Topic: Helix 9 SI not working correctly

[Bill H]

I've been having several issues with my new Helix 9 SI.

Issue 1 - Temperature will drift as the day progresses up to 10degs low
Issue 2 - Autochart Live, after the latest firmware update, does not draw on the screen unless I turn it off and then back on and periodically, quits drawing on the screen.

I sent my unit back to Humminbird and the tech said unit was bad and they sent me a new one, the new one does the same thing. They had me change my HDSI transducer and no change. So they wanted the unit back at the factory, tech takes it out for 1 hour and says ..unit works fine.

If I put my Humminbird 998 on those exact same cables (power,transducer etc) works perfectly. So now the only response I get from Humminbird is "It checked fine at the factory and nothing wrong" even though I sent them multiple videos showing this problem..

Any Ideas? my voltage shows 12.4 without boat running and up to 13.9 when boat is running..I have a lowrance mounted in the bow of the boat from the factory and have used it as my other temperature reference and other buddies on the lake next to me, tell me the same exact temperature as my lowrance and 998.

I can post links to some of the videos if anyone wants to see it.

[Bill H]

Here are the videos I sent them documenting the problem. I find it problematic that when showing support these videos, they dismiss there being a problem. They had me change one of the settings from Auto to Fixed and that did nothing. I'd rather them tell me that this is a bug that will be fixed in a future release. I also asked to go back to the original firmware that was released with the Helix 9's because I did not have a problem with my autochart live with that firmware. I was told if I downgraded to that version and "if" it fails, that it would void the warranty. The tech only tested the unit at the factory for 1 hour for the temperature issue and the autochart live issue and I specifically told them that this temperature issue got worse as the day progresses, so only testing it for 1 hour would not show a significant drop.

First video showing Helix 9 and 998 connected to same cables showing different values and autochart live problem

Autochart live problem

After recieving the unit back with Humminbirds tested settings - 5 part video documenting the autochart live stops working - excuse my sarcasm in a couple of these, the response i got from humminbird from these videos about what I could do was "It tested fine at the factory, there is nothing wrong" . I ran my humminbird 998c HD SI on the same power cables, transducer etc for 4 days prefishing for a tournament while my Helix was at the factory getting tested and I had ZERO issues with my 998.

  This one the problem starts at about 3:15sec into the video showing autochart live stops working

[rnvinc]

I'm watching another user in another forum with a similar AutoChart issue ...

There was a suggestion in that forum to switch the Chart Select selection to left or right (and not select Auto) ...

I will update here if that suggestion works for that user ...
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The temp issue on your HELIX ... Do you have another xducer you can test on the unit to see if it may be a temp probe issue or a head unit issue ...??

Rickie

[Bill H]

Rickie thanks - when I bought my Helix 9si it came with a compact side scan transducer and I spent the 82$ and upgraded it to the HDSI model, one of my original calls to Humminbird they wanted me to try another transducer. I took the HDSI transducer that I had for my Humminbird 998 and installed it on the boat and tried it and got the same results (they tested with compact transducer I think because when I got the unit back it was set for compact sidescan xducer) I also have a 'Y" cable and split it off to use the glassed in xducer in the hull of the boat and I have tried removing that 'Y" cable and going directly to the HDSI xducer with same results.

[Bob B]

You could probably try the compact transducer setting with the HDSI transducer to see if that makes any difference.
The pin connections to the transducer are the same.

[rnvinc]

Another test you can do is to place your thumb over the probe when out of the water to see if the probe reacts correctly to your body temperature ...

Rickie

[rnvinc]

Here is info Jason Halfen (pro staff) reported on the other forum which may be similar to your AutoChart issue ...

Default
Yes, there is a glitch floating around that prevents AC Live from loading pre-recorded contour data. The issue seems to be worse when the AC Zerolines card is in the unit when it boots up.

For now:

Put the ZeroLines card into the unit after it has booted up completely.

You may need to toggle record between on and off, or the display mode between map data and raw data, to get the contours to load.

Fear not, the factory is aware of the issue and it will be addressed in a software update.

Rickie

[Bill H]

Thanks Rickie,
Its such a relief that there might be a fix for this. You don't know how many conversations I've had with Humminbird trying to find out if this could just be a bug since I didn't have it with the original firmware release (at least not this bad), of course they were not confessing to a bug and just kept saying "it tested fine at the factory and there is nothing wrong sir" (very frustrating) I will say their customer service has always been an excellent experience (until this), I would have been perfectly fine if they just said, we are working on a future release to fix some of these issues, instead of denying my evidence and keep telling me it's working fine. I find it interesting they would not let me revert back to the original firmware without voiding my warranty.

Just FYI ,
 I did not have my Zero Line card in on the last 5 videos, only my Navionics Card was in and the unit had been on for 3-4 hours before I tried the autochart live. Maybe i'll try to take all cards out until it's booted and try that.