Lowrance Elite - 5 issue

Hi Guys thought I would post this up to see if anyone has any ideas before I go and throw this sounder at the bcf guys that sold it to me.



I have the lowrance elite 5 combo it's the best I could afford and seems to have the features I need for inshore work. The problem I'm having is randomly il lose the depth on the sounder function, it just reads 0.5 mtrs, I can slow to a stop but it will not reset. Turning the unit on and off and disconnecting from the battery will not help either, the only way to jolt it back to life so to speak is to change the settings from 200 kHz to 83khz, then turn it off then on. This then shows the true depth then I change the settings back to 200 and I'm away. Very strange!



When it's doing this and I change it from auto to say 30m bottom I can see the bottom on the scale visually but it still reads the 0.5 and I can't see detail like fish etc just black between top and bottom on screen.



Any ideas or does it sound stuffed? I've only used it about 5 times since I bought it new so still well under warranty

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Jayden20's picture

Posts: 672

Date Joined: 29/08/11

 stuffed mate take it

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:02

 stuffed mate take it back.....probly just munted software

Posts: 2946

Date Joined: 03/03/10

lowerance

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:09

they have excellent back up service wise I would be contacting them pronto

T.G's picture

Posts: 5

Date Joined: 23/07/12

 I was worried it might be a

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:17

 I was worried it might be a voltage issue with the transducer or something until I found out the 83khz trick then I was stumped, does anyone know if you bought something at one bcf can you take it back to one that's closer and not the original shop?

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T.G's picture

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Date Joined: 23/07/12

 Also do I have to go through

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:19

 Also do I have to go through the rig moral of uninstalling the transducer or just take the head unit in?

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Posts: 5981

Date Joined: 17/06/10

take the lot back to BCF

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:42

I don't think you will have an issue with them, they have always done the right thing by me when something has not worked as it should, or claimed it will do. Tell them what is happening and let them do their stuff. If you don't get satisfaction go to consumer protection. But I'd be surprised if it comes to that.

Posts: 809

Date Joined: 01/05/09

try go to settings, and find

Sun, 2013-06-30 22:46

try go to settings, and find a thing called something like "fishing mode" and reset that. if not take it back to bcf and they will sort you out

T.G's picture

Posts: 5

Date Joined: 23/07/12

 Yep tried that aswel, thanks

Sun, 2013-06-30 23:20

 Yep tried that aswel, thanks for the advice guys I just didn't want to take it back and find out it was something obvious I had overlooked. I'll take it back this week sometime, hopefully they just swap it and don't want to send it off for a service who knows how long that might take.

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Handi 1's picture

Posts: 151

Date Joined: 27/06/11

I've got a problem with same

Mon, 2013-07-01 09:42

I've got a problem with same unit , but i use it just as a gps . Problem is it doesn't pick up for ages , out the other day and took near half an hour . Have had the unit for a few months and has been playing up like this on every occasion bar one where it was fine from the get go . I did get from BCF also ( Busso ) and they said it could be position under windscreen etc . Would that be right ,or just faulty ?

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Dhui on river to sea jig a few years back , 16 kg ! PB for me .

Posts: 2925

Date Joined: 27/12/06

gps

Mon, 2013-07-01 10:28

unless your windscreen is completely steel or your hardtop is completely steel or similar it should pick up your spot within a few seconds.  my lowrance hds gps is spot on with this.

My lowrance sounder on the other hand has been losing the depth reading also since I changed boats but it usually rights itself within a minute

Posts: 1755

Date Joined: 02/01/10

My HDS5x freezes on 0.3

Mon, 2013-07-01 13:01

My HDS5x freezes on 0.3 metres sometimes if I go in very shallow water.  I just push the power / background light and it fixes itself.

 

mr_meks's picture

Posts: 189

Date Joined: 11/02/11

Maybe?

Mon, 2013-07-01 14:46

Posts: 2925

Date Joined: 27/12/06

fresh?

Mon, 2013-07-01 15:06

dont know about fresh water thats interesting but you should definately be in shallow water mode under 100ft, that made a significant differnece to my HDS

Posts: 358

Date Joined: 12/05/12

Bin it or gpsonly

Mon, 2013-07-01 19:18

 Got the same unit...same issue loaded lowarence upgrade didn't help...just use it as a GPS now...they are rubbish as a sounder...even changed settings to no avail...bin...or take back or GPS your choice