H’Bird Trouble at high speeds

Hey everyone, posting with a quick question on behalf of my dad. He recently purchased a Humminbird 385ci to use for ice fishing and also got it set up on the boat. He went out today for a test run with it and said it worked great while idling or trolling around but when he opened it up and got above 10 mph it would stop reading the bottom and would go totally blank. I am away at college and didn’t get all the details from him as to what exactly was happening. According to him, it would stop reading completely and go blank. He thinks maybe he mounted it at the incorrect angle and is going to try to adjust and give it another test run. Does this sound likely to you or could it be something else?

i have a hbird to and it does this, but i think this is common at high speeds for all depthfinders because of the prop wash bubbles . mine will tell me im in 250ft of water when im flyin through the water. someone can go ahead and correct me if im wrong this is just my experiance with em.

The transducer needs to be level and parallel to the boat.
Transducers work best when they have minimal disruption of the water that flows under them. So find a location that is as free from rivets or ribs on the hull as possible.

Then make sure the boat is level on the trailer. I use a bottle jack under the frame and the tongue jack to adjust that.

Next on the side of the transducer there is a line running from front to back that needs to be parallel to the bottom of the boat. If you have a V bottom that line should be on the side closet to the motor. Level the transducer bracket both vertically and horizontally so that line is parallel to the bottom of the boat.

Run your cable and you should be good to go. If the signal is lost at higher speeds adjust the transducer up or down on the bracket to dial it in.

If you get a rooster tail from the transducer people have wrapped electrical tape around the space between the transducer to close the gap.

Hope that helps

Tim

What Tim said.

I have a Bird unit in the boat and followed the instructions to a T and they worked fine at high speeds. I did have to adjust one after the trial run though.

Here is a link to a post I made last year on the subject. I was running a 788ci on the back at that time on a Lund Tyee. The replys give you a good idea of where not to put the transducer. Depending on how your boat sits you may need to tip it a hair to get it to be level when you are in the boat. Level to the ground on the trailer isn’t always level to the lake bottom when you are in the boat.

Tnasducer at high speeds link

If the transducer is mounted properly there shouldnt be any issue of reading bottom at higher speeds. Here is a basic picture.

All great pieces of advice…here’s another tip:

Since I am in the back of my boat frequently (tiller) the boat is slightly tipped and would get a poor reading. Look at the scum line on your boat to get a true reading of how your boat is pitched in the water and adjust the transducer to fit it.

I recently did this and it greatly improved the readings.

Another HB tip!

Well I guess he was out again tonight and brought the tools with to make adjustments while on the water. Tried changing the angles up and still can’t get the thing to work right. Might have to give H’Bird a call once and see what they say. Do they have reps check these forums from time to time?

Tom… I wonder if you might know my old man. I see your son is Clint and races at Arlington. My dad’s name is Kirby Perlich and he raced IMCA mod’s in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I swear I have heard him talk about Clint before, and he always seems to be pulling for him when we get a chance to head out to the track. I’m excited to see a few races this summer.

Yes, we know Kirby.

When Clint was a young lad, he would go over to your Grandpa’s Chucks house and watch them work on the car.

They let Clint sit in Kirby’s mod once and thats all it took.

Clint still has one of those buttons with Kirby’s mod on it that he bought at the track a long time ago.

We watched Kirby race for quite afew seasons..