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Topic: Lowrance wiring Problems  (Read 2077 times)

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Merz

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Charleston
  • Date Registered: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 356
Ok. Im having a frustrating problem with my fish finder that i just cannot figure out. Im not an electronics expert at all, so hopefully one of you can help me out. I have an Elite-4 Chirp and an Elite-5x chirp. I use them both in my kayak and my power boat. They have the same connections, so i can swap them around. The transducer and power cable in my kayak are brand new and so is the battery. I had the kayak set up and working about a month ago, but yesterday i could not get either of them to power up. I tried them both in my power boat, and they both worked, so the problem is not in the units. Must be the wiring in the kayak right? I have 12.8 volts at the plug, and its a brand new plug. Bad battery? When i run a wire directly from the battery to the pins on the back of the unit, it powers up. When I stick the wires in the + - holes on the plug, and test them, i get 12.8 volts. When i connect those wires to the pins on the back of the unit, it will not power up. ??? ??? So when the power runs through the power cable, the voltage doesnt change, but for some reason it wont power up the FF.



-Evan
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Merz

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Charleston
  • Date Registered: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 356
Well it was as simple as the plug connecting the power cable to the battery. I noticed the voltage on the battery was 13, compared to 12.8 at the other end of the cable. So I cleaned up the plug with some sand paper and now it reads 13 at the unit and i powers up fine. Kind of baffles me it wouldnt power up with 12.8, but maybe it wasnt a constant connection or something. Tried to delete this thread but couldnt figure out how. Maybe someone can learn from it.
-Evan
1st 2016 AOTY
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1st 2023 OKBF Davis Lake Flying Kayak Open
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Mojo Jojo

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Suffers from Yakfishiolus Catchyitis
  • Location: Tillamook, Oregon
  • Date Registered: May 2014
  • Posts: 6006
Thanks Merz... I learned you can solve a problem if you step back, breath, and look at it at a different angle....... unlike me.... where as I curse profoundly, throw my tools, and storm off mumbling even more profanities  ;D



Shannon
2013 Jackson Big Tuna "Aircraft Carrier"
2011 Native Mariner Propel "My pickup truck"
2015 Native Slayer Propel "TLW's ride"
20?? Cobra Fish-N-Dive “10yo grandson’s”
20?? Emotion Sparky “5 yr old granddaughter’s”


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
When you were checking the voltage, did you by chance check the amperage at the plugs, too?  Can't say it was the cause of this, but corrosion can reduce the amps you need for the units to start up.

Glad you found it and fixed it.
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


JasonM

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Snohomish
  • Date Registered: Jun 2017
  • Posts: 282
Tinker's probably right on this. You tested the voltage without a load on the circuit. I bet it would have dropped a lot if you had tested the voltage with the fish finder powering up. This isn't usually very easy to do unless you have extra cables to use or take off plug ends so you can get to the wires while the fish finder is plugged in. Glad you figured it out, though. :)


Mojo Jojo

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Suffers from Yakfishiolus Catchyitis
  • Location: Tillamook, Oregon
  • Date Registered: May 2014
  • Posts: 6006
Tinker's probably right on this. You tested the voltage without a load on the circuit. I bet it would have dropped a lot if you had tested the voltage with the fish finder powering up. This isn't usually very easy to do unless you have extra cables to use or take off plug ends so you can get to the wires while the fish finder is plugged in. Glad you figured it out, though. :)
Anyone wanting to test with a load, they make connectors with the female end that will slide on the battery and two male ends. One to power the device and one to test. Similar to this.
« Last Edit: March 02, 2018, 08:31:21 AM by Mojo Jojo »



Shannon
2013 Jackson Big Tuna "Aircraft Carrier"
2011 Native Mariner Propel "My pickup truck"
2015 Native Slayer Propel "TLW's ride"
20?? Cobra Fish-N-Dive “10yo grandson’s”
20?? Emotion Sparky “5 yr old granddaughter’s”


Big Whiskey

  • Plankton
  • *
  • Location: Puyallup, WA
  • Date Registered: Feb 2018
  • Posts: 4
Might sound obvious, but did you check all the connections for corrosion?  I would grab a SOS pad and scrub all the points...had the same issue happen on my setup where I got corrosion in the cigarette lighter connection port that I installed.


Tinker

  • Sturgeon
  • *******
  • Kevin
  • Location: 42.74°N 124.5°W
  • Date Registered: May 2013
  • Posts: 3304
[Anyone wanting to test with a load, they make connectors with the female end that will slide on the battery and two male ends. One to power the device and one to test. Similar to this.

What the heck is THAT?  Do they make those poor mutant things in Fukushima? I'm going to have nightmares about two-headed lingcod for a week after seeing that.   >:D
I expected the worst, but it was worse than I expected...


Merz

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Charleston
  • Date Registered: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 356
When you were checking the voltage, did you by chance check the amperage at the plugs, too?  Can't say it was the cause of this, but corrosion can reduce the amps you need for the units to start up.

Glad you found it and fixed it.

I think you are probably right. Im not sure how to check amperage. I dont know if my multimeter does that or not.
-Evan
1st 2016 AOTY
1st 2018 SBAOTD
1st 2019 BCS
1st 2022 SBAOTD
1st 2023 BCS
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1st 2023 SBAOTD


Merz

  • Lingcod
  • *****
  • Location: Charleston
  • Date Registered: Sep 2010
  • Posts: 356
Might sound obvious, but did you check all the connections for corrosion?  I would grab a SOS pad and scrub all the points...had the same issue happen on my setup where I got corrosion in the cigarette lighter connection port that I installed.

Thats what it ended up being. Where the power cord plugs into the battery. I didnt think to check it because I just replaced it a month ago and it still looked nice and shiny. Might just be a low quality plug without a solid connection and just a tiny bit of gunk was enough to foul it up.
-Evan
1st 2016 AOTY
1st 2018 SBAOTD
1st 2019 BCS
1st 2022 SBAOTD
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1st 2023 OKBF Davis Lake Flying Kayak Open
1st 2023 SBAOTD