Fish Finder Problems

[Audball]

:( I bought an Eagle 640c Depth finder a year ago and installed it on my NR jet boat. Ever since installing it, I've had problems with the unit working intermittently. For example, this weekend it read 4.5 ft at the dock, which seemed accurate. On the way out to deeper water, under power, it read accurately. I about half way out to the 300' deep water the unit starts flashing 153'. It continues to flash 153 ft for the next half hour. I turn the unit off and back on, and it reads a flashing 0.0 ft. After 20 minutes I notice it's reading 4.5 ft.?.?
Sometimes, when I fire up the main motor and go aways at full speed it seems to work accurately again.:passout:
I also notice that when I start up the main motor the unit restarts itself....
I've tried tapping the transducer, which is mounted at the rear flush with the bottom of the boat, with a dock stick, which has helped occasionally in the past, but now does nothing....
Any help or advice is appreciated:flowered:

[Highmark]

first off. It should be wired through a switch and a seperate battery
than the starting battery. That way when you start your motor, it will
not kill the unit. And as for operation. that may be just setting.
or you are getting air around it when underway.or the transducer is set a little off from what the bottom contuour of the boat is .
You just have to play with them till they are set right.

[Audball]

It is wired to my "accessories" battery, not my starter battery (with a two way switch set to "Both"....:confused:

And as far as the unit's depth accuracy, it seems to work better when I'm underway. When I stop to troll, it goes to 0.0 or 3.0 feet..:passout:

[Highmark]

I never set the selector switch to both. One or the other. that way, if
you drain one you still have the other to get you started or in with
if you are starting with both. it will do the same thing shut all of the
systems down that are on the same starting buss.
and as for the Trasnducer I would play with the angle. its sounds
like its' facing to far back. Take a straigth edge or a ruler and lay
it across the bottom of the boat.set the transucer to that angle
it should be right then or closer to right...

[baitsauce]

I made a post regarding Eagle fishfinders here: http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=258078 Mine is the second post in this thread. The short story is Eagle fishfinders REALLY suck!

[Audball]

The short story is Eagle fishfinders REALLY suck!
Well, that's really not what I wanted to hear! :passout:
Would replacing the transponder be a viable option, or am I just throwing good money after bad?

[No Reservations]

Make sure you have the finder set on the auto adjustment for depth it makes a huge difference in the performance if it's not set on auto you have to adjust it every time you change depths in 100 foot increments.

[ET]

My experience with fish finders so far has been:

If it works great out of the box, it will continue to work great until something really goes wrong (broken wire, transducer, etc).

If it doesn't work very well out of the box...... it never will.... and a lot of time is wasted and frustration remains until the piece of junk is tossed.

And unfortunately, the price of the fish finder doesn't seem to give you a better chance of finding a good one. Truth be told, some of the cheaper ones have served me just fine. A couple Humminbirds have served me well while a couple of more expensive Lowrance have given me headaches.

[Hagar]

:( I bought an Eagle 640c Depth finder a year ago and installed it on my NR jet boat. Ever since installing it, I've had problems with the unit working intermittently. For example, this weekend it read 4.5 ft at the dock, which seemed accurate. On the way out to deeper water, under power, it read accurately. I about half way out to the 300' deep water the unit starts flashing 153'. It continues to flash 153 ft for the next half hour. I turn the unit off and back on, and it reads a flashing 0.0 ft. After 20 minutes I notice it's reading 4.5 ft.?.?
Sometimes, when I fire up the main motor and go aways at full speed it seems to work accurately again.:passout:
I also notice that when I start up the main motor the unit restarts itself....
I've tried tapping the transducer, which is mounted at the rear flush with the bottom of the boat, with a dock stick, which has helped occasionally in the past, but now does nothing....
Any help or advice is appreciated:flowered:

It sounds to me like you have more than one problem. I am not sure if they are related. The flashing numbers indicate it cannot pick up a return echo and it has "lost bottom". I had this happen on my Lowrance unit (owned by same folks) at random times. After a lot of testing, it appears it was the transducer. Lowrance began acquiring the transducers from a new source several years ago and they have not proven to hold up. This is a know problem with Lowrance if you search other public forums. I replaced mine with an Airmar and don't have as many problems. Still have a few problems losing bottom but I think it just needs to be adjusted. Yours may also be a mounting issue.

A new Airmar transducer is $100-200 before installation and the plugs on the end are manufacturer specific. Therefore, I would decide if it is worth investing the additional monies.

The restart sounds like another issue to me.

[Beginners luck]

The problems you are having are virtually the same as mine with a Humminbird 787C2. Im just gonna follow along here. Keep it coming!

[honker1]

I may as well enter my :twocents:. You are using the 640c and not the 640c DF correct. The 640c is using the 200kHz transducer with 1500 watt power, so I am not surprised that you are loosing the bottom at anything over 150'. And if the water is salt or dirty, well, your in real trouble.
If you were using the 640c DF, with a 50/200 kHz transducer and 4000 watt power, you would have better luck at holding onto the bottom.
As for the unit turning off, try switching the battery switch from both to just run the fish locator. Or just run the fish locator off a separate 12 volt battery to see if the switch is the problem.
GOOD LUCKhttp://www.ifish.net/board/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Audball]

According to the Eagle website, the 200 Hz transponder with 1500 watts is supposed to work up to 800 feet and at 61 knots (70 mph)...:whistle::passout:

[Highmark]

It's all in the settings. My 337 did the same things. Till I read the book
from cover to cover 2 or three times Till I had every word locked in
then I started to play with the setting. As I said. Set the transducer
to the bottom plane of the boat. And make sure it's aprox 1/4 inch below
the bottom of the boat. that way you do not get cavitation and it makes
bubbles that will disrupt the return pings. Never have the electronics on during starting of the engines. The power pull will kill them all.. Go into the setting and start playing. After you start playing with it a little, you will
see what a little of this will do and setting that will do.
the Lowrance brand is a good brand. but they are a bear to get set just
right..... I used the 337 for 3 years on my other boat and when I got
the OS I moved it on that boat. It had been running well for 7 years
with 1 update. I moved it to the back of the boat when Installed
the NorthStar 121 sytem. and it's still working great.

