Fish Finder trouble

gottafish · 01-23-2007, 08:46 PM

Guys I need to have somebody look at my fish finder it works but it doesnt read bottom. where is a good place to get work done on a big oat in the gresham area

cptdarel · 01-24-2007, 10:36 AM

Send in the disply unit to the mfg. they can determine if the unit or transducer, double check all your plug ins.
check yellows for "marine electronics" all they would do is box it and send it in and bump up the price 25%

fishkisser · 01-24-2007, 08:15 PM

Check all the settings may be a default setting or reduced grayscale. It would help if you told us what make and model it is...

Catching Nemo · 01-24-2007, 08:42 PM

Are you getting a flashing depth readout or just not showing any "bottom" on the bottom of the screen? If your gain control or noise reduction settings are not tuned correctly it will cause you to lose bottom definition and lock. Same goes if your ducer is out of alignment (from taking a hit or bad install) or if you are getting disrupted/agitated waterflow from something in front of the ducer. Also, periodically clean the transducer to remove any scum buildup.

You might be able to put your head unit on another person's boat to see if it works on theirs. I have a Raymarine, my neighbor has a Garmin, and we are in Troutdale. What are you using?

As for a shop, I would take it down to Rodgers Marine on Marine Drive. I've had really good service from Beaver Marine in Gresham. However, they do not specialize in marine electronics and would probably end up part changing.

Beefcake · 01-24-2007, 08:54 PM

If it is a model that Rogers carries, I think they will test it for you there. I took the head unit from my last boat in and they hooked it to a tranducer in a tank and tested it for free (turned out to be my transducer - a mouse had eaten part of the wire and caused a short in a place I wouldn't have thought to look for a mouse).

gottafish · 01-25-2007, 12:33 PM

Hey guys its a Lowrance LMS-350 I have no manual for it and I don't know much about it. it was on the boat when I got it and it worked fine and then my 6 year old got to playing with it now it doesn't read and I have know idea why. The boat sat all last year and I want to get it out this year its a 28 foot sea ray and I would like to know how much water im In. I don't know much about boats this is my first one

Okie · 01-25-2007, 01:08 PM

If it was outside during the cold weather and it froze, this could be the problem. Only a guess.
Good Luck;

gottafish · 01-25-2007, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okie

If it was outside during the cold weather and it froze, this could be the problem. Only a guess.
Good Luck;

No this happened in the summer

FishTy · 01-25-2007, 04:27 PM

goto LOWRANCE.COM I Looked it up you reset it to factory settings you turn the unit off!
then hold the CLR key down while you push the power button then let off both when the unit turns on
it will be reset to FACTORY SETTINGS...... Maybe this will help

gottafish · 01-25-2007, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishty

goto LOWRANCE.COM I Looked it up you reset it to factory settings you turn the unit off!
then hold the CLR key down while you push the power button then let off both when the unit turns on
it will be reset to FACTORY SETTINGS...... Maybe this will help

Thanks bRO i'LL TRY THAT.

FishTy · 01-25-2007, 08:09 PM

also , if you go to lowrance.com and goto support then goto selfservice suport! and type in lms350 there is a manaul for your depthfinder I pretty sure I found it! but can't add a link I tried!!!

BiteFactory · 01-26-2007, 01:45 AM

The 6 year old cause brings this to mind.

If the FF is working but won't show the bottom then maybe kiddo changed the FF from auto ranging to manual range with a shallow setting. This is easy to do on mine (not a lowrance) by "zooming in". This causes it to ignore any returns deeper than whatever range it is set to (like perhaps it is set to 10 feet!?).

If that is the case then try zooming out until you can see the bottom.

If you know all about that then sorry if I'm being obvious. Auto/manual sonar ranging seems to get a few people now and then.

My 6 year old kicked the landing flaps down on me when we were flying a couple years ago. I didn't see her do it, but I sure figured out something was wrong pretty quickly. Amazing what a kid can do in a second.

fishkisser · 01-26-2007, 07:21 AM

The little shaver playin capt. is most likley the culprit . settings or tranducer...

Tyeebuster · 01-29-2007, 10:47 AM

The first thing I would check is the sensativity setting. The advise to reset the FF to factory settings is a good place to start. However, I would guess that the transducer may have been left on out of the water. In that case the transducer might be toast. I know this because I did the same thing with my Lowrance unit. Mine did the same thing, it wouldn't read the bottom or would read it intermittantly. Hope this helps...TB

Pagorits · 01-30-2007, 08:44 PM

For a manual go to Lowrance, then marine, then scroll down the left side for Manuals, call up the one you need. 93 pages pdf file.
I couldn't create a link either.
Good luck

D-tangle · 02-02-2007, 04:54 PM

"You can make somethings bullet-proof, but nothing can be made kid-proof. "

Check the plug at the back of the unit--pulling on it could have disconnected one of the wires. Check the underwater unit, also. The kid could have aimed it backwards rather than downward. Don't ask me how I know this.