big volt 10-1/4 problems

[Don Julio]

Just purchased a new big volt for my wheelhouse. I made it thru 20 inches of ice before it kicked out. Took me a long time to finish 4 holes. Reset time seems a bit long when its -25 with the covers off. Contacted strikemaster, said they have never had a problem since they changed to a single chipper blade. I think I'm going to return it. Anyone else that has the 10-1/4" ever have this problem?

[Princeton]

No, I have not had any issues at all with it kicking out. Was your Battery fully charged? What size battery are you using?

[Gus]

I haven't had any issues with mine. I have the 10 inch.

Drilled 8 holes through 20" of ice back to back last weekend.

[jmh]

Used my 10 1/4 Big Volt for the first time this past weekend on LOTW. Re-opened 4 holes in a permanent house like a champ. Next day took the portable out and struggled to drill two holes in 20" ice, kicked out when drilling both holes and took forever. Battery measured 12.63v when I got home so I don't think that had anything to do with it...

[skunked101]

I have the same problem with mine. I bought it last February I've drilled 16 holes with it and it has never made it through a hole without having to reset. I have used diferent fully charged bateries and nothing has worked. Got tired of it and just went and bought new Ion. Big volt just hanging on hook in garage keep forgetting to call strikemaster.

[Gus]

Are you guys that are having issues running it off of a sitting battery? Meaning not connected to a running truck or atv etc?

I've only run mine while connected inside my wheel house, which is running right off the truck alternator during drilling and setup time to not deplete my battery. I only mention this because I haven't had the issue, and it looks like others have.

The lower the voltage, the more amps are needed. Higher amps are going to cause more heat. This correlation could possibly be part of the issue.

How have others been using theirs? I'm curious about all of this now.

[jmh]

I was running mine off a 3 month old group 27 580cc 900mca deep cycle battery not connected to anything else. I've never used a shaver style blade before. I have a strikemaster lazer auger/blade that when I get a chance I'm going to put on and see if that makes a difference.

[Don Julio]

I decided to contact Strikemaster since I've had excellent customer service from them in the past. I asked them to call me directly so we could discuss what was going on with my auger. I explained that I had tried using two fully charged batteries to run the auger with the same results. He verified that the blade was the updated one on my auger. They used to have a double chipper blade that caused the kicking out issue. The only thing left was the thermo overload switch. I explained that I was heading back up to URL this weekend, and that I would like to retry the auger. They sent out a new one to me FedX. I talked to them on Tuesday at noon and my switch arrived today Wednesday at 2:00. That's what I call service. I will install the new switch today and retry the Big Volt.

[Don Julio]

I know this is an old thread but wanted to update the issues I had with my big volt. The new switch didn't make any difference. Another call to tech support to tell them the results. Only other thing he thought could be the auger. They had them made in two different places. Mine was from China. He sent a new auger up with an extra set of blades for my trouble. I did not have a chance to try it out to see what this new auger is like. With the ice growing thicker every day, I can't wait to re-try it in my new Yetti. Will post once I've drilled some holes.