Lowrance LCX-17M Problem

[mpester]

My unit read the correct depth about 80-90% of the time. The other 10-20% of the time it shows the depth as .6' or 1' with no variation – just a straight line across the screen at one of those depths. Rarely, the unit will go back to reading the depth correctly. Most of the time, I need to power off the unit and turn it back on. When the depth is reading .6' or 1', the ping from the transducer starts and stops. Do you think my transducer is failing? It has been doing this for the last couple of years with no increase or decrease in how often it happens.

[Ed Carlson]

Intermediate failure to send/receive a signal..sounds to me like a short in the ducer and/or a weak ducer to me. Poor signal strength or inadequate or unreliable return pings can lead to misinterpretations of the depth.

Try checking the connections and if it persists, replace the ducer.

[goose89]

bad 'ducer is my guess. If it's an original 'ducer that came with the unit, I'm surprised it hasn't been an issue before. Lowrance let a ton of bad 'ducers out around the LCX time.

I'm curious if that unit has been used in the last few years. I had the exact same issue with my LCX's (37 and 112) a few years back. I was told by friend in the fishing boat biz (not Lowrance CS cuz I could never get in touch with them) to try a new transducer. I got one, but it was one from same time frame all the bad ones were from. No go. He got a hold a of "new" one (without the issues) and it worked well afterwards. I did some software upgrades as well, but don't recall that they made any difference.

Hope you're LCX problems get solved. They were very frustrating for me. I aso had the same weed issues most of us were having, but that cleared up as well (might have coincided with software upgrade??) I'm trying to put my LCX memories behind me. Heard good things about the new HDS, but I jumped ship and went with Humminbird. Love em so far. good luck....

[mpester]

I have also jumped ship and switched to Humminbird. I want to fix this problem or at least know what the problem is so I can sell this thing on here or on HSO-Classifieds. I got a 597ci HD DI to replace this unit and I added a 596c HD to the front.

I am going to try restoring the default settings, a soft restart and then a hard restart to see if the cheap, easy fixes might be the solution. Then I will either buy a new transducer or sell it as is. This unit goes for a good price on HSO-Classifieds if it works well.

[Farley]

I have a similar problem, but whenever I start moving with the big motor, it goes out and will just flash the depth like it cant find bottom. It wont lock on again untill I've stopped and even then sometimes it takes about 5 minutes for it to lock onto the bottom again. I built a slidemount for the xducer using a piece of aluminum and milled out a t-slot and was going to mount the xducer to a t-nut and slide it around and lock down in different places to see if that helped but after reading this thread, I'm thinkin maybe it's just the transducer. where is the best place to pick up a new transducer?

I guess a better question would be how do you know you have the newer transducer, what should I look for when I buy?

[goose89]

I guess a better question would be how do you know you have the newer transducer, what should I look for when I buy?

If you go somewhere that sells a good / fair number of depthfinders, you should be fine. I'm guessing there aren't to many of the faulty ones out there anymore, unless it's in a place that doesn't sell many units. I'd probably stay away from any private party sales unless they could verify that it's new. I'm guessing anything two years or newer is safe. Just a guess there. Lowrance or a Lowrance dealer may have more insight. good luck..... oh....you're looking at $60-75.

[mpester]

Resetting the factory defaults seems to have fixed the problem. No issues today while I was out. When I got home, I took the thing out and I am half way done with putting in the new Humminbird 597ci HD DI.

[goose89]

]My LCX's (112 & 37) would do the same thing. They'd work for several hours, and occasionally all day. Thought things were good....next time out, issues would resurface. The pinging / clicking of the transducer in your original post were exactly what I had. It wasn't until I got the new 'ducer that it worked consistently.

[gregg52]

just curious how old are these units above

i have the 520 its like an 07

i kinda thought the problem was mainly in the 520's and 522's

but obvisously not

[goose89]

Saeme time frame and transducer I believe. I started with the 520's and went bigger and never changed transducer if my recall is right. Pretty sure all the same.

[mpester]

If I remember correctly, I got this unit in September 2006. I was looking on HSO-Classifieds and I am surprised how much a used unit is selling for. I have seen some over $300 and the one that closed yesterday went for $274. Mine will be going up this week. If I were to get half of that I would be happy.

[Ed Carlson]

A common known issue with a couple runs of the Lowrance ducers was they would take in water, but not fully drain it.

Then in winter storage they would freeze and separate internally the crystal from the acoustic resin epoxy....this caused them to fail outright or malfunction...work fine..then mess up.

The only fix for a ducer suspected of this is replacement.

Dissect a bad ducer once, see what you see. Run it through a ban saw and look at the inerds once.

If you wish a upgrade in a Lowrance ducer, go with an Airmar ducer, as they make a superior ducer for far greater performance than the standard issue ones.