Dragonfly intermittent power loss

I'll say check the your battery to. Had the same thing happened to me to but it was my fault. When I got my dragonfly, I wire it without a fuse for the my first testing using a three year old 7ah battery that I left sitting with out maintaining. It work great for the first run then I got a fuse and rewire it. For some reason (hung over) I wire the third (drain) wire with the positive lead and fry that battery. Thinking it was a old battery I order a  new 9ah battery. After 30 minutes it was still doing the same thing. When I figure what was going on I was kicking my self thinking I had one expensive ass paper weight. All is good now.

Because I know you all were so very worried about the status of my fishfinder , I thought I would update this thread.  I confirmed by battery to not be the problem and sent the unit back to Raymarine for bench testing.  They just emailed me back with a tracking number on a new replacement unit. No explanation as to the nature of the problem, but a new unit in the mail; and that's OK by me. Thanks Raymaine, and thank all of you who offered advise.     

while we're on this subject does anyone know where to buy the dragonfly wire cap? i lost mine

For lowrance units, and the same might be true for H-Bird & D-Fly, I use rubber caps that I get for .50-$1.00 from OSH in the little bins on the screw aisle.  These can also be found at Ace Hardware ... maybe at Lowes/H.D. too but will be harder to find.  Sad to say, but Ace Hardware has the BEST selection of nuts/bolts/screws/oddities around.

So the unit was returned to me on Friday.  As it turns out the unit was not replaced but "repaired".  I tried it out Saturday to discover the same problem still exists. It is as if I had never even sent it in, or no repair was made. 

This begs the question, is the problem on my end.  If my transducer was to blame, I would not expect my problem of the screen not lighting up.  But for the sake of proper trouble shooting, I should test this by trying out a different head unit. 

The only other possibility would be that my 12v 8a battery is under powered.  Again I doubt this as it used to work fine, and would fail after a period of use; not fail to even power up in the first place.

So I need to find somebody in the Monterey bay who has a Dragonfly and would be willing to let me come over and plug their unit into my ducer, and vise versa. I will start a new thread to ask this favor, and link this thread into it.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=65978.msg742139;topicseen#new

Go to Hardware store and buy the biggest cheapest can of electronic contact cleaner spray.  Find the large size can of Corrosion-X.  Not the
Heavy Duty, just regular CorrosionX.

After EVERY use, spray all contacts with the cleaner, blow it off or let it air dry, then give a coat of CX.  The CX protects against saltwater corrosion, and cleaning with the solvent spray prevents dirt and scud buildup.

Do it every time.  don't forget the battery terminals and space connectors to the battery.

Same thing with your recharge contacts on handheld VHF radios.

Bushy

hey Matt,

If you have not already tried it. Switch out the battery.  It can be a dead cell, and may read a false charge with a meter.

You can do a quick tap from your car battery, with the car off.  See if this works.   As mentioned Im in Hayward.. If im in your area I will let you know..

good advice..up till reading this advice -I use a 1/2 wide throw away paint brush with blue marine grease and keep it with big glob of grease in a zip lock with my gear and re-apply  seems to work but I have to keep checking for gravel sticking in there-getting in the connect slots..so far so good---
un greased my previous yak mount/deck quick connects went in just a few trips and broke-seized-snapped off..thanks
Bushy going to hit the store for those 2 products on the way home

Go to Hardware store and buy the biggest cheapest can of electronic contact cleaner spray.  Find the large size can of Corrosion-X.  Not the
Heavy Duty, just regular CorrosionX.

After EVERY use, spray all contacts with the cleaner, blow it off or let it air dry, then give a coat of CX.  The CX protects against saltwater corrosion, and cleaning with the solvent spray prevents dirt and scud buildup.

Do it every time.  don't forget the battery terminals and space connectors to the battery.

Same thing with your recharge contacts on handheld VHF radios.

Bushy

Matt-

You might  try Johnson Hicks Marine Electronics at the SC Harbor.  they are a Raymarine dealer and have a bench test at their shop.  Maybe bring your whole boat by and show them whats going on.  Bring some donuts or something with you..... Tom or best is Joe the owner.  Also I  lucked into a few extra 12V 7A batteries last week.  I can give you one to test with, or to have and use if you'd like.......

Craig-  That maintenance has been working for me for many years.  Electrical problems suck!

Bushy

I took my head unit to WestMarine and plugged it into there display counter.  It turned right on like it was supposed to.  This confirmed the problem being on the transducer end.

This happened to me a few weeks ago. Same symptoms, I'd hear a beep but no display.

It was corroded connections on the FF plugs the entire time. I used a sewing needle to scrape off the corrosion.
I sprayed dielectric grease a few months ago so I didn't think this would happen.

BINGO!!! You nailed it dude.  I did exactly this yesterday, and took it out for another try today.  Worked like a charm all day.  Thank you all for the troubleshooting advise; Bill, P Shermen, Ernest, and others.

Also, thank you Bushy for the Corrosion X suggestion.  I already picked some of this up and will start this new regimen immediately. 

Case Closed and faith restored.

 

I hope you bought a big bottle of corrosion x because that's one of the best lubes for reels

Glad to hear it Matt   

I took my head unit to WestMarine and plugged it into there display counter.  It turned right on like it was supposed to.  This confirmed the problem being on the transducer end.

This happened to me a few weeks ago. Same symptoms, I'd hear a beep but no display.

It was corroded connections on the FF plugs the entire time. I used a sewing needle to scrape off the corrosion.
I sprayed dielectric grease a few months ago so I didn't think this would happen.

BINGO!!! You nailed it dude.  I did exactly this yesterday, and took it out for another try today.  Worked like a charm all day.  Thank you all for the troubleshooting advise; Bill, P Shermen, Ernest, and others.

Also, thank you Bushy for the Corrosion X suggestion.  I already picked some of this up and will start this new regimen immediately. 

Case Closed and faith restored.

 

Awesome! I love happy endings....

Yay!

Way to hang with it!