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[arimaBOATER]

Modern thought is do not make quality product to last too long so people will buy & replace...
Fridges tv computer washing & dryer machine cell phone vehicle.... ( might as well throw in leaky condo ) outboards,reels....

[Spawn Sack]

Interference can be an immediate problem but induced voltages can shorten the life span of electronic parts (without any notice of problems)  or change the way they work.

Very possibly not the problem but it's odd it worked for a year then odd problems. Either the repair isn't right or the true problem hasn't been addressed. Should know with a brand new unit.... And a couple of years use, lol

New mother board but screen display or other components....

I hear what you're saying. Just to be on the safe side I'm going to have my voltage regulator and so on tested. Make sure there is nothing going on that could/will cook the replacement unit.

Modern thought is do not make quality product to last too long so people will buy & replace...
Fridges tv computer washing & dryer machine cell phone vehicle.... ( might as well throw in leaky condo ) outboards,reels....

Yup I agree. One thing that Hummingbird said blew me away. Part of the reason I got a new head unit and transducer. I quoted what the rep said to the manager who I later spoke with. Basically I said so you're telling me that it's not uncommon for a 600 dollar FF to crap out after a year as it sat in the box for a while before I bought it??? Manager was like....ahh yeah no we stand behind our products more than that...

Thank you for contacting Humminbird Customer Service.

Going by the date of purchase you listed in the questionnaire when you originally posted the email it shows Thursday, January 21, 2016 as your purchase date.  Going by that no we can not replace a transducer at no charge when the unit is out of warranty by the purchase date.  We do not go by the install date but the date your purchase it that's when your warranty starts.  And I do understand your frustration and the inconvenience of it failing after a year.  However this kind of thing is not rare or uncommon especially if the unit/transducer sat for a while before being purchased.  So in the end if you have to replace the transducer then you will need to replace that we can not warrant a no charge replacement .

[doja]

Another thing is boats are subjected to impacts, lots of sun exposer, water... It's not a easy life for them or their electronics.

You might also be a able to get filters to help clean the power supply as I belive I've heard of this option before from another forum if running it all from a same battery/power source but don't quote me as %100 correct on this... I've seen come crazy cupcakes from power surges destroying electronics and components of expensive things (fridges, coolers, etc), voltage issues causing things to be less than optimal for devices. I imagine boats have lots of issues as they are rode hard, and usally put away wet.

I always recommend going over the electrical parts and make sure it looks ok, is tight (check all the connections on the main lines (very important), are the battery's past due or other parts as the vibrations and impacts, and temperatures changes plus time will shake things up much faster. Problems on the water suck! Problems on the river.... Even worse...

I imagine the regulator is ok unless you notice any brightening of lights/dimming and such, but definitely check the battery and if it's old you can test it or just replace it.... Boat battery's are notoriously beaten on and not taken care of and it helps stabilize the power by providing a true DC current (and stable power supply) vs a rectified current which some devices may not like like my inverter (120v) and certain electronics that won't work on a modified wave (my one heating pad will, the other no) . Poor connections interfere with everything... And fairly easy to check.

[Spawn Sack]

Thanks Doja, good advice. I'll ask the shop about filters and so on, good idea. Also going to get them to test my charging system, make sure nothing is screwy. The battery in the boat is brand new. Old one was "fine" but failed the load test so I replaced it just in case. Guy at the shop said unlikely it is my charging system based on my description of the problem. But you never know and the last thing I want is the same issues with the replacement! So I'm going to have it all checked out. I spent several days farting with the original one, several trips from Chilliwack to Abby getting the head unit and transducer tested. Going on holidays soon, will have to leave boat with the shop and have them sort it out/install. Excited but nervous to get the replacement in and test it out

[doja]

http://www.glanglerforum.com/forum/showthread.php?9777-fishfinder-noise-alternator-filter

Some interesting info here...

[Spawn Sack]

So, got my new head unit and transducer from Hummingbird the other day. Took just over a month. I was too busy to install myself, plus I wanted my charging system tested to make sure something on my boat had not buggered my last fish finder up. So I took my boat to the local river boat shop I deal with and trust. Told them please test everything that could possibly cause this new fish finder to glitch out (voltage regulator, etc) and install the new one.

