Topic: Disappointed with Humminbird Service

[muskyhunter]

Maybe someone here can help.  I sent in my unit for service, included a very detailed letter of the problem, the troubleshooting steps that we performed before sending it in, and offered by phone number in the event they have any questions about this service ticket.  The unit came back with " No problem found.  No issues detected with card reader or display.  Display problem could be power supply."  What the heck?

The two issues I am having is the memory card does not fully eject and a flickering display on my 998.

For the card slot, when pressing down to remove the card, it releases but the spring barely ejects the card out of the slot.  I generally need to use needle nose pliers to remove the card from the slot, or remove the other card which ejects about half the card length to gain access to the left card.  I really don't want to go in and mess around with making the left slot wider and potentially break something.

A bigger issue is screen flickering.  The display lightly flickers at a rate of about 60-70 times a second.  It is somewhat noticeable in strong sunlight but more so in lower light conditions.  This is regardless of where my locator is mounted on my boat, or on a friends boat who also has a 998. the flicker persists, similar to an old CRT monitor set to 60HZ in a room lit with fluorescent lighting.

I have two mounting locations on my boat each with their own transducer and GPS antenna.  Each location is independent of each other other than the interlink, which was disconnected for troubleshooting purposes.  The separate mounting locations allows me to move my 998 from the console to the bow when I have reached my destination.  The power source for each location comes from a separate fuse/tab on the fuse panel in the boat console.  If you have followed my installation posts, you know that I am pretty particular about my wiring and installation:  http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=1071

I have tested my 998 at both locations and compared that to a friends unit mounted in the same locations on my boat.  Both of our units were on the same firmware release at that time.

On my boat:

     Bow:  Mine flickers, friends unit doesn't.
     Console:  Mine flickers, friends unit doesn't.

On friends boat:

     Bow:  Mine flickers, friends unit doesn't.

Unfortunately, I do not have access to a DC power supply to test my unit on the bench.  Any thoughts or experience with these same issues would be very much appreciated.    I may have to shoot a video of these issues and troubleshooting steps should this unit get sent back in for service.

[sonar2000]

MH. From your description and your friends unit it seems to be your unit..the card reader are a bit touchy and have seen several posts on folks having eject issues. And I seem to recall some screen issues that may have been similar.
I think the fixes were return for exchange.
Dont know why the service dept at HB cannot duplicate your card issue. or the flickering..

two things here.
You could call HB back and ask to be escalated to a service manager and try that route.
The second is where did you purchase your unit, is it still in warrenty and you might take back to the dealer and complain (nicely) and you might be able to get an exchange.
Be as friendly as you can with cuystomer support as they are only the first line of defense.
Remember the old honey and fly thing...

Try those couple of steps and let us know how it goes..

Chuck

[muskyhunter]

Thanks Chuck.  I certainly understand the civil part and am very diplomatic about those kind of things as I do technical support all day long.  This just got my head shaking in disbelief. 

The unit is past the 1 year warranty but got the warranty extension via the Humminbird Select membership when they first launched the program.  So I anticipate that I will have to work with Humminbird directly on this one.

[sonar2000]

MH, I take it that the unit did work correctly in the past and this has just started to happen...

If you can get escalated in HB you might get this taken care of to your satisfaction.

With your talents in support you may be able to get some help..maybe not quickly but certainly without having to buy a new unit..

As always keep us updated on how this progresses..

Chuck

[muskyhunter]

Will do.  First step is to retest and duplicate the problem.  I think I will try and shoot a video anyway.

[sonar2000]

Nothing says it like pictures...
Kind of hard to argue with a visual.

do keep us updated..

Chuck

[muskyhunter]

To be fair to Humminbird support, I now cannot duplicate the problem.  Testing at both mount points and only for a few minutes, the problem is not immediately apparent.  Maddening because this issue plagued me this summer and fall, and now the boat sits in storage.

One possible theory to the flickering display is that the issue may be heat related.  This will be difficult to duplicate on the bench.  Perhaps the sunlight on the display all day or internal heat destabilizing a component starts the flickering.  I'll need to source a 12v power supply and run the unit on the bench .  The units diagnostics show this 172 hours of total run time, so really not a lot of time on it. 

Another theory fis that the flickering only occurs during heavy processing.  This was was not the case testing the unit tonight, running without map cards, without sonar, and in a stationary position.  Lastly, it seems that I started to notice the display issue after the 5.7 firmware upgrade during the summer (but then again my friends units has 5.7 as well).  With 6.180 now available, it is possible that there may be enhancements that help with processing.  However this pans out, it is a tight deadline with the warranty running out and ice still on the lakes.   

[sjefsrafsern]

it could actually be a problem with your powersource as humminbird wrote. and i guess the only way to find out is to test it on the water, and start out using all the things you normally run when you fish. eliminating one by one, shutting of things down to see if it gets better. ive had a similar problem with an older unit, and then it was corrosion in the main power switch. these things are really fine tuned and all the cables and connections need to be perfect for the unit to work perfectly.

[ITGEEK]

It's unfortunate that you are having these problems.
The cards need to be pushed in and your finger removed very rapidly
so the card doesn't hit your finger.
The cards don't usually come out too far.
But, they do come out far enough to grab with the fingers.

If your battery is not up to par, that could cause a lot of problems.
I would suggest load testing your battery and double checking all your connections.

An intermittant problem could be loose connections.
Have you tried bending the power connection tabs.
Search this site for how to do that.

Good luck.

[muskyhunter]

Appreciate all the info.  The battery was replaced last summer.  The connector pins have been spread apart for a more firm connection.  Every spring I go through all the electrical connections and replace ends as needed as well as inspect the wire for oxidation, which I have little problem with by using dielectric grease on all connections.  Looks like April will be another long month in getting things up to speed for the spring opener.  Thanks guys.

[ITGEEK]

muskyhunter:
It doesn't matter if the battery was replaced yesterday.
You don't know how long it's been on the store shelf.
The only way to truly know if it's any good is to charge it up and to load test it.

I hope you get it sorted out.

[Whistler]

MH - I have seen that having the SI Enhance Sharpness turned on can cause the screen to flicker (I think it was discussed here on the board last year).  Do you have Sharpness turned on?  If you upgraded to 6.180 you most likely set to factory defaults in which case sharpness is turned off.  Turn it back on and see if you see the flicker.

[sonar2000]

It may be two problems..

1) the screen  and either power or settings.

2) sticky card slot...probably mechanical. the card can be ejected (removed) with power off..


Chuck

[muskyhunter]

Note to self:

1   Load test battery.
2.  Verify SI Enhance setting (I am 75% sure that it was enabled on the water).
3.  Try faster eject of memory card.
4.  String up new power lead off battery to bypass existing.
5.  Shoot video when problem occurs.
6.  Buy a round of e-beer for fellow side imaging members as a thanks for their help <check>

[sonar2000]

I say skip steps 1 thru 5 and go directly to step 6.

If you can get video that will be good also..

Chuck