Lowrance H2OC Power

[PK3]

When the 2-AA batteries are dead or out of unit, my 12V DC cable will not power up the unit. When batteries are fresh and I plug in the DC cable, the unit says it is running on external power. Has anyone else had this problem?

[not_nuf_time]

Haven't tried it plugged in without batts, I'll try it and see what it does.

[CPL]

Sounds like something's wrong with your unit. I routinely use mine WITHOUT the batteries installed.

Is the LED lit up on your cigarette light adapter? If not, you may have a bad power cord or bad cig lighter. You can also try wiggling the plug in the cig adapter to be certain that it's making good contact. You should also check out the fuse in the adapter (just unscrew the end).

Hope this helps.

Scott

[burl]

Had the same problem with my unit.Called lowrance and they sent me a new power cord.Problem solved.Burl.

[Shorelunch]

Yup. I had a bad cord too. Make sure the LED light comes on.

[PK3]

Yes, the light comes on when I have it plugged in. When I try to power it up, again with dead batteries or with the batteries out, the light goes off when I hit the power button and back on when I release the button. I'm guessing it must be the cord?

[Paul Waldowski]

It's the cord. Had the exact same thing happen to me. Lowrance replaced the cord and it has worked great ever since.

[PK3]

Thanks! Did you by chance take to cord to the store where you purchased the unit or send directly to Lowrance?

[klw]

my h2o has never worked with dead or no batteries...I replaced the cord and it didn't make a difference

[schweady]

I've got the ExpeditionC (basically the same as the H2OC). Problems recognizing external power started 2-3 months after purchase, no matter what the battery strength inside. Light always on at the plug, but the unit indicated that it was running off of the internal batteries. Called Lowrance. After an incredibly long wait on phone and asking me to try this and that, they agreed to send a new cable. I told them what I thought of the design of the cable connection (poor, at best). Same problems showed up with the new one after a few weeks, and I gave up for some time. I just got both cables out today after a month or so of ignoring the situation. Both worked fine. Frustrating, to say the least because you never can fully depend on it working when you might need it most. I'm not real anxious to follow Lowrance's next suggestion of mailing in the whole unit.

Such a great unit, it's hard to believe the poor cable connection design: the cable does not attach with a definite click or lock in any way other than that little plastic tab. The cable can't be attached at the same time as the wrist strap so took that off right away (not even sure where that is anymore...)

Other than this one frustration, I can't imagine a better handheld gps solution.

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