Solix 12/ 360 issues

[haus9393]

These issues go way back to last year. To start I used to run this solix 12 on the console with a mega transducer mounted below my jack plate. The si worked fine until I got on plane. As soon as I would get on plane and the transducer left the water the si would completely freeze and never reconnect to the bottom until I turned the unit off and and back on again. I called humminbird and they suggested I purchase a 2d transducer to keep bottom contact and that should fix the issue. I never did purchase another transducer because I purchased 360 and now only use the unit for 360.

the first 3 months with the 360 were great. Never a single issue. Then one day when I put the trolling motor in the water the 360 was completely black on the screen. I had the small indication around the boat icon that it was working. Basically a small donut that is orange around the boat icon. The white bar would rotate around the screen and eventually after a hour or so the image would begin to clear up and little by little the range of the image would get better and better until it returned to how it should look. Then once I pull the trolling motor up it will repeat the process. Basically making my entire humminbird system useless. Ofcourse I call humminbird on this and then just want me to update my unit and it never fixes the issue. Sometimes the unit works how it should when I pull the trolling motor up and then put it back in the water but majority of the time it doesn’t. I’ve tried just about everything I can think of with it. I turn pinging off when moving spots and i will put it back in the water then turn pinging on and its Black once again.

I put the newest update in it before April and I used the 360 this year for 3 days so far. The first day it seemed to work fine no black screen at all. The 2nd day I fished a river and I noticed when the bank was on my starboard side the 360 was showing the bank on my port side. I’m like wtf it’s showing me the opposite side of the boat. So I rotate my 360 around and now it looks normal. I thought this was the issue but Throughout the day I found that when I picked up the trolling motor and put it back down in the water the image was always turning on me. I could rotate the 360 shaft and get it right again but there has to be something wrong with the transducer. And ofcourse my black screen issue came back as well so that isn’t fixed.

I called humminbird and gave them this entire speach and they have never heard of this happening and ofcourse they just put out another update so basically my rant was useless to them. They want me to update and reconfigure my navigation because they think that’s why my 360 is rotating on me but the mapping works fine. So tonight I have to update again and go on the water to prove again that I’m not crazy and call them back. They want me to buy a normal transducer again and just hang it over the side of the boat to see if the other functions work.

I also sent my solix to them 2 months ago and they checked it out and repaired my screen then sent it back to me which they told me then if there is any problems they will find it then when they do a bench test. Let me hear your thoughts I’m about to just buy a new 360 since they want to charge me 500 bucks just to try and fix mine if that’s really the issue. The solix is out of warranty too.

[Meleagris1]

I would try the new 360 first to eliminate that as a variable. I had one of the earliest 360 TM mount models and it would lose its orientation easily and also lock up when I took it out of the water without shutting off the pinging - new unit fixed all of that. I suspect a couple seasons of rough water banging (before the upgraded TM mount was available) took its toll.

If you ever run that unit again on the console I would agree with trying a in hull 2D puck and Y cable. You can stick one in your bilge with duct seal and then easily remove it if you change graphs.

You fishing the Costa's this year?

[Capw]

Years ago, I was traveling across Lake Winnepesaukee in very rough water. When I got to my spot and dropped the tm with the 360, the orientation was way off. After a short time it corrected itself. Obviously, the pounding it was taking caused the issue.

I remember reading a post where someone said the same thing as you about it taking a while to read. He believed the rough ride caused air bubbles in the pod, causing the transducer to take a while to read. Maybe your issue?

[haus9393]

This is a pic I took today. 360 working fine as it should. Just dumped the boat in the water.

[haus9393]

This is a picture after a 3 mile run in 2ft waves which took about 5 min to complete.

[haus9393]

I just purchased the transducer shield and saver stabilizer mount for the 360. Hopefully that helps fix it. I’m almost certain it’s caused by rough water like you guys said. It’s been beaten around pretty bad and that’s probably the reason why it’s having these issues. I’ve never seen it leak any oil either. I did update to 3.40 this morning and my orientation was correct today. I’ll see what tomorrow brings because it’s supposed to be calm so in theory it should work fine all day long. It might be too late for saving this one since I’ve probably done so much damage to it running around without any sort of bracket for the past year. It bounces around like a pogo stick up there but never hits the ultrex shaft so that’s why I never would have thought it could be damaged but the whole mixing around possibly making bubbles in the transducer makes a lot of sense to me. I got the 360 in April. The first time I really noticed it I was in a tournament in June and made about a 30 mile run in 3ft waves. After that it happened here and there over the next month i noticed it having these issues. Then come August it was unbarable and I hardly even turned the thing on because it never worked right but I hardly ever get calm water in the summer due to either wind or boat waves. Just blows my mind the lady at humminbird that I’ve spoken to twice in the last few months has never in her life heard of this happening with a 360.

[Wayne P.]

