Broken Lowrance HDS5x? - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

spyakker · 03-14-2015, 09:56 PM

Brand new battery came in and went to go turn on the fish finder yesterday and nothing happened. Thought the battery was faulty so when I came home I tested it with the old battery and NOTHING. checked the fuses, connections, everything is good. I'm getting power to the connection pins for the fish finder but the fish finder won't turn on. Tried to reset it but nothing. Is it a lost cause for me? Trying to contact lowrance but their offices aren't currently open. Anybody have prior experience to their customer service or any suggestions to fix the unit?

Lipripper92592 · 03-15-2015, 08:44 AM

And you have at least 12 volts on the battery? Can you check with a volt meter to eliminate that potential issue?

spyakker · 03-15-2015, 09:09 AM

Checked with the volt meter and there is 13 volts at the fish find connection

spyakker · 03-15-2015, 11:15 AM

So I found out today that my fuses keeps getting blown when I connect it to the charger. I've used a 3 amp, 5 amp, 7.5 amp and they all get blown the moment I connect the charger to the battery. Is it possible I messed up my Fish Finder when I tried to power it up?

jruiz · 03-15-2015, 11:56 AM

Voltage on battery terminals? I ask because I was in the same situation once where I was measuring voltage down circuit from the fuse but it turned out the fuse was blown. Even as an EE I was baffled. But I guess with enough salt water to act as an electrolyte alot more weird things are possible. What you're really interested in is what your voltage under load is. If you can drive something like a bait pump and still be above 11 volts then your battery is fine.

spyakker · 03-15-2015, 12:12 PM

Solved my problem. I'm just glad I didn't fry my Fish finder. Was connecting the red to black and black to red! DOH!

My Negative wire has a red crimp connector so I must have gotten confused. I just picked this unit up from someone so I guess I have an excuse? lol!
Well thanks for all the help!

03-14-2015, 09:56 PM	#1
spyakker Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Cypress Posts: 110	Broken Lowrance HDS5x? Brand new battery came in and went to go turn on the fish finder yesterday and nothing happened. Thought the battery was faulty so when I came home I tested it with the old battery and NOTHING. checked the fuses, connections, everything is good. I'm getting power to the connection pins for the fish finder but the fish finder won't turn on. Tried to reset it but nothing. Is it a lost cause for me? Trying to contact lowrance but their offices aren't currently open. Anybody have prior experience to their customer service or any suggestions to fix the unit?

03-15-2015, 11:56 AM	#5
jruiz Large Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: La Verne, CA Posts: 1,008	Voltage on battery terminals? I ask because I was in the same situation once where I was measuring voltage down circuit from the fuse but it turned out the fuse was blown. Even as an EE I was baffled. But I guess with enough salt water to act as an electrolyte alot more weird things are possible. What you're really interested in is what your voltage under load is. If you can drive something like a bait pump and still be above 11 volts then your battery is fine. Last edited by jruiz; 03-15-2015 at 12:04 PM.

03-15-2015, 08:44 AM	#2
Lipripper92592 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 516	And you have at least 12 volts on the battery? Can you check with a volt meter to eliminate that potential issue?

03-15-2015, 09:09 AM	#3
spyakker Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Cypress Posts: 110	Checked with the volt meter and there is 13 volts at the fish find connection

03-15-2015, 11:15 AM	#4
spyakker Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Cypress Posts: 110	So I found out today that my fuses keeps getting blown when I connect it to the charger. I've used a 3 amp, 5 amp, 7.5 amp and they all get blown the moment I connect the charger to the battery. Is it possible I messed up my Fish Finder when I tried to power it up?

03-15-2015, 12:12 PM	#6
spyakker Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Cypress Posts: 110	Solved my problem. I'm just glad I didn't fry my Fish finder. Was connecting the red to black and black to red! DOH! My Negative wire has a red crimp connector so I must have gotten confused. I just picked this unit up from someone so I guess I have an excuse? lol! Well thanks for all the help!