Lowrance locator

I have a Lowrance X70a that works fine except the glass (or plastic)see-through front is foggy. It looks like there is moisture or fog on the inside of the glass. I called Lowrance and they wanted nearly $200 for a tuneup/repair service job and nearly $300 for a trade-in on a newer model. Anyone else have this problem or find a way to fix it? I really did not want to send it in for $200 bucks when a foggy window was the only problem with the unit.
Thanks

John, a foggy glass tells me the seal is broken. Can’t dry it out unless you take it apart. Been there, done that. Very hard to put it back together and get it sealed tight. If you can still read it, use it. If not, break down and get a new one. Some very good units out there on the market.
But here is something you might try if you can do without the unit for a week or so. Get a bunch of those little pouches of silica that are shipped with items to keep moisture out of the products. Seal them and the locator in something that will be airtight for a few days. I’m just guessing here, but those pouches may have the ability to draw the moisture from the locator. Just a guess mind you.

Thanks Herb – I might give that a try – perfectly good unit – hard to just throw away. On another note – anyone have a busted X70a lying around they want to get rid of???

What might help which I do with my LMS350A, is it fogs sometimes too. If you have a window where the sun shines in a lot park your depoth finder in front of it in the sunshine. Or what I have done is put it on a heat register for a day or two. Then to keep it clear don`t leave it in the boat. I know a it`s a hassle to take it out but it sure helps alot.

Tom P.

OK… this might sound stupid but I wonder if a couple hours in the food dehydator wouldn’t remove every last bit of moisture. Turn the heat WAY the heck down… and let it run over night. Certainly wouldn’t get any hotter than what the unit goes through in the sun on a hot day.

Good one James and Tom. I hope that if John tries any of these ideas, he gives a report on what worked.

Well Herb – I can tell you what I have tried. The first one was lyiing it in our picture window so it could get hit by the sun – for a week with no results. Then I did like you – took it apart and found that the glass must have two layers and the fog is inbetween the two layers (I used soap, lime-away, and window cleaner) on both sides of the glass and could not get it cleared up. I may do like James suggests – take the front cover off again and put it in a food dehidrater and see what happens.

John, I don’t remember what it’s called, but they used to fill the area between the 2 glass plates with a gas. The fact that moisture has entered indicates the seal has been broke and the gas escaped. I would really be suprised if you can fix it yourself. I’ve s99t canned a couple myself because of this moisture problem and didn’t think I wanted to spend anymore money on it. If you can still read it, I’d keep it and in the mean time start shopping for new. Hey, Christmas will be here soon.

Good luck with James’ idea. Let us know if it works. Sooner or later someone else will run into this problem.

Fishsqzr –

It’s a nitrogen seal. As herb was talking about- once this seal is broker, you will have visible moisture inside your unit. If you plan to keep the unit for some time, send it back to the factory and they will re-seal and usually update the product to the latest level of software code. A disadvantage of not having the seal is the damage moisture will do to the components and their solder joints onto the circuit boards – this will cause intermittent failures and quirks with your graph down the road.

I had a seal go on a LMS350 after 6 years of use and sent it back and the unit performed great until I sold the rig it was on.

My $.02.

email me if you want further info: [email protected]

ted

thought I’d call Lowrance/Eagle today and see what they say. The normal operation temps for the unit is 167F to -4 F. It can operate below -4 but the liquid crystal starts to get a little sluggish. He said they are sealed units but are not sealed to permanantly keep out all moisture, if some moisture builds up, it is able to evaporate out. he also thought with our much colder temps than the rest of the country that we should not store the units in the boat over winter, bring them inside between uses. too much moisture can do some harm to the circuits inside. That;a about all I can add. Hope some of that helps. Jack.

JACK I GOT A X70 AND A GLOBE MAP 2000 ON MY RANGER WITH SIMALAR SCREENS LOOKS LIKE MOSTURE BUT MINE WAS NOT MOSITURE AT ALL! A WHITE HAZE LIKE FORMED OVER THE SCREEN AND ALL I HAD TO DO WAS TAKE (MOTHERS ALLUMIUM POLISH AND A CLOTH TO IT) I KNOW SOUNDS FUNNY BUT IT WORKED ON MY UNIT! BUT THEN AGAIN MINE WASN’T MOSITURE! ALSO WORKS WELL FOR HEADLIGHTS ON A CAR THAT HAS A FILM FROM YEARS OF ROAD GRIM! WILL NOT SCRATCH THE SCREEN!

hey Basstracker, what also works great for cleaning the glass and small scratches, is McGuires polish/cleaner. works great. Jack.

YEP SIMALAR PRODUCT!

Just thought I’d bring this thread back to see if John ever got the moisture problem in his fish finder fixed.