lowrance x97

jimmy87 · Post by **jimmy87** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 3:23 pm

The lowrance mounted on the bow is getting interferance.
I can see it instantly when I opertate the motor guide troll motor.

soon as I push the go pedal the screen shows black bars. soon as I let off the go pedel the bars stop.

It has the transducer mounted on the troll motor with a hose clamp.
the tranducer is the hockey puck type but made to fit the curvatrue of the troll motor.

anyone know what the trouble might be?

procraftrob · Post by **procraftrob** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:04 pm

Try lowering the sensitivity of your unit , also slowing down the ping speed can help, I had this problem with my old units especially when I was fishing clear water.

Ridge_Runner20 · Post by **Ridge_Runner20** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 7:49 pm

It's RF interference from your TM, and as I found out the hard way, there's only one surefire cure. You will need to run a ground wire from the negative lead on your TM wiring (at the plug recepticle) to the skeg of the motor itself. IIRC, I believe I used a length of 18 gauge wire. This will cure the interference problem for sure. I have a MG 767 Tour Edition and an X-96 at the bow, and it was the only thing that worked.

Best of luck!

RR_20

jimmy87 · Post by **jimmy87** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 3:53 pm

thank you for the help. I am going to try a new transducer cable as mine was cut some years back and spliced back together.
My next step will be to try out the spare x125 I have laying around since the 97 and 125 use the same transducer.

if that dose not work the ground wire will be next.

I was told that a ground wire was not needed since the shaft is already steel on the motor guide.

you saying to run a ground from the trolling motor pulg receptical to the skeg??
how did you attach to the skeg? drill a hole in it or??

MIKE TREMONT · Post by **MIKE TREMONT** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:26 pm

The ground wire or the set of chokes didn't help me. I've also shielded the transducer and power cables with lead-NO help!

I turn down the sensitivity and only look when I'm not on the TM.

I'll try turning down the ping rate, first I've read that.

jimmy87 · Post by **jimmy87** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 5:49 pm

chokes?

Ridge_Runner20 · Post by **Ridge_Runner20** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:40 pm

jimmy87 wrote:you saying to run a ground from the trolling motor pulg receptical to the skeg??
how did you attach to the skeg? drill a hole in it or??

Yes. First off, make sure you've disconnected your TM batteries before doing anything! Next, remove your TM receptacle from the bow so you can access the neg. lead (black) on the backside. Remove some of the insulation from the wire and splice in the ground wire (I soldered mine, just make certain you thoroughly re-insulate the neg. lead with electrical tape). I then ran the wire out to my foot pedal, up the steering cable and down the TM shaft to the skeg. Drill a 3/16" hole in the skeg right below the motor itself and secure the ground wire with a loop connector, SS screw, washers and a Ny-Lox nut (you might also want to grind away a very small amount of paint on the skeg so the connector makes good contact with metal). My ground wire runs right up the TM shaft along with my transducer cable, so the installation is pretty clean and difficult to detect unless you're looking for it.

I'm betting this will do the trick for you. Let us know how it works out.

RR_20

jimmy87 · Post by **jimmy87** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:21 pm

thank you for the advice. I will certianly give that a go if the new transducer dose not solve the problem.
This site rocks.

Jim

MIKE TREMONT · Post by **MIKE TREMONT** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:22 pm

jimmy87 wrote:

chokes?

They are a pair of magnets that you wrap your power/ground supply leads around for your Lowrance unit. They were suppose to take care of the problem, but....not for me.

I did exactly as the Ridge_Runner20 suggested as well. It helped for awhile, but it wasn't a fix for me.

I hope you have better success than I have. I know how irritating it is!

Good luck.

mark poulson · Post by **mark poulson** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 6:03 am

I had that problem, and it turned out to be cuts in the TM transducer puck wire's insulation. Probably from running through brush or through some submerged line. New transducer, no more problem.

Ken C. · Post by **Ken C.** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 8:29 pm

If this truly only hapens when you are on the pedal, then it is something emminating from the TM itself. If the transducer cable has been cut/repaired then that would be the first thing to replace. Aside from a new transducer, the next thing I would recommend is to make sure the ground on your TM batteries are connected to your main cranking battery so everything shares a common ground (assuming your X97 is powered from your cranking battery...). I am assuming of course that your X97 is connected to the cranking battery and not the TM battery (?!).

I have also heard of people placing some thin lead sheet between the puck and the TM to eliminate interference.

The only time I get interference on mine is if I have both front and rear finders on at the same time. In deeper water I get interference which is actually an echo from the other finder. You can mix up ping rates to help eliminate that but without switching one or the other off I haven't figured out how to eliminate it completely.

jimmy87 · Post by **jimmy87** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 9:07 pm

Thanks agian guys!
I am getting a ton of good ideas here.
The lowrance is powered by the cranking battery.
the trolling motor has its own 2 batteries and nothing else connected to them.

However they are not grounded to the cranking battery.

great learing experince here.

DeltaDan · Post by **DeltaDan** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 10:43 pm

jimmy87 wrote: The lowrance is powered by the cranking battery.
the trolling motor has its own 2 batteries and nothing else connected to them.

However they are not grounded to the cranking battery.

Jimmy -- I have the same up front - the x97 ..... and I get no inteference up front with my unit. I also have a x17m in the back at the same time to ask/show the person in back if they are seeing what I am seeing yet.... Or even better,

I get no interfence betewen them both at the same time ... There is some diffentuation in clariity of what is shown between them at times. With the back showing alot more detail and accuaccy than the front.

They are both from the main battery and grounded to the same BUS bar.

It is funny how that x97 works .... Seems you have to adjust it for sensativity alot ? But I only use it for mapping the depth of new water primairally.

I have marked staging fish on points with it in the past ....... They just will not co-operate with anything I throw at them !!