Fish Finder problems DFF1/BBDS1

[Anonymous]

I have the MFD12 that came with the boat I purchased second hand. The finder worked fine and then one day was not working properly - the high freq does not properly work any more, and the low freq is occasionally way off, or takes some time to re-adjust, e.g. when moving from deep water (>600ft) to shallow (<100ft) I will find myself in 60ft of water. The other day I was running in about 6' of water and it told me it was over 800ft deep. It reset itself eventually, but I am trying to determine what has gone wrong.

At rest at the dock, both LF & HF read correctly.

I did upgrade the system from 2.02 to 2.07 that ended up with a reset of everything, and I wonder if the upgrade has changed the settings. I have put in place current screen shots; if anyone can advise what I might try I would be most grateful.

View attachment DFF1 BBDS Screen Shots.pdf

 

[Snips]

JGF,
Thanks for your settings. I would check in 3D's installation wizard to make sure that the 200Khz side is still programmed for 200Khz and the 50 for 50Khz. If this is correct please post is screen shot of what the display looks like.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Snips, sorry for delay bad weather. Went into install mode (pressing menu while powering on). I went to sounder and it showed 50/200. I took pictures of display, and also for boat (says it is 60' but it is only 25'?). I also had to re-do install it to set it as DHCP master as it threw a fit on re-start; I would have expected it to have that set to yes?

Displays below. Many thanks for any further assistance.

 

[Snips]

JGF,
Those settings look correct. Can you supply a couple of screen shots? I would like to see one at the dock with both HF and LF Gains at 20 and the range set to close to 50ft. Also I would like to see a couple of shots while the boat is moving. Again I would like to see both 50 and 200Khz. Also do you know the model of transducer you are using.

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Snips, sorry no idea on the transducer, I can try and find out. Will not be able to do sea test until the weather moderates, blowing 20+ knots for the next couple of days. Thanks again for help.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Snips, finally got out today after weather moderated. Took me a while to get everything back to my setup after running the install. Sorry I did not check your instructions beforehand, but I did take some pics of the screen, and took the opportunity to evaluate the behaviour. Basically, it appears to be running OK and then it loses the reading - the depth will 'freeze' for a moment and then revert to the dashes. It is not relevant to boat speed as it happens both underway at idle and cruising speed, and also at rest at the dock. I am wondering if there is a loose connection?

 

[Snips]

JGF,
Thanks for the screen shots, unfortunately they are at to shallow of a range to help. If you are getting pressed for time I would suggest pulling the DFF1 and taking it to a dealer for them to bench test. If you have the time and are willing we can continue to look for what is causing the problem. Since your menu settings look to be correct, are you using any of the Auto modes? i.e. Auto range, Auto Fishing and Auto Cruising? And to just confirm, the sounder is OK at the dock but only when moving has issues?

Snips

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Snips, I usually have it set on auto cruising unless explicitly fishing. Auto range is normally on. It does not matter whether the boat in underway or at dock, the sounder loses the depth - see last pic above which was stationary at the dock.

I'll find out who installed it originally (I bought the boat second hand and it was already installed) and get them to test it.

Thanks.