Sometimes it's the little things that just drive you crazy.

I've pretty much completed the restoration of my boat and am in the process of installing such things as the fish finder, trolling motor, etc. Actually, I'm done with the mechanical part of that even and was running the final wiring.

It was Thanksgiving day and we had a bunch of in laws over to the house to have Thanksgiving dinner with us. Of course everyone from Grandpa/Grandma on down to the smallest Grand baby came along. We cooked two turkeys (I smoked one in my smoker.) and a big ham, all slow cooked, then allowed to "breathe." They turned out great and every one ate well and had a fine time.

After dinner, I needed a break, so I headed to the garage to work on the FF and TM wiring to finish it up. All I needed to do was put some ring terminals on the power wire for the FF and then route the FF wires, mount them on the FF, complete the final FF/TM wire bundle ties for neatness and routing and reinstall the transition panel from the casting deck to the TM deck.

Just as I wrapped up the ring terminals and were routing them to mount them to the 12 power terminals I setup for the front decking, In-law Grandpa and Great Grandpa show up outside to smoke, come up to the boat carrying on loudly and distract me just enough I drop what Humminbird calls a "cable collector insert" down into the exposed gap between the casting deck and the trolling motor deck.

This normally wouldn't be a big deal, but the gap is just about 3 inches wide, way too narrow for me to reach down and pick up the plastic part. In fact, I can't even see the part and it's basically way up in the front end of the deep Vee somewhere. There's an area where the aluminum construction feeds water that needs draining and there's closed cell foam piled in odd shapes in the area it dropped into and I cannot see exactly where it is.

I checked online about ordering another one and it's $25.00 to buy a complete collector. The collector insert isn't available that I've been able to find.

If I could see it or reach it, I'd just grab it, but I absolutely cannot. Enough to drive ya crazy, especially since I'd be completely done with the front decks, able to install the transition panel and from that point, pretty much done with the boat except for minor stuff.

Little things that drive ya crazy..... ](*,)

They make a tool mechanics use all the time to reach little dropped non accessible items. I have one that my clumbsy self has to use all the time. Sears, Harbor Freight, etc should have them. They look like this. Also have magnets on extending rods.

Yes, they're 5 bucks at Harbor Freight and I'll need one of those mirrors on a stick too. That'll be ten bucks, plus a trip to Athens and 20 bucks worth of gas. So going that route saves me a negative 5 bucks.

I think I'm going to have my very slim son in law give it a try when he comes by to "scalp" the grass for the winter.

You had enough people there - you should have just picked the boat up, turned it over, and shaken the part out.... :lol:

Give me the exact model number. I just MAY have a spare around here. I keep all sorts of junk when a part goes bad. Too much stuff, too. Rich

DaveInGA said:

Yes, they're 5 bucks at Harbor Freight and I'll need one of those mirrors on a stick too. That'll be ten bucks, plus a trip to Athens and 20 bucks worth of gas. So going that route saves me a negative 5 bucks.

I think I'm going to have my very slim son in law give it a try when he comes by to "scalp" the grass for the winter.

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I have owned both of these tools for many years now. I can't begin to count the number of times I've used them but if it saved me a dime for every time I needed/used them, they would have easily paid for themselves by now. So don't look at the cost as a single use expense but rather something that is spread over the life of the items.

bassboy1 said:

You had enough people there - you should have just picked the boat up, turned it over, and shaken the part out.... :lol:

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LOL

richg99 said:

Give me the exact model number. I just MAY have a spare around here. I keep all sorts of junk when a part goes bad. Too much stuff, too. Rich

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Rich,

It's a 800 series Humminbird, but I believe the connector is the same one for the 800 and 900 series. Not sure about the 1100 series.

Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Humminbird-740129-1-Collector-Series-Fishfinder/dp/B0065CR7F8

The part that fell is the part in the picture in the link with the two holes for screws to go in that's shown just to the left of two screws. I believe it's called a MBCC 900 and the part number is 740129-1

Decided to call Humminbird and see if I couldn't buy just the insert from them. Got a lady from tech support on the line and told her my story, asked if I could buy just the part. She asked for my address and told me she'd just have one sent to me. Couldn't ask for better support, she musta felt sorry for me, but I ain't complaining.

DaveInGA said:

Decided to call Humminbird and see if I couldn't buy just the insert from them. Got a lady from tech support on the line and told her my story, asked if I could buy just the part. She asked for my address and told me she'd just have one sent to me. Couldn't ask for better support, she musta felt sorry for me, but I ain't complaining.

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Great outcome! =D> =D>

That is what you want to hear! Good for you, for her and for Humminbird. Rich

Humminbird and Lakemaster have been really responsive when I needed support. My only complaint is that they seem to take a few extra days around a holiday to go fishing. Any other times they are great. I am glad it worked out well for you.