If your unit is having power related issues which could appear as: touch screen issues, will not turn off, turns itself off, will not turn on, freezes, locks up, or loses connectivity and/or other functions, we invite you to use our Power Troubleshooting Tool. You may also chose to read additional information about voltage, wire gauge and battery information below.
Check for Proper Voltage
Check for proper voltage to your depth sounder at the connection to the battery or at the fuse panel. This will ensure that you are getting the proper voltage to the fish finder. The operating voltage range is shown in your Operations Manual. It is advisable to check the voltage with all of your electrical equipment running as well as with the main motor and/or trolling motor running at different speeds to insure proper voltage and amperage. This may show an over-voltage, under-voltage or electrical interference condition. If you have an over or under voltage condition, it may be due to an inadequate charging system on your boat. Have your boat's electrical system inspected by qualified personnel.
A wet cell 12 volt battery is considered to be 100% charged at 12.7 volts. This is 2.12 volts per cell. A battery is considered completely depleted at 10.5 volts. At 11.31 volts, a battery is only at 10% charge; at 11.58 volts it is at 20% charge; and at 30% charge it, is 11.75 volts.
Battery manufacturers do not recommend going lower than a 30% charge and consider continual discharges to 20% to cause damage to your battery. For additional information on batteries and charge states please see the following links:
Check the Connectors & Pins
Check the pins of all connectors, to make sure they have not been bent, broken off or pushed back into the connector plug. If any connector pins have been bent, you may try to straighten them with needle nose pliers. If any pins are broken, replace the entire accessory.
Note: There is a risk that while straightening a bent connector pin, it can break.
HELIX and Legacy Models: Make sure the power cable has not been connected upside down. The notch on the plug (shown below) should point upwards for units with connections on the back. The notch should point towards the back of the unit for units with connectors on the bottom.
Test both ends of the power cable with a Voltmeter or Multimeter to ensure there is 12 volts measured at both ends (terminal and plug). If there is a severe drop off from the terminal end to the plug end, the power cable is likely defective.
See the images of our different plug types below.
| PC 11/PC 10 (HELIX & PMAX) | PC 12 (SOLIX) | PC 13 (MEGA Live & APEX) |
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| MEGA 360 PC | ||
Check the Cables
Check all accessories and cables for nicks, cuts, or physical damage. Try to repair any nicks in the cable with electrical tape. If any cables have had the internal wires cut or separated, the entire accessory or cable should be replaced.
Try wiggling the cable leading into the connector of the power cord to show any intermittent connection. If the power cable is intermittent, replace it. On some fish finders, an intermittent power connection may cause the microprocessor to cease correct operation. This may make it impossible to turn the depth sounder off. If this is the case, return it to the Service Department.
Check for any Cards in the Unit
If there are any SD or Micro SD cards in the unit (LakeMaster, Navionics, etc.), try removing the card(s) and power on again. This could indicate an issue with the card causing the unit to freeze during the boot process, or prevent the unit from powering on altogether.
Check for Proper Grounding
Ensure the negative wires for your Humminbird products are not spliced into other negative wires. They need to be individually ran to a grounding terminal with the proper gauge wire for the device.
Products with drain wires, such as MEGA 360 and MEGA Live, must have the drain wire grounded.
Run the power direct to battery
By running direct to your cranking battery (or 12 volt accessory battery), with the proper gauge wire and proper sized inline fuse. This could identify a bad connection to the fuse panel.
Fuse sizes, power draw and the recommended wire gauge can be found here.
Test for Bad Connections
To determine if there could be any crimps, nicks, cuts or poor splices in your existing battery to panel run. If the unit works correctly, directly tied to the battery, we recommend that you look at your existing panel/buss, fuse and/or panel to battery wiring.
If the wire gauge is too small for amperage or power draw, this can also create an issue. For a 15-20' run of cable, we recommend 12-14 gauge, tinned copper stranded wire. Pay close attention to the gauge recommended for your unit as seen in our article on the subject or the unit's installation guide.
Check the Unit
If possible, test the unit on another boat with the same model number and accessories installed. If your unit functions properly on the other boat, you know the problem is in the installation, accessories or cables.
If you are still having problems after trying all of the suggestions on the Common Check guide, watch this video for additional tips. If you still have issues, please contact our Help Center.
