Piranha Fishfinders - Poor Reliability

Has anybody out there had any luck with the Huminbird's Piranha FF's?

I know a lot of guys here use'em .  I own two of the portable units (the Piranha 1 and Piranha Max 10) and both have caused me nothing but grief despite my meticulous care of the connectors.  I'm thinking of junking them both and getting something more reliable.

Are there any fishfinders out there really designed to withstand the abuse of ocean kayak fishing?

I've heard the same thing.

I've done all right with my Eagle Fishmark 320.

MolBasser

I used a Pirhana 2 for about 3 years... connectors rusted off within the first 6 months so I soldered and gooped them in permanently (this was before I knew about dielectric grease) and I used to get fog in the display screen which was annoying.  Other than that, it functioned good enough while it lasted.

The Pirhana finally died on my about 6 months ago and I replaced it with the Eagle Fisheasy 240... which I can't say enough good stuff about.  

I'll say that no matter what FF you buy... use liberal amount of silicone dielectric grease on all connectors and plug any unused connector ports with marine silicone.  

Erik

I am hoping that dielectric grease is the solution to the bad connection I have with my Pirhana.  FWIW, Huminbird says they are sending me a new power cord.
Maybe the answer is dielectric grease AND sealing the connection with silicone?

dude

i had the portable pirahna 10 and it sucked royally!! i finaly gave it back to west marine for a full refund.now a year later i have bought the fish easy 240(portable model) last week for 169 dollars and its awsome .i dont know much about it yet but it worked great last week!!.my brother is using the fish easy 2 from last year and its held up great.this model is pretty much the same as the 240 .the only thing i dont like about his is that it uses  8 d batteries and mine uses 8 a batteries .mines alot lighter.they dont make the fish easy 2 any more.but its still in some  stores .the 240 took its place.use KZ advise and buy it .i will use the dielctric greese on it this week and plug the unused port (speed tranducer)and screws with marine silicone .

this is why i bought it  (from kz)


For the same price as the Garmin 120, the Fisheasy 240 has better features....16 level grayscale versus 4 level grayscale in the Garmin, 240 x 160 pixel resoulution versus 240 x 128 in the Garmin, 1500 W power versus 800 W in the Garmin, 800 foot depth capability versus 600 in the Garmin.

Here's a link at Cabelas.com

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jhtml?id=0029861017595a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnString=hasJS=true&_D%3AhasJS=+&QueryText=fisheasy+240&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jhtml.22&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=fisheasy+240&noImage=0&returnPage=search-results1.jhtml

portable 240 model

http://www.youreq.com/outdooreq/fishfinders/eagle/fisheasy-240-portable.asp

rjyak wrote:
How does the fisheasy 240 do in saltwater? How deep has the water been where you use the fisheasy? How well does it pick up bait balls? I am considering the fisheasy, humminbird 535 and the matrix 17. I will mostly be fishing in the Monterey bay for salmon and halibut.
Rich


I've only been out three times since I installed the fisheasy... so far only in water less than 40 feet.

My old Pirhana unit was listed as a 600 foot capacity, but with shooting through the hull, it petered out at about 300 feet... only a problem at Moss Landing over deep canyons. The fisheasy has like twice the power output... so I'm sure it will perform much better in deep water. I had to turn the sensitivity way down in the shallow bay because it was marking too much debris and noise from extremely muddy water.

So far so good in saltwater... I filled the speed transducer connection with silicone to seal it up and used dielectric grease for the transducer/temperature connection... but the connections seal very well compared to my old Pirhana unit. So far there is no indication of water intrusion... which, with my Pirhana, would manifest as a fogging of the screen if it got splashed on too much or after being washed down.

Extremely good resolution for picking up bait and structure... 16 level grayscale offers very good resolution.

Basically... when comparing apples... look at power output as an indicator of the depth capacity. This has 1500 W power and will still run all day long on a 12 V 5Ah battery. Cone angle will give an indication of your coverage area... 60 degrees seems to be the best these days in this price range. Screen pixel count will give you an indication of resolution... higher is better. Number of shades of gray will give you an indication of how well the unit will allow you to differentiate between different types of structures and bottom composition.

Erik
_________________
Kunz's Reel Rods
www.geocities.com/elkunz@sbcglobal.net

I've used the portable piranha - it worked for a while ....returned to exhanged it for another one....worked for a while....returned it and got my partial refund and got the Humminbird 525 = no complaints to this day.  

I like the big screen on the 525's  

When I was at Linda Mar last week my Piranha Max 20 didn't start.  1.5 seasons.  Not sure if I should set up to a Matrix or get another Piranha...

Thanks Erik and Eric.  I think you guys have me convinced to try the Fisheasy 240.  I may look into whether the portable Piranha base can accommodate the Fisheasy display unit since both are about the same size and use 8 AA batteries.  The nice thing about the Piranha base is that it sits well strapped on top of the Prowler's hatch and also fits snug in the cockpit tray.

Like Joel, I use the Hummin Bird 525 and have had no complaints at all.  Great mounting Brackets and comes on and off very easy.

I got a piranha 5 for $75 at wal-mart a couple years back and it's worked fine except for the connector corrosion issue.  It hasn't fogged up on me at all.  Someday when it fails completely I'll replace it with something that has more robust connectors and greyscale.  I'm happy with it though considering it cost half as much as some other FFs.

I have used the Matrix 17 off and on with zero issues.  The Fish Easy is very popular in SoCal.  I just prefer the easy to rig nature and big screen of the Matrix, not to metion the dual cone trans.  The FE is alot cheaper though, and it is more compact. I'm kinda on the fence myself, but I need to put a sounder on at least one of my boats.  If you look at the little comparison charts at this site the M17 kicks everythings butt in the 100-200 price range. http://www.fishfinder-store.com/cofi1to2.html

BTW-you can run any 12v FF on AAs.  I have made a number of AA power packs for customers and they work well, except I generally use 10 AAs to get more run time.

Hey Sean.  Thanks for the FF comparison link.  You make some good points about the M17.

How are you making the 10AA power packs?

I just want a FF that can withstand surf launches or is that too much to ask?

Do you guys disconnect and stow your FF's prior to launches and landings?

Chuck

I use a 5X2 AA battery holder in a Pelican microcase or in small Lock & Lock.  The 10 AA holders aren't too hard too find, but not as common.  If you look at most FFs the run on a wide range of voltage.  The Matix is cool between 10-19v.  Using 10 regular AAs is 15v, or 10 rechargables is right around 12v.


This is a 10 AA pack in a X-Factor.  Very compact, and WAY lighter than a regular gel cel set up.




Surf launches were the ff gets really douched isn't good for any of them.  Another nice feature of any of the higher end Humminbirds is that they are so easy to take on/off.  The connections are in the base so they snap on or off without dealing with any wires what so ever.  You can cover the base during your launch, get outside and pop on the head unit and you are done, no need to reach around the back and screw in any wires.

I just bought the Matrix 27.  How do I get rid of fog from the screen?  And where do I get "silicone dielectric grease"?  Thanks.  

I originally had the Cuda 240 and it sucked big time.  Mostly because it did not have
enough power.  The Matrix 27 is much more powerful and is
doing a better job, but I can't give a review until
I had it longer.