Diagnosing Sonar Problem

I have a simple 2D Eagle fish finder on the small (12') tin boat. Use a Cabelas small sealed 12 v. battery to run it. Has always been very reliable (for many years). Today it quit on me totally. The battery was charged yesterday and the charger said it OK. I rechecked the connection leads and they were tight (push on friction connectors to the blades of the battery).

I'm thinking about connecting it directly to my main deep cycle (wet cell) series 27 battery, in the boat that we use for the trolling motor. If that turns on the sonar, does that necessarily mean that the battery is the source of the problem? Or could it be the transducer cable.....or, heaven forbid, the sonar itself?

Hoping some of you may be able to give me some guidance as to a diagnostic procedure to find out what the problem is. It started out running just fine when we were fishing today. A couple of hours in and she just quit! Thanks for any suggestions folks. :)

troubleshooting is a process of elimination. u on the right track.

Cane pole is way way above my pay grade, stick with him!
How olds your sealed battery?



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Originally Posted by Redge

Cane pole is way way above my pay grade, stick with him!
How olds your sealed battery?



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Battery is probably a half dozen years old. Doesn't get a lot of use each season though. And the charger says it's fine? Just hate to buy a new one if the problem lies elsewhere. But I may have to do that. When the rain lets up around here in the next day or so, I'll hook it up to the main DC battery and see if it starts. (Boat is stored outside.) Thanks for any/all suggestions! :)

I am wondering about the battery, there are Volts and Amps. If both aren’t up to snuff it won’t work.
I agree hook it to the big battery and see what happens.


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If nothing else use your riding lawn mower battery if it is charged up to try it.

Check the fuse if it has one. Also check it on another battery.

Those little sealed 12v batteries don't last very long, good thing they are cheap. If it really is 6 years old, you're definitely due for a new one.

OK.....I ran some tests today, after the rain stopped. Again, the tester I'm using says the output of the current battery is just fine, at 12 Volts. I rechecked the connections and the sonar will still not turn on. So, I pulled the fuse link and tested the continuity of the blade fuse. Passed OK. Next I reconnected the sonar leads to my TM battery and presto.....the sonar turned on! So, apparently, my tester is either faulty or for some other unknown reason, the sonar just doesn't want to accept it as it's power source!

In any case, I've ordered a replacement 12V 8AH "Mighty Max" on Amazon.com. (Don't have to pay shipping and it'll be coming by early next week.) Same price as the original that I got at Cabelas years ago. That should solve my problem. If it doesn't, I'll be posting another reply! LOL! Thanks for your help guys. Muchly appreciated.

Corrosion on the fuse? You “cleaned” it when you removed it.


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Originally Posted by Sup

Corrosion on the fuse? You “cleaned” it when you removed it.


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I thought about that, but after getting positive results on the TM battery, I re-tried connecting the sonar to the old battery and nada! Doesn't even think about coming on! So, for whatever reason, it just doesn't like this battery. Already ordered a new one as stated above, so if that doesn't do the trick, then I'll be reposting again! LOL! Thanks for all your replies folks.

Always voltage test the battery under a load condition. Voltmeters require little current to function, therefore it is basically a no load to the battery. Next time test the battery with power on in the elimination process. Yes, by all means check fuses for corrosion.

Yesterday I received the replacement battery for my sonar. Charged it over night. Put it on the sonar and still NOTHING!? So, it is not the battery that is the problem. I pulled the 3 amp blade fuse and took it an auto supply store for a replacement. They didn't have one, but checked the fuse I had, with their tester and it's just fine.

So, I replaced this blade fuse back in the fuse connecter again, re-connected the new battery and still nothing. I connected the leads to my main TM battery again, just to verify that it would still work with that. But, I got no reading with that either now! I just don't know where to go with this next? I pulled the sonar connector out and reconnected it as well - several times. I still get no start up.

If anyone has any suggestions that I could try, please let me know. Looking more & more like the sonar itself has failed. But I've had sonars for a lot longer with never a problem. Opinions PLEASE! :(

I would disconnect the battery and do a continuity test of power and ground wires. Wiggle the wires while continuity testing.

METER between battery an power connector pin. Wiggle near the connector especially. Intermittent problems are aggravating,
even the experts get frustrated.

If you unplug the unit when boat is stored/trailered, then plug it back up when you go fishing : check to make sure ALL the pins are still there, in the back of the unit, and ALL the pins are straight & line up correctly with the holes in the female plug.

This may not be your problem, but if you have to wiggle the power/tdx plug to get it OUT of the unit, you can bend one or more pins out of alignment. Then when you plug the power/tdx wires back into the unit, you "can" bury that pin that's out of alignment into the plastic filling around the holes of the plug. The pins can be straightened back to their correct alignment, if gently pushed back into position .... but, the pin will be weakened & subject to breaking off should they get pushed or wiggled out of position in the future.

