Fish Finder restart question?

[larlarsa]

i had a Lowrance HDS-5 unit on my console,when i start my motor to go to other fishing hole,my HDS -5 will trun off and restart again, i have checked all the wire already ,don't to see any lose connection,i have another Fish Finder on the bow don't have this problem,any way to solve this?

 

[KellyC]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

If the Lowrance is connected to a wire that is connected to the ignition switch it will turn off when starting. Just like a car when you start it, it turns the radio and wipers off just for a moment to start the motor.

 

[dingbat]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

You're battery's voltage is falling below the unit's low voltage threshold when you engage the starter. My fish finder will do the same if my batteries are not fully charged.

Make sure your batteries are fully charged first. The battery should run 12.6 ? 12.8 volts when fully charged. If that doesn?t solve the problem you need a larger capacity battery to accommodate the increased power demand of the newer fish finders.

 

[fish_on_the_deck]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

I agree with dingbat about voltage drop on battery due to large starting currents.

Another solution is to move to a dual battery system. if your fishfinder is on the house battery and youre starting your motor with the swithc turned to the starting battery, you wont have a problem.

Although, when I crank mine on "BOTH" my raymarine still shuts down... so I'm not sure a bigger battery would help in my situation... not sure about yours.

 

[sasto]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Same happens to me on two boats.....both diesels....2 top of the line Northstars and a Furuno. Been doing this for years, I just live with it. Hope you find a solution.

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Is your bow unit connected to a seperate battery, such as trolling motor? If so, considering wiring your HDS to it, as well.

Some units seem to be more tempermental with the voltage drop. I had an Eagle 502c GPS do that allot. My HB, which draws even more current, didn't have the issue using the same power source point. Outside of turning the unit back on, waiting for satalite fix, after each power off was more of a pain.

I was exploring using a capacitor and diode, to fix it, but found the combo unit was fine, vs having seperates.

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Electronics should be connected to the starting battery. Its not a good idea to use the trolling battery becaue of all the surges involved everythime you step on the go button. Have your starting battery load tested.

 

[Fed]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

HDS-5 Spec says the operating voltage is 10-18V.

My engine manual (OMC) says that 9.6V at the battery terminals on an extended crank of 15 seconds indicates a 'good' battery.

Add in any voltage drop between the battery terminals and the HDS-5 connection and it's easy to see there could be a problem.

How is it wired into your system Larlarsa?

 

[John_S]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Electronics should be connected to the starting battery. Its not a good idea to use the trolling battery becaue of all the surges involved everythime you step on the go button. Have your starting battery load tested.

I have never had a voltage drop shut-off caused by the trolling motor, until the battery is drawn down too far. Even on mistakenly turned on full power. The voltage drop is not like turning a motor over.

Agree that if it is just a bad battery, get a new one. That didn't matter with the Eagle I had.

 

[larlarsa]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

My bow fish finder also connect to the same (starter) battery,it is not connect to the starter switch,my boat sit at the dock with a two bank charger that's always top the power,and my starter battery just bought in this season.

The HDS unit have a low voltage alarm setting,i set it on 12v,but the battery voltage show on the unit always in 13.6v ,is it i set the low voltage on 12v that when i start the motor, the voltage drop ,the HDS just shutdown to protect it?

 

[larlarsa]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

this is my setup

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

The locator will show 12.6 with the engine OFF. Engine running the voltage will be in the 13 - 14 volt range. If the locator is showing 13.6 with the engine off, it is a faulty locator. Yes -- if you have the "Low Voltage" cutoff set at 12 volts, chances are the unit will shut off when you try to start the engine as the battery voltage may drop below that. But understand that if you have the locator connected to a circuit that is controlled by the ignition switch "A" (accessory) terminal, that terminal drops 12 volt power when the key is in the START position. 12 volts returns when the key is in the RUN position. If the locator is connected DIRECTLY to the battery, then the ignition switch/start scenario is not the problem but low voltage is very likely the problem. Set the low voltage to about 10.5 volts since the specifications for your locator probably indicate it will work on 10 - 15 volts.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Electronics should be connected to the starting battery. Its not a good idea to use the trolling battery becaue of all the surges involved everythime you step on the go button. Have your starting battery load tested.

I would disagree with that. The starting battery will see much higher surges and certainly more drop-out. Also, I do not like the risk of letting the electronics run down my starting battery. I only run the boat motor stuff off from my starting battery. This would be starting, trim/tilt, and possibly other CRITICAL loads such as running lights and maybe bilge pump on the starting battery. In my case, I run the stereo, fish finders, lights, and bilge pump from the deep cycle trolling battery. Ideally I would like to have the bilge and lights on a switch to either battery.

TerryMSU

 

[dingbat]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

The HDS unit have a low voltage alarm setting,i set it on 12v,but the battery voltage show on the unit always in 13.6v ,is it i set the low voltage on 12v that when i start the motor, the voltage drop ,the HDS just shutdown to protect it?

The low voltage alarm setting is just that, an alarm. It has no affect on operation of the unit. When the power dips below 10VDC, the unit will shut off do to a lack of voltage.

I had an interesting issue with the under voltage alarm on my Garmin GPS. I had the alarm on my unit set to 12 volts. Every once and awhile I get an under voltage alarm from the GPS but not the fish finder. Both set to 12 volts. Got doing some checking and found out that the GPS was reading about 0.5 volt different than I was getting with a meter on the input.

I called Garmin and they told me they had never heard of such a thing but they would check into it. They called me back about an hour later and told me they observed the same thing on their test unit. Turns out that the reading is not taken directly at the input. The voltage is monitored elsewhere in the unit. I just adjusted the alarm down a 0.5 V and have not had an issue since.

 

[Fed]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

I see the problem it's the wingnuts!

 

[larlarsa]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

maybe i try to rewire it again next year,boat will store for winter next week,if i can't fix it ,i will just live with it.....

Thanks for all the input.

 

[Fed]

Re: Fish Finder restart question?

Seriously larlarsa with a lackey to hit the key & a voltmeter you'll know what's causing it in 5 minutes.
I wasn't joking about the wingnuts either, if you've got them lose them.