Humminbird Mount Help - Jars Loose in Rough Water

So I have an issue with my boat and fishfinder/gps. Because of the design of the mounting base, the head unit is removable I guess to prevent theft and allow you to remove and store it indoors, I lose the power connection in chop or if I am breaking waves.

I have applied dielectric grease to the connection in hopes that it would allow it more play but I guess it is not enough.

I am afraid I am going to mess up my electronics (that I already had to pay to be repaired once).

I can slip a scrap of hrydro turf under it or I can purchase a ram mount but I really need some kind of isolator. Hit a wave hard enough it will cause the head unit to tilt forward pretty far as well.

Clickable thumbnails below.

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...pswsukamnz.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...pszgtjovlb.jpg

http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t...psqry7pm8y.jpg

Metal plate is there. I removed it one day and bent the plate upward slightly to help raise the cable plugs in hopes of making better contact. Reassembled. I had hoped that it would add a bit a spring tension to everything.

Lake was rough Sunday but nothing I wouldn't go out in.


The unit was bought brand new. It messed up on me in 2013 (I think). Didn't get it sent back to factory for repair until this spring. It now works as it should minus the fact it jars loose and loses power.

That is the same type of base that was on my HB788HDDI that now resides on the bottom of KY Lake after it came off the mount and over the side Memorial weekend in rough water. Expensive lesson learned. It was almost impossible to remove from the base but came off when my RAM mount tilted forward after hitting a big wave HARD.

Try bending the power pins ever so slightly to creates more friction of the pins in the head unit socket ...

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...pszffmqlb4.png

Rickie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrdux

That is the same type of base that was on my HB788HDDI that now resides on the bottom of KY Lake after it came off the mount and over the side Memorial weekend in rough water. Expensive lesson learned. It was almost impossible to remove from the base but came off when my RAM mount tilted forward after hitting a big wave HARD.

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That is my issue. You hit a wave hard and it pops it loose to the point I lose power. In an aluminum boat it doesn't take much chop to make it rough enough to jar it loose either.

Rickie, I bent the tabs on the metal piece that you can just barely see in your picture upwards to help raise all of the connectors up to make a more snug contact with the headunit receptacles. That didn't really help I guess.

I am going to hold out on a better mounting solution (I was thininking ram mount but after reading mrdux's issue I may rethink that) before I bend the pins in the connectors.

This is what I currently have for my Lowrance X-26 2D unit on my console. I absolutely love it. All I wanted was the ability to be able to turn my unit 180 degrees so I could see it from the front of my boat. It is rock solid!!
Amazon.com: Ram Mount Single Swing Arm Vertical Mount System, Black: Sports & Outdoors

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...pswlwafcwp.jpg

I troll cranks from a rear-facing seat that is mounted in the floor just below my raised front deck. I needed to be able to turn both units 180 so I can see them at all times. The 998 is on a 2.25 RAM ball mount.

Is the unit head popping loose from the mount ... Or just creating loss of power in the connections ... ??

Rickie

Loss of power. And it will tilt itself down so you can't see it as well.

I don't have to have the ability to remove the head unit. I was contemplating an elaborate zip tie redneck engineering project or even perhaps a permanent gluing if that is what it takes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rnvinc

Try bending the power pins ever so slightly to creates more friction of the pins in the head unit socket ...

Rickie

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Update with official advice from Humminbird. They want me to do exactly what you suggested above. I was hoping for something more but will give this a shot and see where it takes me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by smashdn

Update with official advice from Humminbird. They want me to do exactly what you suggested above. I was hoping for something more but will give this a shot and see where it takes me.

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Ya ...I don't like the HB connectors either ...

Pain in the patoot ...

And to think ... It was users that wanted an easy way to disconnect all the cables at once ...

Loose cable connections is what we gained out of that user wish list item ...

