fish finder issues

Pixel Shooter · #1 08-05-2013, 12:21 PM

I have a hummingbird 788CI I bought off the forum with dual beam 83/200hrz. installed it but having some issues. In deep water it would give me intermittent readings? would never mark a fish. gps worked great and for the most part gave me a depth water reading but never a strong signal as never new what kind of bottom. the install was done right with using plumb line etc. self check on unit shows all good, runs 13.4 to 13.7 volts. played around with it again yesterday, went out to pigeon lake, would give me a sound reading most of the time then again much shallower water but odd time intermittent, never marked a fish, even if angle off 5-15 degrees you should be able to mark fish in that lake in 10-20ft of water. Im thinking this unit is 2-3 years old. I know transducers don't last forever, would you just buy a new transducer and give it a go?

fish gunner · #2 08-05-2013, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

I have a hummingbird 788CI I bought off the forum with dual beam 83/200hrz. installed it but having some issues. In deep water it would give me intermittent readings? would never mark a fish. gps worked great and for the most part gave me a depth water reading but never a strong signal as never new what kind of bottom. the install was done right with using plumb line etc. self check on unit shows all good, runs 13.4 to 13.7 volts. played around with it again yesterday, went out to pigeon lake, would give me a sound reading most of the time then again much shallower water but odd time intermittent, never marked a fish, even if angle off 5-15 degrees you should be able to mark fish in that lake in 10-20ft of water. Im thinking this unit is 2-3 years old. I know transducers don't last forever, would you just buy a new transducer and give it a go?

13.5 volts shows your connected to your motor batt . This is most lightly the cause of your issue. Connet to an issolated batt or wire in an isolation swich so as when not starting or on plane the one batt can run the sounder.

Pixel Shooter · #3 08-05-2013, 12:32 PM

hmmm good feedback. Question, does it matter in sounder performance even if motors not running, being anchored for example?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fish gunner

13.5 volts shows your connected to your motor batt . This is most lightly the cause of your issue. Connet to an issolated batt or wire in an isolation swich so as when not starting or on plane the one batt can run the sounder.

fish gunner · #4 08-05-2013, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

hmmm good feedback. Question, does it matter in sounder performance even if motors not running, being anchored for example?

You should be fine with all draw off ie key off and no live well pumps or any thing running .foer now fiddle with depth and sensitivity till you get a good reading the leave it till it starts acting up then fiddle some more write down fiddles ie 150' bottom limit may work in 100' with 15 on the sencitivity scale .

huntsfurfish · #5 08-05-2013, 02:27 PM

Check your settings. Likely.

I have an HDS 8 that I have sometimes drawing from start battery. No issues. Unless I have a week battery then it will shut off when I start main motor. Should have no issues with motor running.

Make sure you have a fuse between unit and battery.

It is also possible transducer issue.

If you know someone with a similar unit, try it with his ducer. They don't have to be the same model.

huntsfurfish · #6 08-05-2013, 02:33 PM

Check beam select and sensitivity. Also surface clutter. Noise filter. Transducer select. Water type.

Pixel Shooter · #7 08-05-2013, 04:24 PM

Appreciate the input gents. Done it all, a little frustrating. Agree should be no problem running off motor battery and not electric motor with 3 amp fuse, so little draw and don't get interference. I even fished pigeon behind the boat yesterday and put fish below transducer, still to no avail. Went to wholesale this afternoon to buy a new transducer and came home with a new Lowrance sonar/gps system LOL. Even came with navionics gold Canada maps, so if anyone is looking, will be putting that up for sale being I already have one.

JimmerAB · #8 08-05-2013, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

Appreciate the input gents. Done it all, a little frustrating. Agree should be no problem running off motor battery and not electric motor with 3 amp fuse, so little draw and don't get interference. I even fished pigeon behind the boat yesterday and put fish below transducer, still to no avail. Went to wholesale this afternoon to buy a new transducer and came home with a new Lowrance sonar/gps system LOL. Even came with navionics gold Canada maps, so if anyone is looking, will be putting that up for sale being I already have one.

Did you by chance buy the Elite 7 Pixel?

Bound2Fish · #9 08-13-2013, 10:24 AM

Hey Pixel,

Was just wondering if you figured out your issues with your fishfinder as I seem to be having the same type problems and still cannot figure it out either. Hoping you had some sort of resolve and what the issue was.

Teamprotz · #10 08-13-2013, 10:30 AM

Never had a problem and have always hooked them directly to the battery.

Pixel Shooter · #11 08-13-2013, 11:22 AM

Yes I bought the elite. Hooked up exact same. From my fuse panel. Then direct to battery. Lowrance gps fishfinder works beautifully and more than happy. Unit I had bought was from forum member so stuck with it. My educated Guess was it needs a new transducer. Just got tired of dealing with it hence the new purchase

JimmerAB · #12 08-13-2013, 08:40 PM

I'm still trying to find the "sweet spot" for my transducer mount. In water less than 20 feet at speed, or any depth going slow, I get great sonar results. Very defined fish arches, and I can easily see the rocks and weeds on bottom. Speed up in deeper water though, and my depth will alternate from true depth to 0, and then finally lock up at 1.6 feet. I have to cycle the power to get it back.

I'm sure some trial and error changes will get me dialled in properly. The GPS works great. Splurged for the Navionics HotMaps chip, which so far has been a nice addition. I primarily fish Pigeon (we have a place out there) so no input on the mapping of other lakes yet.

Good luck finding your missing puzzle piece Pixel!

Jim

EZM · #13 08-13-2013, 09:26 PM

humminbird forum is a wealth of troubleshooting information.

I will guarantee you it's not your voltage - the units will operate with no issues from 10.5 up to 15 volts no worries. That voltage reading looks pretty normal to me.

Likely a dual beam setting adjustment (sensitivity, surface de-clutter etc...) - worse case scenario - transducer is shot.

RavYak · #14 08-13-2013, 09:54 PM

Since this question was somewhat taken care of. I too have a Humminbird fish finder issue.

I have my transducer mounted on boat and then have both a 550 and 565 display.

The 565 display has trouble reading bottom in 10' or less and will display kind of a false bottom nearly double the actual bottom reading. It is obvious what the bottom should be but it shows these spikes and is quite annoying.

I first thought it had something to do with the transducer but the 550 doesn't have the same problem. The 550 does show a weird surface but if I adjust the surface clutter it hides that. Any ideas?