My FF is freaking out *HELP*

I could use some advice from you guys. I have the Lowrance Elite 4 and so far it's been an awesome GPS/FF combo. This morning, I headed to one of my local trout holes and out of nowhere my FF started freaking out. My whole display started flashing on and off rapid fire and the readings on the screen started cycling through odd numbers then all of the readings went to zero (the whole time the display was flashing, it was not actually turning off but the display was flashing on and off). I turned the system off, unplugged the wire in the back, let it sit for 5 minutes then booted it up again. It turned on just fine and worked perfectly for 60 seconds, then the display started flashing again. This time the readings didn't freak out, but I couldn't get the display to stop flashing on and off.
So I headed to shore and unplugged everything. I checked my 12 volt battery and all of the terminals for corrosion. Every fitting and connection was clean as a whistle. I plugged everything back in (making sure all connections were tight), checked my transducer to make sure it was sitting properly in the foam puck (refilled water in puck) and headed out. Sure enough, it worked just dandy for 60 seconds then the screen started to flash again.
The only thing I can think  of is that my battery might be going dead and it's time for a charge. However I just charged the battery 2 trips ago. Those 12 volts should easily handle 2 day trips on a charge. I'm going to try an overnight slow charge and see if it does it again.
Anybody had this happen to them? Thoughts on what it could be?
Thanks in advance.
Paul

When my battery dies on my lowrance the screen freaks out.  I usually can turn it on again and it lasts a minute or 2 until it does it again.  Give it a charge and see what happens.

I have something similar that happens with an older Eagle Fishmark when I start it up.  I still don't know what is wrong, but eventually i get it working and it usually lasts the day.

^^ My Fishmark does the crazy spazzing every few start ups, but after works just fine

Update?
Did you figure it out?

Update?
Did you figure it out?

I gave the battery a good charge and plugged it in. It seems to have stopped however I haven't taken the kayak out since the issues started so I was waiting  to take it out to see if it truly was the battery. I'll keep you guys posted


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I posted something similar in the past.  It was suggested I get some dialectic grease on my contacts... at least that is what I remember and did.  I haven't had any problems since I did that.

Paul,
That unit is supposed to work from 10 - 17 V DC....does it have a low voltage warning setting or can you set one to go off at say 10.5 V DC?
My Humminbird 768 has this feature and it's very useful.....in addition I can see the battery voltage displayed on the screen.

Paul,
That unit is supposed to work from 10 - 17 V DC....does it have a low voltage warning setting or can you set one to go off at say 10.5 V DC?
My Humminbird 768 has this feature and it's very useful.....in addition I can see the battery voltage displayed on the screen.

I had no idea it had this feature! Thanks Doc! Now to play with the settings and see if I can find it.


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Paul,
I was asking the question about your unit.....does it have a low voltage setting/alarm you can set?.......I just looked online for the Elite 4 DSI....assuming that is your model and from what I could find...it does not have that feature which is too bad.
I know my  Humminbird 768 has it and possibly some others too....

Shucks thanks for letting me know before I go searching for it.
I wish it did. That sounds like a neat feature.


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Insayn showed me a cool trick.  It just so happened that my FF was having trouble staying on and it was because the connections to the back of the unit was not that great.   

On the cable side it should be a female connection.  What Insayn had me do is take some needle nose pliers and carefully pinch the end of the cable a few times around it.  What this does is it gives you just a little more crimp on them female connections.   This worked great on my unit.

This may have something to do with your issue.  Give this a try and let us know how it works out.

David

Insayn showed me a cool trick.  It just so happened that my FF was having trouble staying on and it was because the connections to the back of the unit was not that great.   

On the cable side it should be a female connection.  What Insayn had me do is take some needle nose pliers and carefully pinch the end of the cable a few times around it.  What this does is it gives you just a little more crimp on them female connections.   This worked great on my unit.

This may have something to do with your issue.  Give this a try and let us know how it works out.

David

Thanks for the tip David. This could be my problem. The connector behind the FF just slips in. I had to cut the plastic screw piece that goes over the male and female connector and screws them both into place because I couldn't squeeze that part through the hole I drilled in my kayak when I installed the FF cables. I really didn't want to drill a bigger hole so I snipped that piece off and have just been sliding the male into the female piece and calling it good. So far it hasn't been a problem, but it could be that now its too loose. I'll try Insane's idea if the problem reoccurs.


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The only thing I can think  of is that my battery might be going dead and it's time for a charge. However I just charged the battery 2 trips ago. Those 12 volts should easily handle 2 day trips on a charge. I'm going to try an overnight slow charge and see if it does it again.

How many hours did you have it running on those 2 day trips?  And what size/type is the battery?

-Allen

The only thing I can think  of is that my battery might be going dead and it's time for a charge. However I just charged the battery 2 trips ago. Those 12 volts should easily handle 2 day trips on a charge. I'm going to try an overnight slow charge and see if it does it again.

How many hours did you have it running on those 2 day trips?  And what size/type is the battery?

-Allen

I had it running probably 6 hours per trip for 2 trips, then about an hour and a half on the last trip. So a total of 13 or so hours.
The battery is a Torquemaster 12v, 7amp sealed battery.


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