Proper Voltage for Livescope

[ajw18]

Can anyone tell me the minimum voltage at the plug/black box for optimum performance?

I had my electronics installed last year at a local shop that has a good reputation and has done good work for me in the past. They ran 10 ga AWG to the console but then plugged into the factory aux switch. My units seem to work fine but they display a voltage around 12 (11.8 to 12.3) when everything is on (102sv ultra, 106sv ultra, LVS32, and old echomap 70s). Also, my livescope image doesn't seem to be as crisp as I expected, no matter the settings.

I just put in a new Duracell 31 AGM. I'm getting 12.8 volts at the battery. I'm also getting about 12.8 at the switch on the console. However, I'm only getting about 12 volts at the black box plug. I'm probably about the do what should have been done originally and run dedicated wire from battery to black box. Does anyone know what voltage I'd like to see ideally at the plug? Thanks.

[Fishysam]

12.8 in your case

[tobyfrommo]

How are you collecting the voltage readings at the black box? Are measuring with a meter from the power cord or are you reading the overlay voltage on the screen. If you are reading the voltage from the overlay on the LS screen this is actually the unit's voltage...not the GLS10.

[ajw18]

How are you collecting the voltage readings at the black box? Are measuring with a meter from the power cord or are you reading the overlay voltage on the screen. If you are reading the voltage from the overlay on the LS screen this is actually the unit's voltage...not the GLS10.

Meter at the power cord.

[Titansfan2104]

How are you collecting the voltage readings at the black box? Are measuring with a meter from the power cord or are you reading the overlay voltage on the screen. If you are reading the voltage from the overlay on the LS screen this is actually the unit's voltage...not the GLS10.

To add to this some units dont give the correct voltage readout. I was wondering how i was losing a full volt at the bow even though it was reading 12.8 at the plug. I read somewhere some units voltage reading meter was off.

[Titansfan2104]

Meter at the power cord.

Im kinda suprised you're losing almost a full volt with 10awg.

[pfisher]

Im kinda suprised you're losing almost a full volt with 10awg.

It's the aux switch. I had a 3d box one time and my boat dealer put it on a switch. My images never were great and when I had it checked by a knowledgeable installer he removed the switch and the voltage went back to battery voltage.

For some reason the "internet experts" seem to think that a device drawing milli-amps in sleep mode will drain a battery in a day or two. Any good battery would run the black box in sleep mode for months.

[Fishysam]

So I didn't have good results with my 30$ switch either, but then 3 weeks old my switch disintegrated, so I added a clamp on post and uses a wing nut for just livescope.

[ajw18]

I just ran 10 awg direct from the battery to the black box, bypassing everything else. The meter read 12.6 volts at the battery and 12.6 volts at the black box plug. I don't know if the image quality will improve but at least I'll know that voltage won't be an issue now.

My bow units are reading right at or below 12 volts. My console unit is reading 12.3 volts. I guess I'll just go ahead and redo all the wiring myself, or at least run some test wire to see what I can get if I do rewire. I should've done it myself to begin with I suppose. How necessary do y'all think on/off toggle/rocker/etc. switches are for graphs?

[Fishysam]

I just ran 10 awg direct from the battery to the black box, bypassing everything else. The meter read 12.6 volts at the battery and 12.6 volts at the black box plug. I don't know if the image quality will improve but at least I'll know that voltage won't be an issue now.

My bow units are reading right at or below 12 volts. My console unit is reading 12.3 volts. I guess I'll just go ahead and redo all the wiring myself, or at least run some test wire to see what I can get if I do rewire. I should've done it myself to begin with I suppose. How necessary do y'all think on/off toggle/rocker/etc. switches are for graphs?

I ran 6ga to a buss bar, shorten the factory power cables and power a bow graph with the bus bar as well

[Edziu23]

We were looking at this situation in a tournament yesterday. With the livewells going, two 12" helix units and a 9" garmin with livescope the Garmin was reading 12.6 in the morning but slowly went down to 11.2 thoughout the day. (I didnt confirm with a volt meter just looking at the readout on the screen) Its all powered through a X2 group 31 but I am now wondering if I should wire the livescope directly to the battery instead of through a main cutoff switch. 10 ga is run to the units I was planning on researching this over the next couple weeks so this thread is timely.

[Fishysam]

In my opinion many boats made now are still insufficient in wiring, the Skeeter top of the line seems to be addressing this issue at least in marketing. Dedicated 8ga wiring to the fuse panel through the main switch.

so yes it is possible that when running many other things and then the graph may lower the volts.