Lowrance/Humminbird

[mj54]

I am having issues with my Lowrance HDS 8 units and am fed up with their support (lack of). With the issues I have dealt with on almost every Lowrance unit I have owned in 10 years, I am considering buying a Humminbird on my boat to start the transition from Lowrance. I don't want to do a complete change over as I don't want to spend that kind of cash in one year.

Does anyone know if a person can run both brands on a boat without major problems? I know that I can run one as GPS, and other for sonar/structurescan on console, but I also need to have Lowrance up front running, which I like all options available. Will this cause any GPS issues or sonar/structurescan issues?

[Kyhl]

You can't link them together if that is what you mean. But you can mount them separate. I think a lot of the HB guys are adding a separate GPS puck. Something to think about.

I've had an HDS8 since the first season they were available without a hitch. What issues are you having?

[ClownColor]

What are the same issues all your lowrance units shared over the last 10 years?

How many transducers are you using and where?

[delcecchi]

I don't know about him but I experienced a lot of transducer issues. The standard transducer would degrade over the course of two or three years. A new transducer would resolve the issues for a time.

It might be that they don't like being stored in real cold temperatures.

[CaptainMusky]

I would be interested in hearing the trouble he has had as well.

If its a transducer, get an Airmar transducer and you will never have an issue again. I have so many 83/200 skimmer transducers lying around from all the units I have bought over the years and never used. I like keeping them for spares, but they have remained a spare for as long as I have had them. I should just pre-run one on my boat in case it quits in the middle of the trip. It wouldn't be fun to have to run those wires on the water.

I haven't had any trouble with any of my HDS units so I am interested to hear what is plaguing him.

[mj54]

There have been several different issues, going back to the early GPS units, such as the internal GPS not working/quit working. I have had two HDS sent back and replaced with water getting into them. I have had transducer issues as well, but replaced with Lowrance, never tried different option as mentioned here. Last year one of my LSS connection ports has been having issues and then caused HDS problems, but was able to use a different port. However now I can't connect third unit, which isn't critical, but it is how I can share GPS waypoints.

The current frustration is that my HDS Gen 1 unit will decide to reboot itself over and over. Sometimes it turns on just fine, but at some point, it will go into reboot cycle 10-20 times and then catch. Then it may work for 10 minutes up to few hours and then do it again. Called customer service and went through issues. I made sure software was up to date, all the connections were good (tested with other HDS with same wiring), and stopped using my Lakemaster chip as well and started with one of their chips. The problem keeps happening.

It has made me consider changing over to Humminbirds in lieu of spending money on Lowrance units that don't seem to keep on working. I am not on the water that many days a year in my boat, but when I do use it, I need the stuff to work and these units don't seems dependable.

[mj54]

As far as transducers, I have one structurescan on stern, one thru-hull, and one on Minnkota on bow.

For storage, I keep all the units inside during the cold months. I wouldn't think that cold could do anything to them, but I don't take that chance. Too much cash in these to not protect them best I can.

Also, I have had everything working great at a few different periods over the years. So I am confident that there isn't any installation issues. This issue with the Gen 1 just came up last season after using it for a couple seasons without any issues. When things are working, I have really liked having Lowrance. I am just getting frustrated with it.

Thanks for your input.

[mj54]

CaptainMusky, which Airmar do you like using? Are you thru-hull or transom mounted?

Thanks.

[BobT]

My Lowrance X51 served me well for, oh gosh, over 10 years. I finally gave it away for almost nothing a couple years ago when I upgraded to a color Hummingbird. I did begin to have some issues with losing bottom at high speed and not being able to recover once I slowed down but all I had to do was reboot it to get it working again. I don't know if that problem was the transducer or the unit itself.

[CaptainMusky]

CaptainMusky, which Airmar do you like using? Are you thru-hull or transom mounted?

Thanks.

Its the P66 I think. I don't have it myself because I haven't had trouble with the Lowrance one, but when buddies have had issues, this is the one they went to and never had problems since. The Lowrance transducers were supposed to have been resolved in the last couple years. Most of the earlier ones had problems in the Gen 1 generation. Now they are much better.

I just use the skimmer one from Lowrance. Thru hull would be nice.

It sounds like you had about every one of the growing pain issues the HDS Gen 1 units had. Transducer, water intrusion, etc. I have 2 Gen 1 units and I haven't had any of those issues, but I purchased mine over a year after they came out so I think I may have missed out on that fun.

[BoxMN]

Have been long time lowrance and eagle user, and still have one lowrance on the boat, I think elite 5. That was a replacement for a couple eagle 642c that just would not work right. We still have one on dash for only sonar, as gps is dead. FWIW the lowrance mount systems they use at least on the elite unit we have is horrible. Can pop out in rough stuff, thank goodness the cord didn't come unplugged or it would with the fishes now! haha!

Went to Bird and really like it. Just a cheaper unit a 688 I think, but we found at least in this feature range, the bird works better and easier and more options.

Son has grand pubba Lowrance touch units on his boat and they are nice, and so far good for the first season last year.

To answer your question, we don''t regret going with hbird one bit, and we also have two sonar/gps units of different brands on same boat and they both work fine. Sort of wish I was still a lowrance fan, but am not, after using them for litterally 20+ years back to the green box.

[TR21HP]

Why restrict your choices to Hummingbird when Garmin and Raymarine are out there as well. I would visit the Sportshow and take a look and compare all three, you may decide to go with something else after you see what each one has to offer.

[Hawg]

Remember- As HB has picked up market share over the last few years their complaint level has also risen almost unilaterally. It's natural Lowrance would be flooded with problems when they absolutely owned the small craft market. A good example is Vexilar/ MarCum, MarCum is getting blasted now in comparison to a few years ago. I think the problem is that these units do way more than a weekend novice wants to learn how to do so they just keep on pushing buttons, try that in your home computer settings and see what you get.

[gunner55]

Airmar P66 for the Lowrance units with the blue 7 pin connectors.