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I have an 858 Di Hummingbird pretty new and I took it out and it worked fine for a while on vacation then on last day the depth just kept flashing and wouldn't change depths anymore. I don't know if I got a bad transducer or what. Any help greatly appreciated.
Where is the transducer mounted?
Check the transducer and make sure it is still in the proper position. Then if that is ok check cable to make sure it hasnt gotten pinched or broken.
If you remove the depth finder each day, then hook it back up when you go out each day ... check to make sure your plug & unit pins are lining up correctly --- especially if you have to wiggle the power cord plug to remove it from the unit. I had my water temp reading do the same thing, just flash off/on with an obviously wrong reading. Found out I had moved one of the pins out of alignment & it had dug a new hole in the plug (from me forcing it into the unit) and it wasn't making contact with the receptacle. I eyeballed their alignment & pushed the pins back into place ... and it's all good, now. Now I know to push the plug into the unit, and pull it out of the unit, perfectly STRAIGHT (& NO wiggling of the plug !! )
You might also make sure you don't have your depth setting set shallow, and try to read the depth in much deeper water. My unit will lose contact with bottom, sometimes, and flash off/on until I get back into water that's closer in depth to what I have the unit set to read.
... cp :kewl
Phishman,
Definitely check the transducer and connector as others have stated. You should be using the connector collector parts that hold all the cable connectors to the unit, so make sure that the connectors are seated within it properly and that the transducer has not slipped down inside of it.
Low power can cause depth reading problems. Be sure that the electrical connections to the battery and all connections in between are tight and corrosion free – don’t forget the fuse, fuse holder and battery connections. If that checks good, have your battery load tested.
Reset the unit to the factory defaults (Restore Defaults menu) and test it again. If you are still having problems, see if you can find someone that is running a Humminbird DI model unit and cross-test your unit with theirs.
Transducer is mounted on trolling motor. I am going to check connections and everything Friday. The battery power was low and someone else said this could be a problem. I've had this happen when I've been in really shallow water but it fixed itself when you go back into deep water. I will check pins and pinch points and see if I can fix the problem. Thanks again for everyone's help.
Phishman,
While you are checking things, see what software version you are running on that 858c DI unit and what the Surface Clutter and Digital Depth Source menus are set to.