Picked it up today. Took it out to the local lake for a test run. Much to my shock and disbelieve the replacement head unit and transducer does the EXACT SAME THING that the original one did! Sigh....

I could handle if it lost bottom and regained it right away when I slowed down, but it stays locked on 1 foot deep. Just like the original. Even if I slow right down and put it in neutral it stays locked on 1 foot. Even turning the motor off will not fix it. The only thing that works is to turn it off and back on.

So strange as the original FF worked 100% fine all last year. Yes if I went over shallow water at 30 mph it would lost bottom for a second, but would regain it right away as soon as I was back in deeper water. The replacement head unit and transducer stays sort of "stunned" as soon as it looses bottom. It will stay like this, reading "1 foot" for several minutes. Some times it will snap back and read the proper depth without having to restart it, other times it needs a restart.

WFT?!!

The only remaining idea I have is....maybe it's the power CORD. I have a brand new high end battery (AC Delco), brand new head unit and transducer. And I had the same shop install it who installed the original with flawless results. However Hummingbird did not give me a new power cable, so we reused the original one.

On the original install the shop cut the cable short and put a female connection on. This goes to a male connection under my dash. I have been told this is the "right" way to wire in a FF as it can not kill the battery if the key is not in the ignition when not in use. Could there be something glitchy up with this cable, or with my ignition system?

[Old Blue]

A friends finder is shyte too if you don't auto zoom to a specific depth and going under 5mph. Try that while going at a slower speed and see what happens

[Spawn Sack]

Well, it appears the issue has some how magically sorted it's self out. So bizarre. Took the boat out yesterday determined to sort this out once and for all! Brought with me an extra 12V battery to run the FF on. Also brought my newly purchased power cord as the original is set up to connect into my wiring harness and will not work with the male end terminals on the separate battery. Also brought my camera and mini tripod that you can strap to something; I affixed it to one of the bars on my bimini top and set the camera up to roll tape on my FF screen. I thought...the shop looks at me like I'm on crack when I tell them how it is glitching out...so I'm going to get some video footage dammit!

With the boat in the water I hit record and got up on plane. Expecting it to cut out and stay frozen on "1ft" it would not! It worked 100% fine. It's like it knew it was being video recorded so decide to be on its best behavior I got off/on plane at least a dozen times, did some sharp turns, etc and could not reproduce the results I have been having for months.

I decided, well, I brought this damn battery with me and bought this new damn power cord, so I'm going to at least try it out. Running off the isolated battery at first it glitched out like it was doing before. Suddenly lost bottom going about 5mph and stayed frozen on "1ft." But then it got bottom back and never glitched out again. I ripped around for about 30 min on this battery and it performed flawlessly aside from the glitch out at the beginning.

I decided why run 2 batteries if I don't need to, so I re-connected the power cord going to the main battery and ran it again like this. I could not get it to glitch out despite cranking some high speed turns, going on/off plane, zooming over shallow water, etc.

I'm happy as now it's working fine, but baffled as I did nothing to the set up powered off the main battery, and now it's magically working without issue. Oh well all is well that ends well. Just hope the damn thing stays like this and does not crap out on me when I need it most.

Thanks again to all that commented on this and tried to help me troubleshoot this POS.

[arimaBOATER]

This whole trend had the dramatics of a tv reality show.
Super it's working & your a satisfied camper.
( gee wonder if it will work next trip out )
If not then we can blame N Korea or China or Iran or Russia.
One of their subs in local waters.
You definitely put the boat thru it's paces try to get the FF screw up.

[Spawn Sack]

Haha yeah no doubt. Honestly I've lost confidence in the damn thing. Would not be surprised - as others have reported - if it let's me down when I need it most. Exploring in shallow water, trying to find just the right spot to anchor up for sturgeon, etc. I've always been a fan of Hummingbird but after my experience with their customer service department I would buy another brand next time. On the other hand if one does have issues the repair center is close by in Abby (Mike's Reel Repair), and I'm guessing the other brands have similar mediocre customer service.