Topic: SI going blank! Help please.

[nicko_cairns]

Hi guys,

Unsure if this is related to the latest software download but since I installed it I had this happen: http://forums.sideimagingsoft.com/index.php?topic=4992.msg31198#msg31198

Now I'm losing the SI completely, the screen where the SI should display is displaying as black only (I have grey selected as the SI screen colour). I went trolling last night, maybe thirty minutes into the night the SI just disappeared. I powered off and on and it was fixed for a couple of minutes then it went black again.

I'm not overly capable in the wiring department, but is there any wiring I should check? Looks to me (a layman) as the transducer wasn't sending any signal to the screen possibly? Really need to get this sorted before my next offshore trip as I'm structure hunting at the moment, I don't want to go back to no SI! How do these non-SI people live? Seriously though really want to get this sorted. Unit is a 798ci si installed in 2009 so is it getting a bit old?

I tried changing the water type even though I was in fresh (for a change) and that didn't help.

Thanks in advance guys.

[Humminbird_Greg]

Nick,
Is there any way to test your 798ci Si unit on another Humminbird Si transducer or boat?  This would let us know if the problem were in the transducer or the unit.

[nicko_cairns]

Ah I'm not sure Greg, I'll have to ask around.. I've heard you shouldn't run them out of the water, would it be okay if I sprayed a hose on the transducer?

[nicko_cairns]

Ah I'm not sure Greg, I'll have to ask around.. I've heard you shouldn't run them out of the water, would it be okay if I sprayed a hose on the transducer?

In the interim is there anything I can check apart from connections etc? Thanks.

[Humminbird_Greg]

It won’t hurt the transducer to run it out of the water but you may not get any Si sonar returns that way even if everything was working correctly.

You can check to see if the transducer or its cable are damaged.

[nicko_cairns]

Well I'm not sure what happened Greg but I reset to defaults on this last trip then went back into the advanced mode etc and the sounder worked flawlessly over a couple of days, not an issue at all, so maybe it was a connection issue, not sure but everything looked clean (connectors) and everything went well.. so I'll put it down to a glitch and soldier on..

Thanks all, if it happens again I'll try putting my sounder onto another boat. I've found one only about an hour away.

Cheers.

[Kokanee]

I noticed that you said after you "reset unit to factory settings", everything was OK. That triggered an experience I had. It turned out to be the SI Range setting was less than the depth of water I was in - screen went black. It took a few minutes of using "the process of elimination" and trolling continued. Also, I trolled into shallower water (while trying to figure out what happened) and the SI started scrolling again.

[nicko_cairns]

I noticed that you said after you "reset unit to factory settings", everything was OK. That triggered an experience I had. It turned out to be the SI Range setting was less than the depth of water I was in - screen went black. It took a few minutes of using "the process of elimination" and trolling continued. Also, I trolled into shallower water (while trying to figure out what happened) and the SI started scrolling again.

Thanks Kokanee, I don't think that was the case mate as I was in 10m average water with the side imager set to about 30m either side, so unsure what happened? Thanks though mate.

Cheers.