Electrical Problem - 3 Sonar units

[OBT]

Sorry in advance for being long winded!

I have two HDS 9 Live's and a an Elite FS 9. One Live and the Elite FS are at the bow. The remaining Live is at the console.

I use the Live at the bow for my sonar (Including for Active Target FFS) and the Elite FS unit will be used strictly for my mapping.

One year ago - When I first hooked up the bow Live unit, (A refurbished unit I got from Tackle Warehouse) I noticed that the voltage read only 11.8 volts. For trouble shooting purposes, I hooked that unit up to the Console Live's power cord and it still read 11.8 volts. (Note: The regular Console Live unit read 12.6v)

I didn't look into it much further because the bow Live - 1) Seemed to work just fine and 2) Being that it was a refurb, I thought that just might be a part of bug that sent it back to be refurbed in the first place and perhaps whoever did the check out process didn't double check all the system readings before they made it available for resale. No biggie because everything worked.

Further info - The Bow Live unit, (As well as all of my electronics for that matter) have new dedicated power wires of 10 ga Marine/Tinned wire. I thought that maybe the 15 or so feet from Battery to bow wire might be to great a length for the 10ga. (Meaning Power Loss) But since I double checked it using the console unit power (Also with the new 10 ga) and the voltage hadn't changed , I assumed, as I already implied, it was just a system refurb programming thing.

I went thru the entire season without a glitch with either Live unit. Enter stage right, "this season".

Over the winter, I installed the Elite 9FS, ordered new 10 ga Marine/Tinned wire and ran a new dedicated line to the bow for it. First trip out yesterday to test out all the winter maintenance and installations, surprise! The Elite FS is only showing 11.6 to 11.8 just like the Bow unit Live. Hate to say it, even though it seemed to work well, the Map screen did seem a little dim. Tried to turn up the brightness to no avail. Might be how the Elite series works compared to the HDS Lives??

So... Those are the symptoms. Order some 8 gauge wire and redo everything? Or, A) Does the 1 year old Deep Cycle/Starting battery (Which runs all my electronics and my engine) need to be load tested? All connections are cleaned, all wiring is dedicated and new (Using wire from two different spools) and I get no warning lights from my charger when all is hooked up and charging.

Suggestions?

Signed, Fresh Out of Ideas...

[Bass in the grass]

Test your voltage with a multi meter, Lowrance graphs read all over the place. All 3 of mine read different voltage from the same plug.

[OBT]

Will do. Thanks. Great minds think alike as I had thought of that a few minutes ago!!

[OBT]

Well, put the multi-meter on the battery, while trickle charging and got 13.47v. Checked all 3 units power plugs under the same conditions and got the same reading.

Repeated the process 45 minutes 'after' taking the battery 'off' the charger and all matched at 13.09v. Like Bass in the grass said, the accuracy of the Live's and the Elite FS units are all over the place.... Whew, one less worry!

Next step, get the battery load tested just in case. Side note, my 2018 Mercury 115 XS Four Stroke is charging properly while running.

[CatFan]

Well, put the multi-meter on the battery, while trickle charging and got 13.47v. Checked all 3 units power plugs under the same conditions and got the same reading.

Repeated the process 45 minutes 'after' taking the battery 'off' the charger and all matched at 13.09v. Like Bass in the grass said, the accuracy of the Live's and the Elite FS units are all over the place.... Whew, one less worry!

Next step, get the battery load tested just in case. Side note, my 2018 Mercury 115 XS Four Stroke is charging properly while running.

Measuring at the unit’s plugs accomplishes nothing. No matter how bad the wire is or how how crappy the connections are, it will always read the same as the battery. The only useful reading is with the unit turned on. Voltage drop only happens when there is a load on the wire.

Check your firmware. There was a bug on some units that caused voltage reading errors which was corrected in an update.

[OBT]

Firm ware up to date, HDS_Live-22.1-65.1.18-Standard. Connections are good, though crimped and not soldered. Getting the battery load tested is next.

[catdude28]

I don’t see any mention of you checking the battery voltage after surface charge has dissipated. I generally give it about 12 hours after taking it off the charger. Should be around 12.6 for a flooded battery, around 12.8 for an AGM.

[billnorman1]

Don't forget, if you run a new power wire you will also need a like sized ground (minus) wire.

[OBT]

Got ya billnorman1. Both Pos and Neg are 10 ga.

catdude28, 18 or so hours after taking off the charger - 12.9v (Interstate HD 31M DC-1 -flooded battery. And if any one is thinking about knocking them, I've used them for many years without issues.)

[bobcoy]

The brand of the battery is of no importance. Batteries have problems at the end of the winter if they were not kept charged enough. They also loose capacity in the normal course of things. Have your seller load test it to find out if they will replace it. Assuming it is not poor enough to replace you can live with the lower capacity or get another. I am betting the battery is weaker than last season for whatever reason. Just because the wires and connections are new is not proof there is not an issue with one or 2. JMO Bob