Lowrance 334c flasher screen locks up

[FishNovice101]

My husband and I took the 334c out on the ice for the first time last night. It worked great except that the flasher seemed to keep 'locking up'. It's like the screen would freeze up for 3-4 seconds. Any suggestions why it was doing that?

Also - realized that I don't like the plastic swing arm for the rod and transducer. What options do I have there?

Thanks!!

[10,000 Casts]

While the unit is tured off, Hold down pages and power and that will soft reset the software. If you don't mind erasing everything such as waypoints and trails, hold down zoom in, zoom out and power. That will hard reset the software. If you haven't already, you should update to ice mode.

What I did and many people do is take teh arm off and get a vexilar float for about 5 bucks. That way your $600 unit doesn't have to sit right next to the hole and I like it for checking spots so I don't have to bend down everytime.

Hope this helps

[FishNovice101]

John,

Thanks much for the advice. I will try resetting it this afternoon. I was thinking maybe it was too cold sitting directly on the ice.

Yeah - don't want the unit falling down the hole!! Gotta get something different.

Char

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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John,

Thanks much for the advice. I will try resetting it this afternoon. I was thinking maybe it was too cold sitting directly on the ice.

Yeah - don't want the unit falling down the hole!! Gotta get something different.

Char

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The cold won't affect it.

Is it possible that the transducer wasn't pointing straight down? Mine will hiccup like that if it's skewed one way or the other.

Try running it in graph mode. I much prefer that to flasher mode.

[emkat1]

I have the same unit and it locked up on me when I Took off the transducer. I called Lowrance and they advised me to upgrade the firmware. I did this and it worked ever since. You can get updated firmware from their site. Good luck.

[Chode2235]

I completely agree, the 1.6 version of the software is so much better than what came on my unit. The addition of the "Ice Machine Mode" is worth the upgrade alone.

Also, its incredibly easy to do too.

[Todd_J]

i don't use the flasher function, but i have had occasional 'hiccups'/pauses. This generally happens when i first put the transducer in the water for the initial reading. i believe the unit is acquiring the return signal. It has also happened when the transducer is to high in the ice hole or has ice/snow on the bottom of the ducer. make sure it is clean and bellow the bottom of the ice. You might also want to increase the Surface Clarity and Noise Rejection.

Ditch the arm/metal support. I use the foam float from vexilar to support the ducer in the hole. (available at most store that carry vexilar products/accessories: be sure to remove the vexilar sticker )

Hope this helps.

[FishNovice101]

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice!!

This is a great forum, and you are all a big help!!

Now I need to find the fish.

[FishNovice101]

I had the 334c iGPS out on the ice Sat and Sun. I discovered that I already had Version 1.6 on it, but reset it anyway. Bought a Vexilar float for it too. It worked fine for the first few hours out, but then started acting wierd. I was in 12 ft of water, but it would start reading like I was only in 3 ft of water. Real fustrating!! I have the Ping speed set to 100%, and played around with the sensitivity, but it still acts goofy. Any other suggestions, other than just using it more to become more efficient?

[Chode2235]

Be sure you turn the auto depth off, and that you get the float below the ice. Also, be sure you don't have any ice on the bottom of the transducer.

Check your connections. Be sure everything is connected tightly and there are no knicks in any of the cords.

My guess though is that it is ice on the bottom of the transducer.

I have been using my 334c these last couple weekends and a couple nights this week already and I haven't had the experiences you are having.

Quick question: How long does it take you to get a GPS signal, it seems like mine takes forever?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Are you fishing near others with flashers? Sometimes a nearby FL18 will give my X67c fits.

[federline]

First, make sure you have enough battery voltage if/when it starts acting up. Best is 11 volts and above, but it should work down to 8 volts (but not great, and not for long!. I run my x67c down to 7 volts in the perm on weekends without slowdown (shuts off at 6.8 usually), but these units get a little "trippy" in the reaction time on really low voltage, and it manifests itself in strange ways. If unsure of how good the battery is, use a new one, fully charged.

Next, make sure you are running good "out of the gate" settings as a baseline before playing with other settings, it provides a known-good starting point that many people have used successfully:

Ping speed = high

Scroll speed = high

Noise rejection = high

surface clarity = high

Auto-sensitivity = off, start at around 90%

Auto depth range = off, and pick the closest depth to what you are fishing

If those don't work, I would start diagnosing as if the transducer is not working right. Check all connections, check for a complete seal on the surface (should be water tight with no water sloshing inside! :-) and make sure the transducer surface is not scratched up or has ice stuck on it. If you could swap with a known good Ice Machine transducer, that would be the best idea.

I don't think it is interference, that shows up as "light snow" on my x67c screen, just like on a flasher. I've never had this slowdown on ice, I've seen it in super shallow water in summer, like 3 feet or less. But then again, the 334 has a lot more power than my x67c, too, so I can't make the call.

If all else fails, get in touch with Lowrance tech support. I would deal with the factory techs in Tulsa directly, instead of messing around with Lowrance dealers.

[FishNovice101]

I know there was no ice on the transducer, and it was below the ice. The float below the ice?

It has been taking about 5 minutes to get GPS signal - in Andover.

[FishNovice101]

Thanks for all the advice. I will try this tonight. The transducer is good except for 1 small scratch. Hopefully it's not large enough to be causing all the trouble. It is water tight though. This machine is relatively new, so it's frustrating. And I'm not that good with electronics anyway. Will keep trying though!!