How about removing it from motor when navigating rough water like some of the pros do?

It's really easy since you don't have to remove any bolts, just loosen the three (3/8" wrench) that hold the shaft clamp to the plate and slide it off. Put the 360 on the deck under your rod hold down strap.
If that works for you, change the two outside bolts to 1/4-20 knob bolts and loosen the inside one just enough to slide out of the slot.
No wrench needed then. Don't use the plastic knob ones with the 360 mounted when running, the plastic may not handle the shock loads. You may can find all metal ones that you can grip enough to comfortable use.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=1%2F4+...&setlang=en-US

[haus9393]

I do pull it off when I put my cover on so I know how easy it can be to slide it on and off. I was just speaking with my friend and he’s like that’s probably why Palaniuk takes his off and lays it on the deck all the time. I’ll buy the knobs too and try that if the rod doesn’t do the trick.

[Wayne P.]

The knob bolts suggestion is to eliminate the possibility of dropping a wrench overboard when on the water.

[haus9393]

Yes yes I understand. I didn’t make my response clear. If the transducer shield and saver doesn’t keep the 360 stable enough in big water and I keep having issues then I will just have to remove the 360 and use the knobs for ease of removal and install. I will just need to find stainless ones.

[Wayne P.]

Yes yes I understand. I didn’t make my response clear. If the transducer shield and saver doesn’t keep the 360 stable enough in big water and I keep having issues then I will just have to remove the 360 and use the knobs for ease of removal and install. I will just need to find stainless ones.

I made a couple today from parts at Lowes. I don't get on rough water with my boat but do mess with stuff.

They did not have any stainless steel versions, so I got two plastic female knobs, two stainless steel cap bolts (hex socket) 1 1/4" in length, and two stainless steel lock washers. I do not think the molded-in hex nut is stainless steel.

[Meleagris1]

If you find some hardware you like post up a link - I've also seen guys put a piece of rigid foam between the pod and TM shaft to eliminate bounce.

That said I still think something may be wrong with your unit - I'm not seeing anything like that with mine even after long runs on Champ.

[haus9393]

If you find some hardware you like post up a link - I've also seen guys put a piece of rigid foam between the pod and TM shaft to eliminate bounce.

That said I still think something may be wrong with your unit - I'm not seeing anything like that with mine even after long runs on Champ.

I did find some stainless ones online. Not sure how good they might be. https://www.amazon.com/Kipp-06220-4A.../dp/B013I6XYKK


https://www.amazon.com/Kipp-06220-4A.../dp/B013I6XRUC

https://www.amazon.com/Monroe-Hardwa.../dp/B01HTZF3NC

[haus9393]

Dead flat all day today. Never an issue with the screen going black. But the orientation was around 180 degrees off all day long. Guess I’ll call them and see what they can do for me. If I don’t like it I guess I’ll just order a new one since there’s probably nothing I can do other than that.

[pfisher]

I would try the new 360 first to eliminate that as a variable. I had one of the earliest 360 TM mount models and it would lose its orientation easily and also lock up when I took it out of the water without shutting off the pinging - new unit fixed all of that. I suspect a couple seasons of rough water banging (before the upgraded TM mount was available) took its toll.

If you ever run that unit again on the console I would agree with trying a in hull 2D puck and Y cable. You can stick one in your bilge with duct seal and then easily remove it if you change graphs.

You fishing the Costa's this year?

Duct Seal? It works like epoxy? Interesting.

[Meleagris1]

Duct Seal? It works like epoxy? Interesting.

Its does - its not affected by water and you can remove it. Pretty awesome stuff and gives at least as good of performance as straight epoxy - its all I've used to install thru hulls for the last 10 years or so. Its what all the Kayak guys use also.

[woppercatcher]

I just wrap a piece of velcro strap around my 360 and trolling motor shaft and keep it on there all the time. It helps a lot for trailering and rough water

[pfisher]

Its does - its not affected by water and you can remove it. Pretty awesome stuff and gives at least as good of performance as straight epoxy - its all I've used to install thru hulls for the last 10 years or so. Its what all the Kayak guys use also.

Is there a certain brand you use? Sorry for all the questions but I find this interesting. My installer uses epoxy but he is always open to new suggestions. I'm going to pass this on.

[haus9393]

I called humminbird the other day. The lady I spoke to actually said someone else called that day about a similar situation but I think it was a transom mounted 360. Anyway I purchased mine April 9 2018 so they are warranty working it for me. I sent it in to them and will probably have it back in a 2-3 weeks.

[Meleagris1]

That's the way to to go - I had a couple choppy runs over the weekend and never noticed any degrading of my 360 image. Their CS is usually very good about stuff like this.


Pfisher - I don't think brand is critical. Lowes and Home Depot both sell Gardner Bender I believe - link below. After using this I would be hard pressed to ever use epoxy again.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-...-110/100212441