Rickie

I am having the same issue with my HDS7 touch on a Ram mount, but only since I changed boats. I went from a Tracker console steer (where I had the HDS7) to a Stick Steer Duracraft with the hds7 mounted on the front deck. The boat is not a rough water boat and I knew that going in. I try to avoid rough water, but I had to cross a big lake after the wind got up and started white capping the lake. I lost my image twice when I took a hard chop and also the ram tilted down where I could not read the screen. In one case the unit rebooted and once I had to hit the power button to turn it on. This can't be good for the electronics so I may just turn it off and tilt it down if I get into rough water again

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SeaRay

This can't be good for the electronics so I may just turn it off and tilt it down if I get into rough water again

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That probably works fine if you are in daylight and know and can see where you are headed. I most often use my unit for the mapping and gps capabilities. I run the Ohio in the winter in the dark and need to follow my previous tracks and need to pay attention to my sailing line on the unit to keep it in the channel.

What I experienced the other day I wouldn't even classify as rough, just maybe a 6" chop. That is nothing on big water.

Find the THINEST tape you can find and place a small piece on the plastic surrounding the pins. Put the tape on each pin connector if you can. The tape will make the plastic connector stay tight in the slot after inserting. The tape has to be durable but thin as you will be putting it in and taking it out often. If you do it right you can get it to stay permanently.
If the tape does not work then try heating a small piece of metal really hot and try to "burn" a burr into the side of the plastic surrounding the pins. This will make a small raised area that will help hold the cords in place. This will do some damage to the plastic as you make the adjustment but it is better than throwing it away and buying a new one.
You can also try putting some superglue on the plastic outside and let it dry to build up a layer that makes the plastic thicker and thus making the connector hold int he slot better.
Just don't heat the plastic or put the glue on and stick it back in while hot or drying or it will be permanent.
Good luck.

I ended up bending the pins on the battery side of the cable per humminbird's suggestion. This worked decently well today in about 8" chop.

Now I have another issue. I can't keep a good depth reading while running. I have the transducer mounted in line with the bottom of the boat with the midline of the transducer body in line with the very bottom. I have no hook in this hull. I would think this is very smooth water, not boogered by any ribs.

Is there a trick or preferred method to get it to read true depth and not bounce from 1ft to 330ft all the time while running? I'm only going about 40 so I wouldn't think speed is the issue.

t-ducer might be level with the boat bottom as you look at it, BUT is it level with the water line when sitting in the water? That can make a difference. or so I've been told.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wannabe fisherman

t-ducer might be level with the boat bottom as you look at it, BUT is it level with the water line when sitting in the water? That can make a difference. or so I've been told.

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Well, I can't get it dead on either way really. There is only so much granularity in the little teeth that hold the transducer.

Maybe it is a setting thing? I can't believe I have had this much trouble with this unit. Maybe it is operator error or an install issue but I have never had issues like this out of my older garmin units. All I really need the thing to do is show me a map so I can get to my duck spots in the dark and show me a depth while I am running so I know if I am about to run aground. The fish finder aspect of it is just a bonus.

If the xducer is keeping good constant depth readings at idle or drift ...then the mounting is the issue ...which lends to lowering the xducer farther into the water or moving it to cleaner water on another part of the transom ...

Sometimes adding a block of starboard helps get the xducer into cleaner bubble free water ...

http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps11mocrex.jpg

Rickie

How is the issue with the power cutting out ...??

Have you found a solution that will keep the cables snugly in contact ... ??

Rickie

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rnvinc

How is the issue with the power cutting out ...??

Have you found a solution that will keep the cables snugly in contact ... ??

Rickie

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I bent the brass pin on the power cable that is down inside that receptacle that actually mounts to the boat. I did that the other day after I had made one run down the lake and it cut out. After bending the pin it kept power the whole time but the wind and boat traffic (and chop) also died down a touch as the afternoon wore on. I think that fixed it though.

Thanks for posting that graphic. I may try and fiddle with it some this afternoon to get it more angled like it shows.

The transducer with this unit is a long flat style shaped kind of like a surfboard already so I may just not have it adjusted properly.

smashdn, I had the same issue on my 16' aluminum stick steer. After bending the pins a little that solved my problem on my 998. I also later change the ram mount to the larger 2.5" and that stopped the unit from tilting in rough water.