597 CI HD DI Installation problem (Help!)

Got my 597 a couple of weeks ago and just got a chance to install it. Ran 2 cables back to the battery for power (18Ga) and soldered the wires together to the power cable. Got everything done and tried to power it up, and nothing. Tried cutting the soldered connection and just twisting the wires together to trouble shoot it, and again nothing. I didn't put a 3 amp fuse in the positive wire as the instructions suggested, hadn't bought one yet. Took another inline fuse from my old Eagle unit, fuse holder has no markings but the fuse has 32V 312 15A on it, put it on the positive wire, and again nothing. I know my batteries good, I just bought it a month ago, and my hot wire from the back touched a piece of metal on the boat and sparked before I hooked it up. This ain't rocket science guys, but maybe I'm missing something. Anybody got any suggestions? Maybe I need to take it back to BPS.

Wish I could help you. But I not the great with the electronic stuff. I just hooked up mine yesterday. No problems with it. I did put the inline fuse in first thing. No way was I going to run power to it without a fuse. I actually went on line and downloaded the newest upgrade and installed it before I even hooked up the unit to the boat. If you have a meter check the voltage up at the unit head. Pull the head off and check voltage right at the two power sockets.

Only one thing to do after you verify that you are getting power to the unit

You can check the power cable plug to make sure it is making a good connction. Spread the pins apart.

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Originally Posted by kosmo

Only one thing to do after you verify that you are getting power to the unit

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+1

If you have a buddy that runs Humminbird, you can try connecting to his power cord just to confirm but I think you'll be taking that one back.

Brian

Trying someone else’s Humminbird unit (does not have to be the same model as yours) unit will do things: make sure you have the right voltage to be able to run your unit and also that the polarity of the voltage is correct. While you are at it: try your 597 unit on someone else’s boat that has a Humminbird too and see if it will power up there.

I had a similar problem with one of my HB units. Mine would go off if you bumped it or tried to tilt the screen. The prongs on the mount were not making good contact with the head unit. I took a small screwdriver and just bent them ever so gently and now they make proper contact.

I checked it tonight with a voltage meter. I put it on V DC and the meter wouldn't zero out, not much of an electrician here. It kept reading all over the place some numbers with a minus in front of them, without touching the probes to anything. I went back to the battery and checked the meter on it and it read 12.86 volts and held the reading. I checked the power cable prongs and tried switching the red and black leads on each prong of the power cable, never did get it to read anything close to 12.86. Took the wires I'd ran to the power cable apart from the power cable and checked them and couldn't get them to sustain a 12.86 reading. It read above and below 12.86 and wouldn't stop moving. I bought brand new 18 GA wire and crimped new connectors to them. Maybe I over crimped the connectors. Wouldn't the wires read the same as the battery? I was checking these with a flashlight at night with storms and lightning blowing in, so it made it kinda tough. I live here close to Tulsa which is kinda Lowrance country, so finding a friend with a HB might be a little tough. I'm trying to buck the trend, but I'm not having much luck with my birthday present. At least I know I'm not getting power to the unit. It's gotta be the wires I ran, or the power cable itself. I'll figure it out sooner or later, I'm not giving up. I appreciate everybody's help and suggestions.

I kinda had the same problem on a bow unit. replaced inline fuse-nothing, replaced unit--nothing, then checked all my fuses in the fuse panel--bingo--one 10amp fuse did the trick. You may not have the same set up though

Call me Kev, I'll get it going for you.

I tried using a 12 volt tester on the power cords prongs this evening. It lit up the light in the 12 volt tester probe. I'm still not sure how much voltage I'm getting to the end of the power cord, but it did light up the bulb in the tester. Not sure what my next step is now. I tried using the voltage meter again on the power cables prongs and it would start out at 16.0 or 17.0 and fall off quickly till it got down to 3.0 to 3.5 then slowly go downward after that. Thanks for the offer Reaper, it sure makes me wonder about the unit now, not sure what to do. I'm still within my 30 days of purchase from Bass Pro Shops, I could take it back and get another one.

You might disconnect your 18 gauge wires from the HB power cord and try the HB power cord directly to the battery to see if maybe something is amiss in your 18 gauge wire setup...

Don't forget to use a 3 amp fuse even in this test...

Rickie

He could skip the 3 amp fuse for this test. It is just there to protect the boat wiring anyways. I didn’t like crimping wires on boats I prefer to solder all connections and connectors. I have seen too many corroded and loose crimped connections to not solder all connections now.

hey let me know if you haven't fixed it yet, I have the same FF an It's an easy install.