Topic: Voltage Reading on an 899

[ccampbell]

I am new to the Humminbird family  (A recently converted Lowrance guy). I have never had a voltage reading on any of my Lowrance units. When I start a fishing trip or when the battery is fully charged it reads 12.5 volts but towards the end of the day the voltage reading is 9.5 on my cranking battery but the motor starts fine and everything is working as normal (lights, pumps, etc..). The buttons on the left side of my screen are also not as bright as the ones on the right side of the screen where the cursor is located. I am wondering if I have a wiring problem because my battery is less than 6 months old. I would think if the battery was running at 9.5 volts the motor would not crank and the unit would not work. I was wondering if anyone has ideas as to what might be causing these issues. Thanks for you help.

[rnvinc]

Maybe the wire guage is too small ...??

What size is the wire run to the unit...??
How far is this wire run to the unit...??
Is the wire run thru a panel to the unit...??

Rickie

[ccampbell]

I did have the unit wired to the boats existing wiring system and when I changed that to a 12 gauge wire directly to the battery with a 3 amp inline fuse this seemed to fix the voltage issue. In terms of the buttons not being bright on the left hand side of the unit, it didn't fix that. I have two 899's now and the new one up front is a little brighter but not near as bright as the four way cursor, exit button, etc... on the right hand side of the unit. I am not sure if they are made this way because the buttons on the right side of the screen are generally used more anyway but I wouldn't think that would be the case. A friend of mine has the 898 and all of the buttons are brightly back lit. Any ideas?

[sfw1960]

Call C/S & see what they say - maybe bad LEDs or key pad???

[Humminbird_Greg]

I wouldn’t think that the brightness of the LEDs would vary much from one to another but there could be one or more that are out as there are several behind the keypad.  There could be something different with the keypad itself not allowing it to transmit as much light in that area as the other one.  To check wither would mean a trip back to Humminbird.  If this is what you do I would call the Humminbird Customer Resource Center folks about this and be very specific in your description.  When sending it in I would include a well written description of this as well.  Ask the Tech to disassemble the unit to check that all the LEDs are working and also to check the keypad.

[sfw1960]

Makes me wonder Greg, mine's down there right NOW. and Miss DB noted for the tech to check that also, as I fish 'eyes @ night often and my 998 and 798 shine bright - the 899 has a VERY dim LH side of the keypad.
 

I sure hope the either replace that part (if bad) or add some LEDs to make that light up better!
I'm half-blind, but I don't know Braille!!