Fish Hawk X4

[master baiter]

I installed a new Fish Hawk X4 on my 1997 Starcraft fishmaster last week.  Went out on the water to fish with boards last week, and left down probe at home because I had no plans on using it.  The unit powered up fine at home, but when out on the water kept flashing and requiring me to scroll through the different data points i.e. surface temp, speed, down temp (which shouldn't be since the probe was at home), and down speed.  Once I scroll through settings and save, the unit seems to run for a few seconds then shut itself off.  I called fish hawk to see if they could help me out with the issue.  First of all, that company is awesome!  Not only are they helpful, but timely, and genuinely concerned about my issue (you don't get that very oftern these days).  They asked me what motor was on my boat and if it happened to be a late 90's or early 2000 Mercury.  It happens to be a 1997 mercury 115HP.  They told me that these model years of outboard seem to have "open grounds" that cause power spikes which causes the Fish hawk LCD to trip its internal breaker designed to protect it.  the solution is to replace the spark plugs on the engine to "R" plugs which will correct the issue.  Anybody else experience something like this?

[shinintimes]

 NO... But I have nothing but good things to say about Fish Hawk service is second to non

[momay4000]

Coles,

 

As we talked on the phone, it sounds like you are having a voltage drop which is causing the unit to "auto shut down" since the current goes up to make up for the voltage drop (P=I*V) power=voltage*current.

 

Look at the following:

 

1.) Bad battery which can't maintain proper voltage when under load when running your motor (although a symptom of this is usually your electronics shut off when you try and start the engine)

2.) Too small of gauge of wire when you installed the unit

3.) Non-resistor plugs - try changing to resistor plugs as Fishhawk recommends.

4.) Bad wire connections on your battery switch or batteries

5.) Check the flux capacitor

 

Nelce,

 

Moe

[jpiatkowski]

I just recently installed my Fishhawk X4+Depth and went out on the lake without the probe. I had what seemed like issues as well. When I trolled, only the surface temp was displayed. But when I powered up and went 20 mph or so The display started briefly showing numbers that made no sense in the depth, down speed, and down temp. again, this was weird since my probe was at home also.

The next outing I brought the probe. I lowered the probe into the water and everything worked just fine.

I have no doubt that resistor plugs will help considerably with interference, but bring your probe out and see how the unit reacts with the probe in the water.

Hope this helps.

Jaime

[ontherise]

Yuppers definitely the flux capictor

Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[jigstick]

Fishhawk is awesome to deal with

[rolmops]

I love the fishhawk service.

If you have any sensitive electronics on board,you should use plugs with internal resistors as a matter of course.

[jigstick]

ON a side not...I have a Raymarine DSM25 box sounder with an Airmar P58 sonar transducer.  If I move my Fishhawk transducer to the same side as my Airmar P58, will there be any interference picked up on my sonar?

 

My sonar runs at 50 / 200 hertz, and the Fishhawk runs at 75 or 80 I think.  Anybody know?

 

I mounted a Sternsaver mounting plate, and would like to move my fishhawk ducer over onto it.

[rolmops]

I have a similar setup and no trouble whatsoever

[Captain Carl Bish]

ON a side not...I have a Raymarine DSM25 box sounder with an Airmar P58 sonar transducer.  If I move my Fishhawk transducer to the same side as my Airmar P58, will there be any interference picked up on my sonar?

 

My sonar runs at 50 / 200 hertz, and the Fishhawk runs at 75 or 80 I think.  Anybody know?

 

I mounted a Sternsaver mounting plate, and would like to move my fishhawk ducer over onto it.

You should have no problem whatsoever!!

[MadPerry]

Wondering if this problem was ever resolved?  Just installed an x4, and as it turns out, I have the same problem.  Just replaced the plugs with resistor types but won't have an opportunity until later in the week to see if it eliminated the problem.  Mine is a 97 Mercury 125hp.  Had a difficult time figuring out which plugs to replace with.  Had NGK bp8h-n-10.  A local marina mechanic told me I needed NGK bpz8h-n-10 so I bought 4 from them @ $12.50 each.  Hope he is right...

[MadPerry]

Thought maybe it could be usefull to someone in the future and post my results after changing plugs.  Changed to R type NGK plugs and my unit is working flawlessly now.  Thanks to a local marina mechanic and master baiter for their feedback, I was able to correct this.  I'd love to mention the marina but unclear on the rules of doing so.  They've been terrific for me time and time again.