Battery low alarm

[cvtech1]

My Hummingbird fish finder is set to low alarm 10v and keeps going off when I start boat or run live well. Is my battery bad?

 

[tpenfield]

Not necessarily. Check the voltage with the battery 'at rest' nothing turned on, etc. It should be at least 12.6 volts. If, so then fine. If not, then maybe the battery is low.

Maybe it is best to turn the Humming Bird on after you start the engine, since the battery voltage does drop during cranking.

 

[dingbat]

My electronics low voltage alarm has always been my signal to start battery shopping, but try this first….

Make sure battery is fully charged and both battery terminals are clean and try it again.

If you still get the warning, the battery is compromised and on the way out.

 

[Alumarine]

Try wiring the Humminbird directly to the battery if it isn't already.
If that solves the problem, you have a wiring issue.

 

[mike_i]

How old are your batteries? It wouldn't hurt to have them load tested. Make sure all connections are clean and if you can measure the voltage at the battery then at the FF while you start the motor, make sure you have water on. Does the FF turn off or does just the low voltage warning pop up? Is this a new issue?

 

[airshot]

Have your battery load tested, even though it may show a full charge, some batteries cant handle any type of load when they get bad. Try another battery if you have an extra one

 

[roscoe]

Your battery may be perfectly fine.
Check, clean, and tighten connections on battery, starter, starter solenoid.
For whatever reason, your motor is drawing enough power away from the battery to allow available voltage to drop below that required to run the sonar.

If you find nothing wrong, run a separate wire from the battery to the fish finder. Or connect the fish finder to the trolling motor battery if you have one.

 

[cvtech1]

My Hummingbird fish finder is set to low alarm 10v and keeps going off when I start boat or run live well. Is my battery bad?

I have a hummingbird helix5 and I have to set it to 9.5 volts to keep it from constantly beeping after a few hours on the water fishing. I once turned it down to 9 volts, big mistake. Would not start but we was on water 7 plus hours. To answer your question or help I have a brand new battery and it still alarms if set to 10 volts when I crank the motor, so it could be a hummingbird issue.

 

[roscoe]

Not a hummingbird issue.
It IS a voltage drop issue.

 

[dingbat]

I have a hummingbird helix5 and I have to set it to 9.5 volts to keep it from constantly beeping after a few hours on the water fishing. I once turned it down to 9 volts, big mistake. Would not start but we was on water 7 plus hours. To answer your question or help I have a brand new battery and it still alarms if set to 10 volts when I crank the motor, so it could be a hummingbird issue.

A fully charged 12 volt battery is 12.7 volts. A starting battery is technically dead at 12.0 volts.

The current draw of a starter drops voltage between 1-2 volts depending on the starter. This puts you at 11.7 to 10.7 volts at start.

If your battery drops below 10 volts your battery and or wiring is compromised