hey everyone,
will be buying a new atv in sept or oct. going to put a 7 inch helix on it for gps. whats the best way to power it? straight to the battery? through the 12 volt cig plug?
I thought there was somewhere to get the power cord with the cig adapter all ready to go. anyone know where to buy?
I’ve tried both ways and prefer direct to battery. Not a fan of having to turn the unit on and go through the startup sequence each time you start the machine. Down side is you have to be diligent in turning off the unit when not needed anymore and being aware of the battery life. Nice thing is these newer Helix units have a standby mode so if you’re between spots but don’t need the unit you can place it in standby that uses little power.
You should be able to get that power cord thru Humminbird. I have been using the 12v outlet on my machine for a few years now and will need a new cord myself this year.
What I have found is that the weight of the cord itself cause the outer jacket to pull away from the cord support where it plugs into the graph. This will cause one of the wires to break eventually. I have been thru 2 cords but I will figure out a way to keep the weight off of that spot better this time. The other option is to hardwire it to the battery but I dont want to leave exposed connectors on the atv when trailering it in the winter (road salt will get on them even under a cover)
I wired mine in straight to the battery
What bigstorm said about the weight of the cord, I’ve always pulled a few inches of slack and zip tie them up so there is no stress on the cords
Straight to the battery with the recommended inline fuse. Nothing worse than bumping the power cord in a cig adapter and having it cut out. You’re stuck waiting for satellites to be re-acquired…
Nothing worse than bumping the power cord in a cig adapter and having it cut out. You’re stuck waiting for satellites to be re-acquired…
Here I thought I was the only one with that problem.
I used to use the 12v plug but got sick and tired of it popping out so I now wired it to the 2 prong plug I had there which is keyed power. I would rather not have something wired directly to the battery for simple reasons of it draining the battery down when the machine is off.
but I dont want to leave exposed connectors on the atv when trailering it in the winter (road salt will get on them even under a cover)
Use solid copper and stainless
One thing to think about. I have my Helix on my snowmobile. When I would hit the key to start it the voltage would drop too low and the Helix would shut off. I would pull start it when I was running my unit but obviously that wouldn’t work for a wheeler.
DT
I have a HDS7 mounted on my ArticCat 4 wheeler. I use the power plug (cig adapter) that was factory built into my wheeler. It is “hot” all the time so yes, don’t forget and leave the GPS unit on for several hours.
I too have experienced low voltage shut off when restarting the wheeler. Just a fact of life with the small size batteries in a machine.
Best scenario might be set up similar to a boat, with a dedicated battery for the GPS.
Best scenario might be set up similar to a boat, with a dedicated battery for the GPS.
This is what I do. I made a small box for a vexilar type battery. I’m running a lowrance 5″ and the small battery will last a couple days. I didn’t want anything connected to my way off the lake.
I bought a Helix 7 G2N this spring for the front of the boat. When starting the boat it sometimes goes black. I tried hitting the power button and putting it in standby mode. This works really well. And all you have to do is hit the power button and it is back to normal. Maybe try this on your atvs.
Are you going to use it as a sonar at all? I mounted mine to a genz box with battery, but I am going to use it on the ice. That way I can just pick it up and switch to GPS and slap it on my wheeler without having to turn off and on. Just my 2 cents.
Are you going to use it as a sonar at all? I mounted mine to a genz box with battery, but I am going to use it on the ice. That way I can just pick it up and switch to GPS and slap it on my wheeler without having to turn off and on. Just my 2 cents.
Did that for about a month before the unit fell off the rack and took a dive across the ice at speed. Sounds easy to manage, but it’s harder than you think once you’re wearing all your gear and bouncing across the lake. I would recommend making some sort of mount for the Genz box. Easier said than done if you have an auger mounted on the front rack.
I mounted a battery tray in my front rack, and power both my sonars from that. I only use them for mapping and gps.
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Just bought a new polaris touring so im fixing to get my helix rigged up now. This post has been helpful!
and so what did you end up doing on your new Polaris? I decided to use my 7 inch Lowrance from my boat but still have not decided how to power it.
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