Issues with Hummingbird 597ci

[fisherjmb]

Hi Everyone,

I purchased a Hummingbird 597ci last year in early spring. I really like the unit (ease of use, etc) however it has had some periodic issues. 

1. The unit occasionally will "freeze up" when I start the engine on my boat. I get a frozen or blank white screen and I have to disconnect the unit from the mount and plug it back in and restart it and then it's fine. It doesn't do it every time I start my motor, just periodically. I initially thought it was due to an incorrect sized amp fuse. I had an old Hummingbird 787 (black and white no GPS contour mapping) on before and I used the same fuse initially from that unit which was a 1.5 amp and then read the manual that says it needed a 3 amp so I replaced the 1.5 with the 3 thinking it would fix the issue but it still happens sometimes. 

2. The GPS is sometimes off, for instance, I will be launching my boat and be in the water next to the dock but the icon will show me 200 yards on shore. Again, this isn't all the time but just periodically. Once I turn off and restart the unit once or sometimes twice it fixes the issue.

3. The mapping part of the unit sometimes doesn't load the charts when you zoom in or out. It will say loading charts in the upper right but the contours never load. I then have to turn off and restart and it then it works. 

Any input or ideas as to what might be causing this would be great. I am thinking it might be just a "buggy" unit. I don't think it's under warranty anymore so not sure what my options are with the manufacturer. 

[Hoey]

With the multiple problems described, it sounds like you should check to see if a newer version of the software/firmware is available and if so, get it loaded.  Cabela's has helped me out before with a new version.  

[fisherjmb]

Thanks Hoey. I will look into that and give that a try. 

[BartmanMN]

I'm guessing issue number 1 occurs after you have been out on the boat for a while with the motor off, but electronics/radio running.  This will run your battery down enough that when you crank to start the main it will drop the juice level below what your unit needs/wants.

 

I don't know why your unit would not load the maps without a reboot, that does seem odd.  I can tell you that the larger units have faster processors and load the maps much faster.  I have a 7 series and sometimes it struggles to draw the maps as you go across the lake and want to zoom in/out, but my buddies 9 had No problems with that.

[fisherjmb]

Thanks for your input BartmanMN. I tend to agree with you on issue 1. It does only occur when we have been fishing for a while and the big motor isn't running and when we go to restart the motor. Probably time for a new starting battery, it is over 5 years old now. I will look into trying to upgrade to the newest software version to see if that helps with the other two issues. At least it's somewhat infrequent otherwise I would have sent the unit back to Hummingbird long ago. 

[AnderJA]

What version software are you running? I would check that first and update to the latest. Do a google search if you don't know how to do it! Follow the directions carefully. 

 

1.sounds like you nailed this. Your battery is not sufficient for it all. 

 

2. It takes some time for the satellites to acquire. Mine does this sometimes but will self correct in a few minutes without turning on/off. You can view you estimated position error on one of your screens. Check you manual to find that. 

 

3. what map card do you have? Possible borrow a buddies card and see if that helps. If not it just needs time to process. However I never had that problem with a 500 series unit. 

[fisherjmb]

Thanks Ander. I will do some homework to see what version I am running and if it's not the most recent version I will try the upgrade route and see if that helps.

[cold one sd]

I had the same problem with my 597 reading "loading charts" for long periods of time and doing other off the wall things. I had to shut the unit off and turn it on again to get the maps working again. A new map chip solved the problem for me. I put a new starting battery in my boat a couple weeks ago and still get "Low bat" on the screen after the engine has been off for an hour or so.