New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

[krazybob]

I bought a new Hummingbird 560 fishfinder, and had a local shop install it. Took it to the lake, turned it on, and every time I tried to set the menu, it said low voltage, then shut off. Then a couple of times, the welcome screen came on, then everything locked up. Couldn't access the menu or anything. Couldn't even shut it off ! I had to remove it from its pedestal mount to shut it off. I asked the shop about this, and they said they connected to a dash switch for the power, and maybe they needed to run a single power lead straight from the battery. The old Bottom Line fishfinder was wired directly to the battery and they removed it, can't figure out why they didn't wire it the same way. Anyone ever ran across this problem?
Krazy~

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

Could be a defective switch or the wiring feeding it or maybe even too many things drawing power from that circuit. Another possibility is some of those H birds have adjustable low voltage alarms. Perhaps your's is set too low. Try a different source for power.

 

[Outsider]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

Perhaps your's is set too low.

The alarm is a warning, actual low voltage causes the unit to power down. Before jumping through too many hoops, what is the voltage at the unit?

 

[asm_]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

Unless you already own a meter that can detect momentary drop in voltage, I wouldn't bother testing the voltage at the fish finder. What you have described is a very common installer error for tapping into circuit that is insufficent to support the current load. I would go back to the local shop ask them to fix it. If they try to blam the fish finder as the cause of the problem. As them to apply power direct to fish finder. If it powers up, the problem is with the installation.

B

 

[snowman48047]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

My 787 did the same thing. It needs to be wired directly to the battery or a direct feed from the battery under the dash, not piggy backed to another circuit. If I tried to hit the "menu" or "mark" buttons it would shut off. Also check what the setting is for "low battery alarm" I have mine set at 10.5 volts.

 

[krazybob]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

I took it back to the shop today, and they ran a line staright from the battery. Now to get it into the water to see if the problem is solved
Krazy~

 

[krazybob]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

That's exactly how mine would work. Hopefully the new line they installed today from the battery will do the fix. I noticed when I was on the water, that the "low battery alarm" was set high, (don't recall the setting), so I adjusted it to as low as I could to get the alarm to shut off. I didn't see any recommended low battery alarm setting in the manual. I guess I'd better take a better look.
Krazy~

 

[moi]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

Had a similar problem with my new Humminbird 570. Ended up being a bad battery.....(low voltage)

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Humminbird says low voltage and quits

Mine will do the same thing if i crank the engine with the Humminbird on.It reads the quick voltage drop from starting the engine.
I just hit the exit button and it clears it.
I do like the feature that it monitors voltage with the engine running or not.
I like keeping an eye on battery voltage.

Agree,the best is to wire it direct to the battery.
I have one feed from the battery that powers the VHF,fish finder and stereo and added a toggle switch on the dash to cut the power for storage.
The stereo memory will kill my battery over a few weeks.

 

[krazybob]

Re: New Humminbird works great now, problem solved !

Re: New Humminbird works great now, problem solved !

I bought a new Hummingbird 560 fishfinder, and had a local shop install it. Took it to the lake, turned it on, and every time I tried to set the menu, it said low voltage, then shut off. Then a couple of times, the welcome screen came on, then everything locked up. Couldn't access the menu or anything. Couldn't even shut it off ! I had to remove it from its pedestal mount to shut it off. I asked the shop about this, and they said they connected to a dash switch for the power, and maybe they needed to run a single power lead straight from the battery. The old Bottom Line fishfinder was wired directly to the battery and they removed it, can't figure out why they didn't wire it the same way. Anyone ever ran across this problem?
Krazy~

The shop ran a dedicated line from the battery to the unit, and now it works great !! Problem solved !! Thanks for all the input !
Krazy~