Humminbird Side Imaging Forums
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: nicknight on July 20, 2011, 09:16:27 PM
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I looked around but.....
-The transducer is mounted on the right side (starboard) of the hull
-outboard is out of the water
-trolling motor moving boat at about 1mph
-little or no water chop
-no other electronic devices were on....I recall the same type of display when trolling motor was off.
problems:
-weak signal on port side only (due to hull?)
-band of interference on port side only (maybe the hull?)
-took a few pictures at about the same time at various levels of sensitivity.
it is the weak signal that is really puzzling/bothering me right now....the band I see bugs me less (turbulence?)
Maybe the unit is on a bad angle or in the wrong spot???
so before I go moving my tranducer all around...help!!!??? :)
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Looking at the first picture of your boat I would say that the motor toter is blocking some of the left Si sonar signal. :o ;) >:D (just joking)
Just how far up did you trim the motor? Could it have still been low enough to block some of the left Si sonar?
Is there anything else that hangs down on the left side of the motor?
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th screen snapshots show a lot of what could be underwater vegetation. Is this what you were over or is this some sort of interference or erroneous readings?
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The motor was 100% out of the water.....6inches above the water I think.
Yes, it is a very weedy lake. I think the right side looks more the way it is supposed to be. The reading were taken with the boat pointing in different directions so I can't figure out why there would be such a difference in the readings left to right.
There is nothing on the left side but the transom and the strakes on the bottom of the boat and I checked the boat and transducer for debris. The tranducer looks square the back of the boat, I dont know how square it has to be.
????
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Can you swap any of the components with a friend. This almost looks like a unit/tranducer problem..
Possibly a pin connection at the head...
Chuck
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I just clued into what a toter was : )
After a couple of bad incidents I now make sure to remove the toter/transom saver BEFORE I launch : )
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Can you swap any of the components with a friend. This almost looks like a unit/tranducer problem..
Possibly a pin connection at the head...
Chuck
can't swap the units out.....but I can clean the pin connections with air. I don't recall this issue so much before but then again I was paying attention to other things and mostly using sonar/di/gps and did not use SI in a symetrical setting. No harm in trying.
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I just clued into what a toter was : )
After a couple of bad incidents I now make sure to remove the toter/transom saver BEFORE I launch : )
Yeah, I could never seem to get the motor to trim down when I left the motor toter on!
I have also left out the drain plug, launched with no battery in the boat or gas in the motor… ::)
Chuck is right: it doesn’t appear to be anything physically blocking the left Si beam so it must be something internally in the transducer or the unit. If the pins look good than you will need to contact the Humminbird Customer Resource folks about getting both the unit and transducer tested. I would send one of the pictures in with the unit so that they can see the constant vertical line in the left Si sonar beam. Let them know that there is no obstruction.
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oh my heart will be longing for the fish finder, oh well. Thanks guys! Wish me luck.
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I backed 42 foot and trl off the end of the boat ramp! What a mess!!! :'(
Roddy
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After living with the degraded performance I sent the unit if for service in January. Service was FAST! I sent it on Wednesday and less than a week later it was sent back!
Sonar2000 was right. Their was a loose connector on the unit that had to be replaced. I won't be able to test it for 2 or 3 months the repair guy tested it as OK.
Is this a common issue? Is there something I could have done to cause damage to the connection hardware?
nn
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NN, up front I would say you are not a suspect, but then the connectors are a bit on the cheaper side and can be damaged by a gorilla type of plugging or twisting..
HB is good at repair and warrenty work. Their turnaround time is better than most...
Let us know how the next outing goes...
Chuck
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NN, do you know if this was this an internal connector or the transducer connector on the outside of the unit?
No twisting on these connectors as they that install in the unit mount and are ‘made’ whenever the unit gets plugged in.
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A connector harness is listed on the warranty/invoice: HP-403548-2
IDK about gorilla type removal/install on the water but I would think that it would take gorilla strength to remove it easily.
The unit is NOT easy to remove from its base harness and requires an unusual amount of effort. I would say almost the same amount of effort I use to manually tilt my 220lb motor.
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That’s the external connectors on the unit. I wonder if the actual loose connection was in the external sockets or in the internal wiring portion of the harness…
Unless you did not have the connectors in the all in one mount correctly you should not have damaged it by plugging and unplugging the unit.
Make sure that you are fully depressing the latch on the back of the unit when removing it otherwise you are pulling against the feature that helps keep it locked in place. Some of these are harder to release than others due to the design and variances you get with molded plastics. When I used to test a lot of these units I would place them on the mount and hit them on the top with my hand. To remove them I would press the latch with one hand and tilt the unit backwards and hit them on the bottom. I do not recommend this but just wanted all to know that I gave them a little gorilla action which they survived without problem. I did have a few slip out of my hand when removing them and can testify that they float in the lake! :-[
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The type of connector best served is those that use a twisting locking/caming action. They are a bit more expensive but also are water proof.
The tab locking connector is good unless you intend to remove your unit when you fininsh boating. The constant connect/unconnect places a lot of strain on the tab and it will have a tendency to wear or break.
As with any electrical connection dont use excessive force to unconnect.
Especially on the head part of the unit..
We have put inline connectors (twist locking type) on our cables so that in the portable mode we use them it does not create any stress problem.
Chuck
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We have put inline connectors (twist locking type) on our cables so that in the portable mode we use them it does not create any stress problem.
Chuck
I had thought about doing that myself Chuck, to allow moving my unit around without continually stressing the connectors on the unit. I know that this wouldn't be something most people would want to attempt, but I have a background in electronics and think I can accomplish it successfully. I also understand that it would not be good to have the unit powered when the transducer cable is plugged into the back of the unit.
Do you have any specifics on the source for your connectors? Are you just using a single multiple pin connector or a connector for each cable. How are you soldering/connecting the shield to the connector? Any details you can provide would be appreciated.
Bob
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Bob, we use a local electronics building company. they are nice and help us when they can.
We use a multiple pin connector. Easier to unplug and plug.
Yes of course we do not plug or unplug with power on...
Since that is their business it is better for their people to do all the soldering and electronical stuff.
I have a background in EE but again they work on this daily so I trust them.
I remined them the importance of maintaining ground thru out and they do well with the request.
The connectors are the ones used in underwater connection so I know they will function well on the surface.
Also we have one transduce that does connect underwater so the plug is good as we have not had any failures..
Since all of our units arer portable the connectors make it easy to use and we do not have to mess with the back of the unit.
If you google electricial connectors you will find a bunch of them listed.
Also Roddy in SC does a lot of this soldering as he makes his own cables...
Chuck
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Thanks Chuck, I figured the multiple pin connector would be the way to go.
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Well I do take my FF off after every outing......if I leave it on the boat it there is a potential for it being "borrowed" and not returned. Perhaps that was the cause of my 525s intermittent problems that lead me to replace it.
I have never been happy with the way the Humminbirds come off. My EE background and repair background tells me there is a better way (echoing Chuck here) but I have always trusted that if Humminbird designed it that way it would not break....hmmm. :-X