Lowrance troubleshoot???

Hey what up folks!  my new LR-5-Chirp is on the fritz / dead? Looking for help or any thoughts...

Bought it in February and have used it 5 or 6 times.  No rollovers or anything, pretty much babied and worked great up to the END of a muir beach salmon chase last week. Never malfunctioned on the water.  Went to plug it in @ Timber Cove on tuesday and got a gnarly etch-a-sketch screen, then the startup screen followed by all bad black unresponsiveness.

Checked the power with a device as pics show, does the continuity of the readings mean the unit is getting power (eliminating battery/connection issues)???

any thoughts much appreciated

odog


 

If you don't have any waypoints stored that you care about, might consider a 'hard reset' at power up followed by a free software upgrade from Lowrance web site & see if it clears the issue. Since you are getting descent voltage & I assume no corrosion is present on the connectors, then check connections, cuts, frays, kinked wires, etc.  Think of your wire as a pipe.  If you know anyone with a similar unit nearby, try powering on the battery.  batteries can have reasonable voltage but no useable amperage.  possibly try to power up at retail store since they use power supplies rather than batteries.  Other option is to contact lowrance or the store you purchased at & just do an exchange while it's under warranty. 

I get ZERO response from the unit, just total black so i don't think I can do a hard rest right?

There actually is a bit of corrosion on the male end of the marinco plug there... looking at the other exact thread maybe good voltage but no amperage? not sure how that works...

I guess I will rebuild the connections as a start

 

Think of wires & connectors as a pipe.  Gunk build up in a pipe (or corrosion in wires) will still allow water pressure (is voltage) but severly limits the flow of water (or amperage).

Dielectric grease is key to longevity with any electrical connection in marine use.  Surprisingly, most heat shrinks are useless unless they are adhesive lined type which isn't typically found in hardware or autoparts stores.  Not even usually found in electrical supply places.

I found marine heat shrink at Harbor Freight.  Seems gluey.........

I found marine heat shrink at Harbor Freight.  Seems gluey.........

That's surprising. Of course, West Marine has them, but not cheap...

I bought an assortment kit of adhesive lined thru Amazon at a reasonable price but I do a good amount of wiring so I tend to go thru more than the average person.