This is exactly why I'm no longer using my Elite 5DSI unit, and had to replace it. :Doh: The pin that broke was the negative battery pin.

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

METER between battery an power connector pin. Wiggle near the connector especially. Intermittent problems are aggravating,
even the experts get frustrated.

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Not sure I'm understanding what is meant by "between the battery and power connector pin". Sorry my lack of savvy! I've taken some pictures of the sonar, the battery, and the connections; if this is of any help?

Attachment 346895

Attachment 346896

Attachment 346897

Again....THANK YOU for any help/suggestions.

Also, I pulled off the connector from the sonar and looked closely at the pins. They "appear" to be straight and undamaged and the plug goes in nicely and snug. For the first part of this season, the sonar worked just fine, as usual. Then a couple of trips ago, I started to get "intermittent" blank outs on the screen. Then the last time we were out it started just fine, but blanked out after a couple of hours.

At that point I assumed the battery, being over 5 years old, was down on charge. Re-charged it and as previously discussed, elected to get a new battery. Which is where I'm at now. Only now, I can't get the sonar to turn on at all.

Sent you a PM

wires at battery metered to associated connector pin when unplugged at back of unit. clip meter to either battery wire and search for continuity at connector. both wires should read continuity to their associated pin.

you didn't reverse connect your battery did you? 2 red wires makes me nervous.

I agree with CP, with both wires at the battery being red, I would believe that there is a splice somewhere that connects the wires from the battery to the power cable to the ff. I would look there.

Unit won't turn on:
1. Check the power cable's connection at the unit. Also check the wir-ing.
2. Make certain the power cable is wired properly. The red wire con-nects to the positive battery terminal, black to negative or ground.
3. Check the fuse.
4. Measure the battery voltage at the unit's power connector. It shouldbe at least 11 volts. If it isn't, the wiring to the unit is defective, thebattery terminals or wiring on the terminals are corroded, or the bat-tery needs charging.



This is from an operation/installation manual I found online for an eagle 320 sea finder

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

wires at battery metered to associated connector pin when unplugged at back of unit. clip meter to either battery wire and search for continuity at connector. both wires should read continuity to their associated pin.

you didn't reverse connect your battery did you? 2 red wires makes me nervous.

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Not a chance. (Famous last words! LOL!) Good observation though. The reason being is that when I put the battery connectors on the wires, I made sure to put the fuse link on the positive end (see picture above). And it's been working out for me for quite a number of years. Could I have made a mistake.....of course.....anyone can. But I'm very confident that I did not make that mistake; that's the first thing that I double check when hooking up the boat.

And that would not explain the unit working sometimes and sometimes not - and then just stopping altogether? Some good thoughts here - Thanks!

I prefer continuity testing when dealing with intermittent problems. Lots safer to jiggle for ohms than jiggle for voltage.


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be sure to disconnect wires from battery when continuity testing. you are testing wires between battery and plug pins.

I looked for a pinout diagram for the connector for that unit but couldn't find one. Being the power and transducer are contained within one connector, it makes it a little more difficult to troubleshoot. Check continuity from the connections at the battery to the connector at the ff. If you don't have continuity from each battery connector to a pin on the ff connector, you have an open wire. If your ff connector is female, use a paper clip to access the circuit.

also, if you test for 12v at the pins and read 12v, this can be misleading. if you have a resistive connection, such as corrosion or bad crimp or cold solder, etc. you would probably still read 12v with a meter.

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

also, if you test for 12v at the pins and read 12v, this can be misleading. if you have a resistive connection, such as corrosion or bad crimp or cold solder, etc. you would probably still read 12v with a meter.

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So true. I would still look for that splice, no electronic manufacturer would have two red wires for a power cable.

Hey, Cane Pole, where is Pumphouse, TN? I'm originally from Lawrence County, TN.

pumphouse is springville, tn. springville is a community area, there is no city or town per se.

about 15 miles from paris, tn.

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Originally Posted by Cane Pole

pumphouse is springville, tn. springville is a community area, there is no city or town per se.

about 15 miles from paris, tn.

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Lots of good water around you.

Could the on /off button be the culprit ? Sometimes the button will stick .

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Originally Posted by eagle 1

Could the on /off button be the culprit ? Sometimes the button will stick .

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Tried that many times. If there was a chance of that being the problem, it would have intermittently worked. Regardless of the number of times I press it.....or how hard.....nothing happens. I believe it's the motherboard or some other internal electronic issue. Looking at a replacement, donated by a fellow Crappie.com member, to resolve the issue. With any kind of luck, I'll be back in business by this weekend! :)

Great! I understand the aggravation. Been thru it many a time and Ima Spoce to what Ima doing.


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