. The ultra cheap aluminum stranded wire is just not up to the task.
After examining everything closely and having several beers, I noticed the replacement motor was 6V.
The original was 12V. Hmmm....

Called the folks at wild game innovations and they swore that the 6V motor was the correct one and that only 6v was ever used in the upper motor.
Sounds like a fish story...

So I ordered an inexpensive waterproof 12V to 6V transformer. I replaced the factory wire run with quality copper stranded wire from the timer power output all the way to the motor terminals. I soldered the new wire to the motor and ruggedized the joints.
I wired the transformer in line close to the timer in case it needs attention.
I now see 6.2V at the motor leads. That should help with longevity and heat build up.

Here is the nice part- upon testing, I found the upper motor spins about half as fast as when it was on 12V. Thats a good thing, since it fed/slung feed to the lower motor much too fast.
Two seconds of feed time now equals what 1 second would feed previously. It now throws further out and gives the thrower motor a chance to fully clear the chute of nuggets prior to shutting/slowing down.
A fully cleared chute means less ants, coons and potential jams from wet food clogging the works.

I buttoned it all up, filled it half full of tractor supply catfish chow, said a prayer, had a beer and left it for the week.

Time will tell.

Attached Images
51nwXJew8rL._AC_SY400_.jpg
Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 07/15/18 08:12 AM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 106
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Likes: 106
I hope this fix holds up a long time. My AP is down again. I just received a new timer. Ordered just in case. I’ll get back up there this week. When I was at the pond last week, it was dead. Had a max charged battery, and it wouldn’t make a sound. The timer is probably all right, but I didn’t want to proactively order in motors..
should have bought a TxHunter.. mad


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
C
OP Offline
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Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
Originally Posted By: SetterGuy
I hope this fix holds up a long time. My AP is down again. I just received a new timer. Ordered just in case. I’ll get back up there this week. When I was at the pond last week, it was dead. Had a max charged battery, and it wouldn’t make a sound. The timer is probably all right, but I didn’t want to proactively order in motors..
should have bought a TxHunter.. mad


My $ says it's a busted solder joint.
Very poor design on the upper motor.
The food impacts the wires every Time it feeds. That causes the cheap aluminum wire to break off right at the motor terminal where the solder/wire meet.

To test the motor:
Bypass the timer with wire straight from battery to the blue/white pair to test upper motor function.
Mine would still run using the bypass test, but it was only connected by a single strand of that crappy aluminum stranded wire.

A replacement 6v motor is $10.
It's such a pain to access, just replace it if you suspect the solder joint is busted. I replaced the wire also.
(I included a pic of The wire I used. The size/gauge was perfect for the job. You'll need about 7 ft if you replace the entire run)

That factory wire is not worth messing with. I would use a 12V to 6V transformer.
It's easy to install and really helps with the rate that feed is presented to the thrower.

Btw, grab a package of 10Amp 250V glass fuses to keep in the timer compartment.
I burned 3 hours yesterday driving "to town" because I popped one and did not have a spare handy.

You will need a set of Allen keys, some blue (removable) loctite, a 1/4" drive set, a multimeter and a cardboard box about 8" tall to use to support the assembly while it's free from the feeder bottom.
(Wires are not long enough to sit it directly on the ground)

You will need a power source and a soldering iron, plus some rosin core solder and some shrink tube.

Hard to explain, but I used solid core 12ga copper wire, small zip ties and shrink tube to "ruggedize" the wire and solder joint that are subject to impact from the feed hitting it.
Wish I had taken pics now.

I used crimp caps to wire the 12V --> 6V transformer into the upper motor power run (Blu/wht pair)
The transformer is small enough to fit in the timer compartment. It's waterproof and 3amp max.
That's plenty for its intended job.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CGQRIFG/ref=psdcmw_10967761_t1_B06VTCJ311



Attached Images
20180715_094736.jpg 20180715_094814.jpg
Last edited by Clay N' Pray; 07/15/18 02:51 PM.

Half acre 30 year old farm pond, Mebane NC. Aeration & feeder.
LMB, CC, SC, BG, HBC, two no account welfare carp and nine seasonal Tilapia that all the other fish are terrified of.

Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
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Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 277
At the risk of jinxing myself, the feeder
Has run correctly every day for 40+ days.

This is a record!
Fingers crossed that i got the gremlins out of it.

For the sake of documentation, i used a piece of plastic to cut off half of the food outlet hole. Additionally, I used a 6V motor @ 6v in the upper, which reduced the motor RPM by a good bit (half?)

These two mods do two things.

1. Keep the RPM of the lower motor up due to the reduced volume of food.

2. Increase the throw distance due to the same as #1. Less volume = less load= higher RPM= longer throw.

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