# Lowrance HDS



## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

OK, guys, I'm about done with this unit. I have literally moved the transducer 4 time on my boat. It loses the bottom every time i even put a little gas in the throttle. Going fast it just goes completely fuzzy. I'm almost thinking its a bad transducer. I cant find anything online. Has anybody had anything similar. I know its a good unit, but I cant get it to pick up the bottom. Its pretty useless in that case. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank You


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

Highest Bidder said:


> OK, guys, I'm about done with this unit. I have literally moved the transducer 4 time on my boat. It loses the bottom every time i even put a little gas in the throttle. Going fast it just goes completely fuzzy. I'm almost thinking its a bad transducer. I cant find anything online. Has anybody had anything similar. I know its a good unit, but I cant get it to pick up the bottom. Its pretty useless in that case. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank You


Take pictures so we can see where it is. Is there anything under the boat that is causing turbulence where it hits the transducer? Is it level with the bottom when you give it throttle? Did you try contacting Lowrance? Also check out YouTube on transducer placement and how to mount.


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## KEITH207 (Feb 17, 2005)

Small trasbucer moves can make a big difference in performance. Make sure it's not placed never a strake or rivets. It should be on the opposite side of the trolling motor. Make sure you don't have it mounted too low, that will make a lot of air bubbles under the transducer when powering up. If your totally stumped contact Lance Valentine. One of the guys that works with him, Duncan, works on installs and he can help. 

My HDS not only marks the bottom at 53mph it marks fish and bait.


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

KEITH207 said:


> Small trasbucer moves can make a big difference in performance. Make sure it's not placed never a strake or rivets. It should be on the opposite side of the trolling motor. Make sure you don't have it mounted too low, that will make a lot of air bubbles under the transducer when powering up. If your totally stumped contact Lance Valentine. One of the guys that works with him, Duncan, works on installs and he can help.
> 
> My HDS not only marks the bottom at 53mph it marks fish and bait.


Could you take a picture of yours for reference.


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## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

OMG, I was just so excited to get help. Then I realized that the boat is in the water now. Its a 22.5 Sea Ray. Old but reliable and still looks good. I have moved it several times...Up down, left , right...my hull is starting to look like swiss cheese ( I know, not what I wanted). The next move I will need to put a Trans block on as well. So as far as pics I will need to take it completely out. Not an easy task, the marina does not have a ramp and the hoist is usually filled with a boat being repaired. Not that I cant figure something out, but if I take it out, I might as well move it too.

Keith207 - That would be awesome to have that kind of clarity for once.....How do I get a hold of Lance Valentine?


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

Highest Bidder said:


> OMG, I was just so excited to get help. Then I realized that the boat is in the water now. Its a 22.5 Sea Ray. Old but reliable and still looks good. I have moved it several times...Up down, left , right...my hull is starting to look like swiss cheese ( I know, not what I wanted). The next move I will need to put a Trans block on as well. So as far as pics I will need to take it completely out. Not an easy task, the marina does not have a ramp and the hoist is usually filled with a boat being repaired. Not that I cant figure something out, but if I take it out, I might as well move it too.
> 
> Keith207 - That would be awesome to have that kind of clarity for once.....How do I get a hold of Lance Valentine?


Did you have a chance to YouTube transducer placement? A lot of good information emplacement.


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## sullyxlh (Oct 28, 2004)

Turn your sensitivity down to the minimum while underway.


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## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

Ill give that a shot...for sure...


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## chadkru (Apr 15, 2016)

I have a Lowrance HDS 10 gen 1. Ran it for three years problem free then the same issue you have. Would lose bottom as soon as I would go any more than 5 mph. I never touched the transducer. Called Lowrance with a couple times with a 45 minute wait each time and they were no help. I just ended up buying a replacement transducer, installed, and now reads better than it ever did. Not sure if this is your problem, but it is a possibility.


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## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

So here are some pics of the rear of the boat. If you can zoom up, you can see were the Transducer is mounted, and where it was mounted. Again any advice will be well received. This is very frustrating. Thanks


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

It seems close to the out drive maybe or trim tab? You might want to get a shoot through hall transducer?


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## BryPaulD (May 30, 2009)

I'm no expert, but maybe the ducer is mounted on the wrong side of the transom? Depending on which way the prop spins? Mine are mounted on the starboard side of the transom.. Doubt that will cure the problem (probably just need a new one)... Also, I agree that is down to far by the motor.. I'd prolly move it up closer to that strake.. like in the middle of the two strakes, but a little closer to the upper one to get away from motor turbulence the most you can.. I can't see close enough and not the right angle, to see if it is to far below the hull and I can't see the angle of tilt


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## KEITH207 (Feb 17, 2005)

Two things.
1. The transducer looks to be a little low in the first picture. The bottom looks to be quie a bit below the bottom of the hull. I may be wrong because of the angle of the pics.

