Fish finder issue

[iggyw1]

I have a cheap fish finder on my boat that has always worked great until the other day. It is a Hummingbird Piranah Max 197 model. Never had an issue, but the other day while trolling at about 1.4 MPH, the thing totally froze up with what was on the screen at the time. I could not do a thing with it. It would not even shut off when I held the button in. I literally had to unplug it for it to go off, then plug it back in and it worked fine again for an additional three hours of trolling. I thought it was just a "fluke" thing for some reason, but it happened again the next day when I was trolling again. Same thing, had to unplug it to "re-boot" the thing to get it working again, then it was fine again the rest of the day (about another two hours of trolling after resetting it).

Anyone have any ideas at all why this is happening all of a sudden? I don't know where to start trouble shooting the thing. I know it's a cheap unit, but I would like to keep it and move it up front so I can watch it while I use my electric troller and get a better unit for the cockpit. By the way, when the thing quit on both occassions, I was trolling with my gas kicker on the rear of the boat and NOT with the electric trolling motor at the time. Thanks!

 

[ondarvr]

Other than doing a reset to factory settings there's not much you can do, these things are so cheap fixing them doesn't make much sense.

​But after saying that, I have taken them apart and fixed them before, most are sealed with the only way to take them apart is to cut them open, then you needs to glue them back together when your done. I got another year or two out of them until they started messing up again. This was years ago when they weren't so cheap, so the payoff was a little better.

 

[gm280]

iggyw1, hard to say what causes a lockup with computer technology.

What you are doing by unplugging and plugging it back in is called a hard reset. The CPU gets stuck at some unknown address or command line in the software or even the clock stops working internally and has no idea what to do next. It happens when memory gets compromised or the solder joints get iffy and there really isn't much to do about it.

I would verify all connections are good and also that you have the correct voltage getting to the unit. Beyond that, I would be looking for a newer model soon unless you like opening up such things and doing some look see efforts and/or soldering some questionable connections. JMHO

 

[iggyw1]

Thanks guys. I figured as cheap as they are for the cheap ones like I have, they are considered throw-a-ways. I will be moving the one i have to the front of the boat so I can see it when I use my electric trolling motor, and get a better grade one for my cockpit which I can see when cruising and I can also see it when I troll with my gas kicker at the stern. When I get tired of re-setting the one I am having an issue with, I will junk it and get another cheapy for the front of the boat which I use mainly for following the drop-offs and looking for deep weed beds, and the cheap one was great for that.