Is it my 899 or is it me

The 899 was purchased a Feb 2016 and it sat in the box while I restored my Lund. Fast forward. The left side of my side imaging doesn’t appear to be working. I have tried with both a Compact Transducer and a HD Transducer. The image appears the same on both my console 899 and my bow 859.

Am I doing something wrong with my setup or is there some thing wrong with my Humminbird.

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Try tilting the motor up while using side imaging.

Looks like interference from an object blocking the transducer.
Do you have 1 or 2 si duecers?
Can you trim up/down and get side imagine on the left?
What do you have attached to the left transom saver that could be blocking your view?
Is your transducer level side to side when in water, a list to one side or the other can impact imaging.

Id also suggest in 13fow to set your side imagine to 50′ wide. Especially for an 899.

Looks like you are getting a little bit of the expected return on the left side which would correlate to directly under the transducer, something is blocking the remaining side imaging path. Could be motor, livewell intakes, another transducer, etc…

Thanks for the input, I have tried it with the motor trimmed up or down and it doesn’t make any difference. The transom saver mounting block is 1″ thick. So the transducer is behind anything that protrudes from the back of the boat.

I tried two different side imaging transducers, one was a compact transducer like the one that comes with the 899, and the other one was the HD one that is shown in the picture. The results were the same.

Any other ideas? I have more pictures, if you would like to see them.

What is mounted to the board on the left?
Is there ANYTHING sticking off the boat on the left side…

I see what looks like a plastic bracket under your motor mount. What is that? If it is attached to the transom it is imparing your si.

Honestly best si setup involves two si duecers. One mounted on the left and one on the right… And a y-cable to link to the bird. Crisp with no motor cavitation.

It looks like there is another mounting block on the left side of the motor, did you try mounting on that side to see if that gives you a return on the left side?

First try hooking the unit directly up to the battery with larger wires, shortening up the 3-6foot plug lead to 12 or so inches, and charge the battery. Could just be a lack of power to the unit.

If that doesn’t work send it in to Humminbird. They may just fix it for free.

I contacted Humminbird Customer Service. Since registered it when I purchased it. I became “HumminbirdSelect member” which extended my warranty for a second year.
I will be sending it back to Humminbird under warranty. If Customer Service tells me what they find I will pass it on.

Thanks for all the input.

Did you perhaps look to see if something is interfering with the transducer view?

I highly double it is software related and very unlikely it is the duecer. Since it is consistent problem with both duecers you try something must physically be in the way.

That’s ok, you can deal with that when bird returns your unit I guess.

Fish,

I can’t believe there is something in the way. Here is a picture of the back of the boat with the compact transducer mounted before I re-installed the outboard.

With the outboard tilted up the transducer has a clear view to both sides.

I’m thinking there is an electronic problem with the head unit since both transducer reacted the same, not software. But I could have messed up the setup. That’s why I asked

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Sorry for being persistent here just trying to save you some time. I can’t tell from the picture if there is anything sticking out past the left mounting board. Thanks for following up. We will be interested in what is found to be there problem.

There is nothing mounted on the left board. And there is nothing that sticks out past the mounting board.

I put two mounting boards on when I restored/rebuilt the boat because the previous owners had perforated the transom with multiple transducers and it looked like Swiss cheese on both sides. I had also thought about having a space for a second transducer, if I ever decided to go that way.

At this point I need to make sure the head unit is working properly since it reacted the same way with two different transducers. My original thoughts were that the compact transducer was at fault, so I purchased the HD transducer.

I don’t have access to another 899 which leaves me with only one choice. Remove the transducer before I put the boat into storage for the winter and send the 899 head and HD transducer to Humminbird for evaluation and repair.

I find it very frustrating to be trouble shooting a problem with a brand new unit. Side imaging is new to me, so I have no experience to fall back upon. Everything that I had seen and read said, with this tool I should at least know where the fish are. Catching them is different story.

Thank you all, I will keep you posted.

My first ever 898 came out of the box without GPS software installed and I know I had a new one in my doorstep within two days, and then I returned mine.

Hb will help you quickly if it is a problem out of the box. They may even compensate you for spending the $$ troubleshooting.

I’d press them now and be clear on the troubleshooting you’ve done.

Well, here is an update. As per e-mail instructions from customer service. I sent my 899 head unit and transducer in for warranty repair. I included a pacing slip with 5 pages of attachment.

The attachments included a printout of the e-mail thread that I had with customer service and two different photo-printouts similar to the failure image posted above.

After not hearing a word for 2 plus week, I received a FedEx package from Humminbird today.

Included was the paper work. It listed two items the Head unit and the HD transducer that I sent in.

The tech comments were as fallows: Sonar-SI Issue, Replace the control head. And Transducer no problem found.

As I started to unpack the items returned, I found the HD transducer that I had originally sent them and a brand new Helix 9, SI, GPS Version 1, with mount, cable organizer, and face cover.

Quite an upgrade from what I sent in.

I was very surprised and pleased. Thank you, Humminbird.

That’s awesome! I am really surprised they didn’t give you the Helix 7 as the 899 is actually a 7” screen.

Don’t forget to register it!

Very nice surprise!!