These things are junk. I recently busted my second bracket. Decided to upgrade to the hdsi transducer for my helix. Looks to be a lot stronger bracket and from reviews it doesn’t have the kick up problem. Also a lot nicer side imaging return. I will be in contact with bird tomorrow about getting a new bracket then somebody else can have it. Junk compact side imaging transducer for sale.
I’d save my money if I had to do it again. I wouldn’t buy the HD. I didn’t notice much difference from the compact. Some but not enough to justify the const. I plan on upgrading to the gen2 Good Luck
I ran the compact for 5 years for my 799 my Crestliner tops out at 48 MPH and never broke a mount sounds like you have yours set up wrong or are hitting things with it.
No and no. The dealer put the first one on with the new boat. I put the second one on. Google it, it is a known problem. Of course they don’t all break but a lot of them do.
The side imaging transducers are supposed to be oriented higher than the bottom of the hull. Sounds like yours is set below. They are not made for highspeed use.
They easily could be with a stronger bracket.
yeah, packaging those compact transducers with units to reduce cost was a cruddy move. many people upgraded to the HD transducer as Humminbird would do an exchange for a small cost if unopened. did your dealer mention this option to you before the initial install?
since you’re calling customer service anyway, it might be worth asking them to replace your broken compact with an HDSI transducer, just offer to pay the upgrade fee. worst they can do is say no, best case is you upgrade for less cost.
either way, when you install your HDSI transducer i suggest also getting a standard dual-beam high speed transducer and using a Y-cable splitter to connect them to your unit. this allows you to mount the SI transducer (for SI/DI) higher on your transom where it will be protected from hitting anything and just put the relatively inexpensive standard sonar transducer (for 2D) exposed at the transom line.
for a Mega unit you’d want: “M SIDB Y”
for a non-Mega unit it is: “AS SIDB Y”
split.jpg
Michael thanks for understanding and thanks for the info about the splitter. Appreciate it.
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