Short Stop for all Electric Downriggers

Short Stop is a Cannon exclusive feature that automatically stops the weight at the water’s surface, preventing the lift motor from raising it into the pulley at the end of the boom. This feature comes on all Cannon electric downriggers and requires the boat to be properly grounded. Stopping the weight at water level eliminates the cable strain caused by a bouncing weight or a weight hitting the boom end and it also keeps the weight from swinging into the boat hull.

When the downrigger cable is in the water, a small electrical current flows between the cable and grounded metal boat components in the water. When the cable clears the water, the current flow stops. The short stop system senses this interruption and turns off the motor. The trolling weight insulator is used to break the cable contact to the water while the weight is still in the water.

To use this feature, momentarily lift “up” on the switch, engaging the motor. (The switch automatically defaults/returns back to the neutral position.) The ground is being picked from the boat through the water and to the downrigger cable. Plastic insulators are used where the weight attaches to the downrigger cable acting as an endpoint for ground. When the insulators come to the top of the water level, they cut off the ground to the motor, and the motor shuts off automatically.

*This feature comes on all Cannon electric downriggers and requires conductive cable and the boat to be properly grounded.

Testing Short Stop

To check to see if the shortstop feature is functioning correctly, follow the steps below: (NOTE: the use of steel cable is required – Short Stop will not function with monofilament or braided line as the cable.)

1. Take a jumper wire from the negative of the power source to which the downrigger is attached, and make contact with the downrigger cable on the spool.
2. Momentarily lift “up” on the control switch to activate the downrigger. (The switch should return back to the neutral position.) The downrigger should continue to run automatically until contact is lost with the jumper wire on the downrigger cable.
3. If it does not work in the way described in Step 2, remove the motor housing cover and make contact using the negative jumper wire from the power source with green wire coming from the circuit board and running to the motor (low speed downriggers) or to the gear case cover (high speed downriggers). While making contact, momentarily lift “up” on the switch to activate the motor. The motor should continue to run as long as contact with the jumper wire is maintained. If it works at this point perform the following checks:
   1. Check the green wire for good contact.
   2. Check the reel set screw for good contact with the reel shaft.
   3. Check the reel set screw for good contact with the downrigger cable. The first three wraps of downrigger cable go over the set screw to ensure good contact and performance.
4. If the short stop still does not function, replace the control board.