Lowrance not communicating with GPS puck

[Farley]

Just this year we've had issues with our GPS\Sonar not communicating with our GPS puck. Right away when you turn the unit on, it connects and gets a position, but after a few seconds, it says "position lost" and then "GPS Module not responding" or something like that. Anyone have a similar issue? Its on a older LCX model, not the fancy HDS, it's about 4 years old.

I tried a different chip and that didnt do anything. Thinking about replacing the puck but before I shell out the $250, I wanted to check in here first. I'm beggining to understand that the old saying, "the best and worst days of a boat owners life is the day he picks it up and the day he sells it".

[Jim Almquist]

It sure sounds like your puck may be on the way out. Do you know of anyone that you could test your unit with there puck ? I have the same setup but live just a little too far away for a quick swap.

[jerkbait]

The puck didn't by chance happen to get moved closer to the unit? A friend of mine has the same set up and started having problems like that, he found that the puck had slid closer to the unit and it would loose signal. He moved the puck back away and it would be fine. He did not have his screwed down.

[gregg52]

i just had a very similiar problem

it was the puck

take the puck and have it tested

mine was in the power cord

it was wired wrong

it worked for 3 summer but the guy said that can happen i guess

i guess more often than not it is the puck

but like you at 250 a pop have it checked out first

[Ed Carlson]

Make sure your getting good power to the puck..the power wire separate from the plotter unit itself...check and recheck the power connections. If the power is fluctuating, or low, it will drop out and not communicate with the plotter.

[Farley]

Thanks for the ideas, I did rewire it over the winter so the power leads connect under the dash to a power strip. Maybe that has something to do with it. But looking at the wiring diagram I have from Lowrance everything looks to be right. Also moved the unit onto a ram mount which would be about 8 inches closer to the puck than before, I'm wondering if that isnt the problem right there. The boat is up at our cabin so it will be a while before I can change some things up. Thanks again guys.

[LMITOUT]

You say you moved the unit closer to the puck...what is the distance between them now?

I had a proximity problem with mine as well and it cleared right up after relocating the puck. If you can unscrew the puck from the base and have enough slack cord you should be able to find out quickly if that is the problem just by moving the puck around the locator to see if that changes your satellite signal strength. Go to the satellite page where is shows the bar graphs of all the satellites and watch them as you move the puck.

[Farley]

The Puck is mounted right next to the windshield drivers side. The unit was mounted to the dash, and never had an issue, but I moved it over onto a RAM mount this year to try and free up some dash space. Now the unit is probably 8" from the puck. Used to be over 12" away. Not sure I really like the RAM mount anyway, seems to move a lot, especially in rough water so maybe I'll just move the unit back to the original position and see if that works.

[mamohr686]

I had a similar issue with an older 332C. It was a defective lowrancenet/data cable. I went to a Y-cable because it wasn't on a network with other units, and the issue was fixed right away. If your puck is locking on initially, then the problem is not mounting location. Location, and view of the sky will affect position accuracy but you should never totally loose signal unless you go under a bridge.

[buddha]

I had the same exact issue that I just got fixed from a place in Pequot Lakes. I have a 37C and I had a blown fuse and it needed a NEMA T piece or somthing like that hooked up and it works like a charm.

[WaveWacker]

My father had the same issue pop up on his LCX 110c. FIRST THING TO DO...is definately go back and look at the power cord for the module. He had it wired with an older in-line glass fuse. I redid the whole thing with ATC flat fuses and it worked like a champ. Test, test and test to make sure that you are 100% positive that the power is not the issue. Also I agree that the module may now be too close to the unit.

[Farley]

That might be the issue as well. I did rewire it this year, all the power wires for both depth finders go to the same power block under the dash and they all use the round, cylinder looking fuses that snap into the power block. I'll try running everything straight to a battery as well as moving the unit back to the orginal position where it worked before next time I get up there. Thanks everyone for all the ideas.