2. How old is the transducer? As stated above they do go bad. Infact they have an average effective life span of 3to 5 years. Because of our freeze and thaw cycle in MI. They are a crystal suspended in plastic and the winters here kill them.


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## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

Guys, first just want to say thanks for looking at the pics and taking the time to respond. These are the only pics I can find at the moment.
I should have explained this in my post. I do not have the a pic of the fist position, but it was by the dark blue area right behind the trim tab in the picture. The first Pic is where I moved it the first time and purposely put it lower just to see, then the second pic I raised it and I have some adjustability to only lower it approximately 3/4" to get it in the water more. With the second move, it seems worse as far as touching the throttle and losing bottom. I was waiting until I can get in the water to lower it for the third and final time before I rip that dang thing off. So a little history on this unit that may be helpful as well. I bought this from a guy who said he purchased it in an auction. He then sent it in to Lowrance and had them recondition it and go through it before he sold it. He had the paper work and the unit looked to be brand new, never used. Chords were still wrapped and in packaging. We even connected it to a battery and to make sure it worked before I purchased it. This until has never gave me a clear picture while in motion. It would sporadically go in and out, but not enough to say it was working correctly. As you can see the back of the boat is starting to look like swiss cheese. (not what I wanted). The transducer is approximately 4 years old I believe. The old original depth finder is a thru hull but has been removed. OK, so what Im thinking is.....tell me if you agree.....Get correct model number, purchase new transducer and mount it either back in original position (dark blue spot) or even a little higher (towards trim tab) and then test immediately. It will be worth it if I need to purchase a transducer and this thing works.....


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## 386xf (Nov 30, 2010)

Make sure your unit is set for what ducer u have also again lance V has utube vids on how to setup the HDS units out of the box. Should be a gray tag on the ducer chord to tell u which one u have. U also should put it in shallow water mode with a high ping speed lances vid shows u all of this


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## Keckers (Jan 1, 2010)

386xf said:


> Make sure your unit is set for what ducer u have also again lance V has utube vids on how to setup the HDS units out of the box. Should be a gray tag on the ducer chord to tell u which one u have. U also should put it in shallow water mode with a high ping speed lances vid shows u all of this


I also agree. Make sure you have the correct transducer selected. Your position looks good to me. You should be able to hear the clicking sound when the unit is out of the water and operating. I would purchase a new transducer and put it in the same position. I have no experience with through the hull but I had the same on my HDS gen 1 and it worked good. The transducer is a quick and fairly inexpensive part which would be my first move.


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## benster (Jul 31, 2006)

Keckers said:


> I also agree. Make sure you have the correct transducer selected. Your position looks good to me. You should be able to hear the clicking sound when the unit is out of the water and operating. I would purchase a new transducer and put it in the same position. I have no experience with through the hull but I had the same on my HDS gen 1 and it worked good. The transducer is a quick and fairly inexpensive part which would be my first move.


It sounds like the transducer works until he gains any speed. So to me it would be the settings or the position of the transducer?


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## Bubba Foxtrot (Dec 9, 2014)

Hi. I was just reading the manual for the lowrance elite HDS. It said somewhere in the sonar settings is a setting that has to be correct to get bottom. Its a poorly written manual. I was reading it for issues reguarding the nav chart and it said in the sonar section "with out this setting bottom wont read" .


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## Highest Bidder (Jul 3, 2008)

Guys, I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. I spent at least 4 hours on the water yesterday messing with the settings. I am going to attempt to show you what I'm seeing. It also seems that I can not mark fish at all. I also noticed that when jigging with a 1oz jig head, I can see it off of the passenger side only. I did lower the Transducer and it is straight and aligned perfectly with the bottom of the boat. (halfway on the TD). This was very frustrating. I also want to know if I have to mess with it every time I turn it on. That just seems ridiculous and time consuming while fishing, if that's the case. ., check out the pics (settings) Again, I'm open to suggestions.


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## BryPaulD (May 30, 2009)

Again, I'm no expert.. But me personally, I would un-check the "auto sensitivity" (I like to set my own sensitivity) and also choose something other than "shallow water" (unless you're fishing in 10' or less).. Also, you should NOT have to set everything every time.. Once set, it should be in"memory"..


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