[2percentmilt]

You're problem is too much turbitity near your transducer. Happened on my Jetcraft OB sometimes. All the bubbles in the water caused by your pump is causing it to "lose" bottom. I bet it happens all the time in reverse? Try moving your transducer.

[Herring Problem]

One thing you may try here, is to check your transducer.

Is it flush with the hull , is the angle of approach raised up enough while underway the transducer does not have the proper angle to send and recieve the echos. Tilted away from the hull.

I lowered my transducer a 1/2 inch below the hull and tunred it down about a 1/4 of inch angle.

Now running thru all the power angles while underway the transducer stays in contact and give a solid reading.

Hope this helps!

[baitsauce]

I made a post regarding Eagle fishfinders here: http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=258078 Mine is the second post in this thread. The short story is Eagle fishfinders REALLY suck!

Well, that's really not what I wanted to hear! :passout:
Would replacing the transponder be a viable option, or am I just throwing good money after bad?

Been there, done that. You can try teaking it like Herring Problem and others suggest, but again, I tried all of that and more. In the end it made very little difference.

-Sorry Dude!

//

[bluehewes]

From my experience most 200khz transducers will loose bottom like that. I've never had that happen with my Eagle Sea finder with the DF transducer.

Now I have 2 Lorwance FF's on my boat one 200 the other DF and the only one that does that from time to time is the 200.

Those little transducers are not good for much. :twocents:

[wldfire]

first is your transducer on the same side as your kicker that will cause all types of problems with getting a good signal.

[Fish Slammer]

If You end up having to replace the transducer get the model# and look it up on Ebay... I bought a Band New one for $10 bucks! and they were 60 at Eagle! they had alot of models on ebay.. worth a look!!!!!

[Audball]

Thanks for all the advice guys! The transducer is on the other side of the boat from the kicker motor. Last Sunday we were anchored in 50 feet of water or so, and it would read 50.0, 50.3, 49.9, etc. (like it should) for awhile, then I looked at it a few minutes later and it was reading 13.1..:passout:. So I'm thinking, maybe the "Sensitivity" setting is too high and I'm getting 1/4 of the actual depth? Then a few seconds later it's reading 217 ft.:passout:, so I'm thinking now it's reading 4 times the depth?

All I know is I'm going to Buoy 10 this weekend, where I've not been in over 20 years, and I'd REALLY like to have an accurate depth finder, both for spotting fish/baitballs, and knowing that I'm about to run up on a sand bar.....:shrug:

[bluehewes]

Thanks for all the advice guys! The transducer is on the other side of the boat from the kicker motor. Last Sunday we were anchored in 50 feet of water or so, and it would read 50.0, 50.3, 49.9, etc. (like it should) for awhile, then I looked at it a few minutes later and it was reading 13.1..:passout:. So I'm thinking, maybe the "Sensitivity" setting is too high and I'm getting 1/4 of the actual depth? Then a few seconds later it's reading 217 ft.:passout:, so I'm thinking now it's reading 4 times the depth?

All I know is I'm going to Buoy 10 this weekend, where I've not been in over 20 years, and I'd REALLY like to have an accurate depth finder, both for spotting fish/baitballs, and knowing that I'm about to run up on a sand bar.....:shrug:

If you have GPS you should be fine also get a paper chart.

Is your FF and dual frequency?

[Audball]

From Eagle Website:

Eagle® FishMark® 640C Sonar has a bright 5" diagonal, 256-color TFT display screen that makes this fish finder easy to read in any light condition from the dark of night to bright sunlight. 640x480-pixel resolution produces crisp and easy-to-read visual information about what's under the boat all the way down to 800 ft., and the wide-angle viewing capability of the screen permits you to see the display from an angle. A 200kHz high-speed transducer provides up to 60° of fish-detecting coverage, and FishReveal™ helps expose fish hidden in cover. Other features include a built-in temperature display, Advanced Fish I.D.™ and ASP™ noise rejection. 1,500 watts of peak-to-peak power. FasTrack™ displays sonar returns in realtime and HyperScroll™ displays fish at higher boat speeds. One-year manufacturer's warranty.
Guess it didn't mention the fact that the *** doesn't show the correct depth 95% of the time! http://www.gamefishin.com/community/images/smilies/icon_evil.gif

[Audball]

Well, I think I've figured out my problem. I bought another Eagle depthfinder ($99 low-end unit) hooked it directly to the accessory battery and it too blinked "0.0 ft.". A buddy of mine who knows a hell of a lot more about electronics than I do, looked at my batteries and suggested cleaning my negative battery contacts cause I wasn't getting a good ground. I cleaned all the negative wires and the negative battery post, tightened the wing nut real well and , "voila" both depthfinders are working fine. http://www.gamefishin.com/community/images/smilies/smiley20.gif
Thanks to all that chimed in, I appreciate it! http://www.gamefishin.com/community/images/smilies/smiley32.gif