Question about Lowrance 102c???

[K-DOGG]

I have a relatively new Lowrance 102c deph finder on the bow of my boat. Yesterday, when I went to turn it on, it would come on and stay on (and operate appropriately) only for about two minutes and then cut itself off. I repeated this numerous times and it continued to do the same thing. Does anyone have an idea of what going on with this fish finder? All info will be greatly appreciated.

[Grant]

I have the exact same problem with my 102c. After sending three units back to Lowrance and finally finding a customer service person who went beyond the ' send it back and we will check it out' routine it comes down to the unit needs a lot of power (11.5 volts) to run. If your battery is not fully charged or is losing capacity due to age this will occur. I have had my boat into a marine electric dealer several times before narrowing the problem down to power. I run AGM (glass mat) batteries and the crank battery, from what I am told, is designed to produce high amps to crank the engine but voltage is less reliable.

The problem with this is that the more things on (other sonar/GPs unit, lights, livewell, etc.) the more power drain and the greater likelihood the unit will not have enough power to turn on. If you make a long run with the big motor the alternator will put enough juice back into the battery to run the finder for a few hours. Have you noticed if the 102c unit shuts off when you fire the engine? That was my first clue that the problem was power.

What type of boat do you have? Are the gauges (tach, trim, clock, etc.) electronic or manual? How big is your engine? The reason I ask is that my 2002 BassCat Jaguar has an all electronic dash. I just put a brand new crank battery in and I had the same problem with the sonar unit, again, today. I am beginning to suspect that the electronic dash on top of all the other electric things is too much for the battery to handle. I suspect this because I went fishing with a friend in a brand new Ranger with all manual gauges and two 332c units which operated fine all day. I will put in a call to the marine electric shop to ask the question on Tuesday. I will post here what I find out. If you have another place to check that is open on Monday, ask them.

Hope this helps a little,
Grant

[Ken Mah]

Sometimes the fuse holder in the bow panel of your boat gets a little corroded. Remove the 3 amp fuse from the holder, push the two ends of the in-line fuse holder out and sand the ends with some 100 grit or a wire brush.

This should take care of it. If you have any questions, send me a PM.

Good luck
Ken

[Marc]

After you perform the fix that Ken astutely suggested, also check the spring tension in that fuse holder. Often they get weak from use, and even due to temperature changes, and consequently don't allow the contacts to stay firmly in contact with both ends of the fuse. The power interruption resulting from poor contact is often the reason for the problem you are experiencing.

As far as battery power consumption...I see all too often that most bass boat owners have too small of a starting battery, and many boat dealers automatically install the minimum size to save money without regard to the accessories that will be used.

Most DFI engines require every possible amp that most dealers install in starting batteries. The computer systems on these motors and electronic functions required a larger battery than in the past (I use a Trojan 1100 amp hour battery, where in the past a 1,000 amp hour battery used to be big). Many also run their livewell pump systems (often now 4 pump systems) and I also have an oxygen generator system in my Skeeter all hooked to the engine battery. This is a lot of load, especially during summer months when you are using these features a lot. Add to that LED lighting in all compartments and livewells, a LMS 332c unit in the bow, and X26cHD in the console, digital guages for many functions, and all the other electrical items on your boat, and it is easy to have too small of a battery.

My advice to all bass boat owners is to pay more attention to their starting battery and make sure it is big enough to handle everything and maintained to keep contacts clean of power-robbing corrosion.

[raymond]

K Dogg
I had the same problem with both my 102 and 332.
got a call from a buddy that had the same problem,,,,,drove me nuts.
tried the pulling of the spring,sand paper worked for a while than did it again.
i bet your unit came with one of those red fuse holders.
cut it off...its junk.
i found a fuse holder that takes those little 3 amp push in fuses with a rubber casing around it spliced that sucker in there and never had another problem

but yes your battery has to be fully charged