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yellowjacket5.
Since I have been unsuccessful getting through to Lowrance via their “800” number, maybe someone here will be able to help me diagnose the problem that I am encountering with my electronics (Lowrance). So here is what is happening. When the power button is pushed to turn the graph on it powers-up for about 3 minutes and then shuts off. Upon attempting to starting the graph again the initial screen comes up and then it automatically goes off. If you leave it alone for a while it will stay on for a couple minutes and then it is right back to shutting down as soon as the screen appears.I know it is not the graph itself since I have tested other graphs and they are doing the same thing thus it has to be associated with the power cord…or so I assume. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated as trying to get some assistance at Lowrance is becoming very difficult. Thanks
Could be a voltage problem.
So here is some additional information. Brand new battery, no problems with any of the other electronics (voltage (smartcraft and reading on graph on console) is fine). With everything shut-off, there is still a loss of power through the wiring to the front of the boat.
I would follow the power wire. If it has an inline fuse (most manufacturers seem to like these) make sure it is clean. Check each connection. There is a scientific way to test this if you want, which is to connect a 12v light bulb / socket directly to the battery and check the brightness, or if you have a voltmeter, measure the current draw thru the bulb at the battery. Now go connect that to the connector that you remove from the depth finder and check. If the bulb is significantly dimmer, you have a resistance issue somewhere between the battery and the connector. Note a simple voltage measurement wont do, as you will always see 12.5v or so, but when you start trying to draw amperage, Ohms law kicks in and drops the voltage as the amp draw goes up. You can use this test rig like this if you want to track it down in a straight-forward way: Connect a good wire to the battery ground. Test the voltage/amperage at the connector behind the depth finder by inserting a wire into the connector terminal with the red wire going in. Bulb work OK or is it dim, or if you have the voltmeter, is the current draw the same as it was when you tested the bulb at the battery? If it is dim or the current draw / voltage is off, the red wire has a problem. Otherwise, repeat but hook the wire to the battery + terminal, and test at the connector black wire terminal to see if your ground to the depth finder is OK. If it is dim or the current draw / voltage is off, the black wire is the problem. Now that you know which, you have to test each segment. Start with the wire that you found to be bad, at the depth finder end. Trace it to the first junction / splice / connection. Test from there to the opposite battery terminal. If that is good, the problem is between the finder and that connection. Otherwise, go to the next junction/splice and check there. Ive seen all sorts of problems cause this. Simple corrosion is most likely the issue. If you are direct-wired to the battery, the battery connections are common sources of problems. Notice any green or white powder around that connection? Get rid of it and after cleaning it up, use some good battery terminal grease to prevent it from recurring. Very rarely a circuit breaker develops problems, but testing as above will show this as the test light will be fine on one side of the breaker, but will be dim on the other. One other issue that is probably unlikely in a cat unless someone added a finder after it left the factory, deals with wire sizes. Todays finders (particularly color) draw a lot more current than past models. Using small-guage wire and such will introduce too much resistance for a long run to a device that is power-hungry. I helped my dad with a problem like this about 20 years ago, where he wired in a new LCD depth finder to his dash, and that depth finder plus the instrument lights and such was simply too much for the factory wiring guage. We re-wired from the battery to the instrument panel with a heavier wire and the problem went away. It will take a little time, but you can find the problem without going down the blind replace-everything route that gets frustrating. If you are not certain that your finder is really good, you can measure the voltage at the connector with the finder off, to verify you see 12.4-12.5 or whatever you see measuring directly at the battery. Now turn the finder on. Does the voltage start to drop (you need to measure for a minute or so as the transducer doesnt come on at first and it does burn some power on each pulse). If the voltage drops to below 12 volts, you have to fix the problem that is causing excessive resistance. That is all that will cause a voltage drop. If the voltage stays above 12, and the finder shuts down, then it becomes the suspect part here. Digital computers do not like to run at low voltage, so if you keep the voltage up, then the electronics themselves are most likely bad…2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200
Thanks folks…
What model unit? When we bought the Classic we had the Lowrance X51s replaced with 525s. The one on the bow started doing the same thing after we got her home. Called Lowrance and uploaded a newer version of software which did not help and ended up having to send it back. Hopefully you can reach someone and get a RA # Good luck
When is boots up for a few minutes….put it on the screen which shows voltage…..same page that shows the satellite bars….see what the voltage says……..then follow Olttimers post above. Definitely sounds like youre short on voltage and the unit is shutting off as a safety feature. You sure your crankin battery is good? Mine would do that when the battery was going bad in the past.
As always, the folks on this board are the most helpful and courteous that I have seen on any board. So, I had to take a business associate out yesterday fishing without getting a chance to attempt to fix the problem that is affecting my front graph (334C iGPS). So, as usual the graph booted-up immediately and within 1 to 2 minutes it shut down. Unfortunately, there really is not enough time to go to the screen to check the voltage before it powers down. The cranking battery (brand new and this problem has been checked with another another brand new battery) is not the problem. Now, an interesting thing happened later in the day. I decided to try powering-up the unit again and guess what…it stayed on. Now the question is how long could it have stayed on? I say this because it was about 15 minutes before I had to head to the ramp. The bottomline is that it stayed on for more than 1-2 minutes.
Yep been there done that, My money is on the inline fuse.. strecth the sping and all will be fixed.. then cut it out an replace with a blade type if you want a fuse. Oldtimer is right about his checks but what happens is the blub doesnt draw enough amps and will stay lit and bright (been there) Voltmeter also the same especially electronic ones. The color unit draw more amps and shuts down from the resistance. It drove me crazy when it was happening to mine… IT IS A WEAK CONNECTION SOMEWHERE Strecth the spring in the inline if that doesnt do it then look for a connector that with a bad crimp..
Thanks Topwater. What you have suggested is my project for tonight. Instead of fishing I get to troubleshoot electronics.
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