Power question. HDS-7

[spamn]

I just picked up a 1998 Nitro and it has a Lowrance HDS-7 on the console. The boat has two batteries solely for the 24v trolling motor and a third battery for cranking and everything else.

When the engine is running down river, everything works fine. However, when you turn the big engine off and try to look at the fish finder it will power cycle randomly. If you try to turn on the livewell airetor, or any other electrical function, the lowrance will power cycle.

The battery is an Optima Blue top. No idea of age, but I threw a charger on there to test it and it says it's at 100%.

Basically, the lowrance works with the engine. With the engine off and NOTHING else electrical on, it will reset periodically and does it every time you turn something else on.

Any ideas here?

Thanks
Sam

 

[spamn]

Re: Power question. HDS-7

Possibility that the Optima doesn't have enough MCA?

Right now the unit is wired up to the fuse panel under the dash which is ran to the Optima. If I decide to hook the unit up to my trolling batteries, can I just ran the power wire straight to the battery with an inline fuse and then the ground straight to the ground.

Lastly, I know nothing about 24v systems. I believe the HDS7 can only be ran 12v, so if I run it to one battery will it be on 12v or 24v? The only thing linking the two batteries together are the seperate trolling motor wires. There are no other wires making them a series circuit so I would assume so.

 

[sandiegosteve]

Re: Power question. HDS-7

Set the HDS to display voltage and set a low voltage alarm. Your battery may be bad if it is having problems with the engine off. You can find the voltage tolerance on the Lowrance site.
All batteries go bad over time. Charge it, let it stand for 24 hours and measure the voltage. Should be fully charged (temperature dependent, so search on google for proper voltage by temp for that kind of battery).