not always your unit!!!!!!

Went Thursday and was fishing in shallow water(about 3') and my Elite 7 HDI depth was flashing, I thought (1) maybe the water was to shallow(2) maybe the ping sped should be reduced (3) tried other settings and had no sucess. Pulled up the transducer bracket and had a lily pad wrapped around the transducer.......stupid pilot error.... worked fine with no more problems, after that. Wonder how many times we blame our unit when it is not their fault. Still learning... crappie1133