Leave My Fish Finder on the Boat Between Trips?

[JimB77]

I have a 1995 Nitro 170-DC Tracker that I keep outside with a cover over it. Installed is a nice Humminbird Helix fish finder and I wonder about how I should care for it. Is it okay to leave the fish finder on the boat or should I take it into the house? It gets rather hot in the summer under that cover and we get down to freezing during the winter. How do you all deal with this? Thanks.

 

[Starbanker]

It could get hot, as in stolen. I have two HDS 12's and they go where I go, I have a little suitcase that they fit in. I looked into gimble locks but after my truck was broken into a few years back I realized that thieves will just tear things out and not care about damage.

 

[DONAOL]

Was told decades ago to remove any fishing finder from my boats and take them home between fishing trips. My boats were stored in a limited secure boat parking area. If it's sits in your driveway, than it depends on the area you live in. I sure storing electronics away from the extreme heat and cold will help them last longer. Venting your cover from heat build up can help. I guess that would be the down side of in the dash fish finder mounts there stuck in with the boat. As Starbanker stated thieves will rip anything out of a boat if they really want it. Today you can install wireless security systems to help protect your fishing equipment. I've also install a game camera to monitor my boat. Nothing is 100% thief proof. Sad sign of the times.

 

[Timmer]

My boat is secured in my shed so I only worry about weather. In the winter I bring them inside as the manufacturer notes they can't fall below a certain temperature. I don't specifically recall what it is for the Helix, but I believe it is well below zero.

 

[Fro]

I do think I’ve ever taken mine off and I’ve never had any problems. If I was in town I’d probably take them off just to keep them from being stolen.

 

[JohnB]

I keep my boat in the garage and I live in the middle of nowhere, so I don’t worry about it. However, if I things were different, I would DEFINITELY pull my fish finder, tackle, and rods each time.

You don’t realize how much you spend on that crap until it’s stolen.

 

[Tim_C]

I always take mine off. Too expensive to leave out in weather, or for potential thieves, or rats and mice to chew on.

 

[Fishin1.0]

I keep my boat in a garage so I leave mine on. When traveling or staying somewhere over night, I pull mine off and secure them.

 

[TJ]

I have 4 Garmin Units and I garage my boat. I have learned over the years the more you connect and disconnect electronics, the bigger chance they have of failing. I leave mine plugged in whenever possible. Even with the advent of the new cradles, which are really easy to place and remove electronics, I still leave them attached whenever possible. I have a kill switch and shut off all electric to the units every time I'm done fishing.

 

[JimB77]

I have 4 Garmin Units and I garage my boat. I have learned over the years the more you connect and disconnect electronics, the bigger chance they have of failing. I leave mine plugged in whenever possible. Even with the advent of the new cradles, which are really easy to place and remove electronics, I still leave them attached whenever possible. I have a kill switch and shut off all electric to the units every time I'm done fishing.

Thanks. This is the one thing that worries me about constantly removing and replacing the unit on my boat.

 

[Nimitz]

I have 4 HELIX units & store my boat under a canopy with a trailerable canvas cover but would never even consider leaving my units on the boat unless it was stored in my garage. I simply have a canvas bag where all the control heads are kept & when I head out I just grab it & go. With the multi-wire plug heads that come with all HELIX units it takes all of 5 mins to install my graphs ...

 

[henryy00]

Normally, installing fishfinder close to the helm for easy screen monitoring while steering the boat. Ensure it's chest-level and doesn't interfere with wiring or accessories.

 

[birda40]

Rods reels , anything that can grow feet goes with me. A Shimano reel means just as much to me as my electronics and I've found things missing , so I don't take any chances

 

[DodgeBoy]

Mine come out unless I'm in the boat. Cost way too much to risk them turning up missing.