Results 1 to 13 of 13

Thread: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

  1. #1

    Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Hi Guys, before i started playing around with things I think got best to check and see the best method of troubleshooting my issue.

    So the boat in a 2012 model, there has been no issues to date and no changes to electrical system for over a year.

    On the weekend was our first trip out since March, I noticed that when running the live well pump the finder would reboot continually.

    The sounder is a HDS 8 Gen 2 with the pump split between live well and deck wash with pickup under the boat.

    I thought to start looking at the issue I should check cabling but wanted to check that I still have the problem, this is where i thought beat to check with people that know more about this than my skill set.

    Is it possible to run the live well pump without water, I assumed not, the same for the sounder, previously I was told to disconnect the cable to the tranny.

    Any advise on how I can check and where to troubleshoot would be greatly appreciated.

    Note if I turn the deck wash/ live well off there are no issues

    Cheers
    Mat


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  2. #2

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Battery sounds like it could need a good charge or maybe on the way out.
    Does the sounder reset when you start the motor as well?
    Beastamaster
    Keep Ya Tip UP
    Beast

  3. #3
    Ausfish Gold Member 552Evo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Hi Mat, sounds like the issue might be a voltage drop causing your sounder to restart.
    A voltage drop is usually caused by a poor connection, could be loose or corroded.
    Sounds like you are on the right track checking the cables and connections.
    If you have trouble finding the bad connection you could verify the issue by running a temporary power supply cable to the live well pump.



    Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

  4. #4

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    All of the above. If the boat is a 2012 model can we assume the battery is now 5 years old also in which case it could be on its way out. Do you charge your battery after each trip. Get it checked and if it is ok then go through every connection as a live bait pump doesn't draw that much power.

  5. #5

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    I am with Dignity, I would check the battery first.

  6. #6

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Has a dual battery but I only ever run on a single one and alternate between them. I’ll charge them both tomorrow, I have a c-tek charger MXS 5.0. I also have a multimeter, what voltage should I expect from the terminal and at the switch panel? Note I haven’t charged them in a while but had issues starting engine


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Ausfish Gold Member 552Evo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    I’m guessing all your accessories are via a switch panel ? I’d be checking behind there.
    Is it possible your live well pump and your sounder are wired to the same fuse ?
    I’d still be looking for a poor connection, the live well pump may not draw much current compared to an anchor winch but it may draw a few amps (possibly 10-15amps) at initial start up and this may be what causes your sounder to drop out - if it’s wired on the same circuit.


    Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

  8. #8
    Ausfish Gold Member 552Evo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Melbourne

    Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Re the battery voltage, a healthy battery should be around 12.7 at the terminals and if the battery is fresh off a charge that voltage will slowly drop and settle over a day or so. If you are measuring voltage elsewhere on your boat it’s will be less than that due to cable voltage drop but there shouldn’t be more than about 0.5 volt drop at the switch panel.
    So at your helm you should be measuring low to mid 12v - obviously without the engine running.



    Saltwater fishing, boat mad but has a job that gets in the way.

  9. #9

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Just to add I’m pretty sure the sounder doesn’t restart when the engine is started but need to double check on the weekend


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  10. #10

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Personally I would pull the battery out and take it to a Supercheap, Autobarn etc. store and get a free battery check. They will tell you if the battery can still put out the amps, I once had a smallish 40Ah AGM battery that held the voltage at 12.8V but as soon as I put a small load on it it dropped to about 6V. Probably a dead short in it so had to bin it. Batteries off the top of my head will be about 12.5 to 12.8V+ just sitting, with AGM batteries they should be at least the 12.8V+. Most bait sized pumps about 500G/h only pull a couple of amps and same for the GPS/ fishfinder/chart plotters. So the load shouldn't be that much combining the lot, however once you start the motor that will draw a lot of amps so that may flatten the battery to the point where it may be borderline for the fishfinder causing the reset.

    If it passes the load test then clean up the terminals before putting it back in the boat, some terminals have a cable that is molded or bolted in to them, if you have an accurate multimeter use it to measure the resistance from the adjacent cable where it goes in to the terminal to the center of the battery terminal post after you assemble it back as sometimes there can be hidden corrosion in the joint.

    Just my 2 cents worth!

    Cheers

  11. #11

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Mmmm! If you are relying on the motor to keep the batteries charged then they would definitely be at the end of their lives. Quick check. Place multimeter across battery terminals and have someone fire up the engine, it doesn't need to start so only do it once and read the voltage when this occurs. If it drops below 11.5 volts you most definitely have battery issues.

  12. #12

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    Thanks for the suggestions, tested the boat on water today and ran livewell and sounder and same time without a problem.

    Both batteries were charged and reconditioned over the past week, intermingle it took 3-4 days to complete all cycles.

    The only thing I can put it down too at this stage is as suggested voltage drop, will monitor over the next few days while I’m on the water


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  13. #13
    Ausfish Platinum Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Kalbarri, WA

    Re: Sounder restarting when baitwell pump is on

    it sounds like you don't have a VSR. If you rig a VSR ( voltage sensitive relay, available for $51 online, Narva) you can have one battery as Start, another as House supplying your electronics, and the outboard will charge the House battery as soon as you start up. Really simple and cheap to rig up in a basic manner.
    Also with boat wiring and battery cables, they can look perfectly fine on the exterior, but the " green death" ( oxidisation) has gone up the cable internals. This causes high resistance and hence voltage drop. Really common in older boats--tinned marine cable really helps slow the process, but will never stop it completely. All you need is a little nick or gap in the insulation and away she goes. Can be very hard to spot.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Join us