Leaving Electronics on

[2tall79]

I tried a search and didn't find much. Assuming you have one or more graphs at bow and console, do you leave them on all the time you're fishing or turn them on/off as needed? Watching MLF, it seems they are on constantly. Thanks. Thinking more from a power loss standpoint, not stealth.

[Team9nine]

They go on when I launch the boat and go off when loading out. They're never not running. Not too worried about battery conservation with them.

[WRB]

I leave the console unit on and turn on/off the bow unit when the trolling motor TD is out of water.

Tom

[Way north bass guy]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

I leave the console unit on and turn on/off the bow unit when the trolling motor TD is out of water.

Tom

Just curious, is there a particular reason you turn off the bow one when it’s out?

[WRB]

The TD pulses out of water can damage it if on too long.

 

[Team9nine]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

The TD pulses out of water can damage it if on too long.

 

 

I've read this at various times in a lot of places, so I don't know how true it is or not (I wonder). All I can add is that in my 30+ years of boating, 20 of which was tournament angling covering everything from flashers up to the current hi-def units, I've never turned a bow unit off when running and out of the water, and have NEVER had a unit/transducer go bad on me. Even left one or two on accidentally on the drive home and not noticed until putting the boat away. Makes me wonder if it's an old "wive's tale" repeated over and over, or if there is really something to it.

 

Any electrical engineers out there with some insight?

[Logan S]

It's super easy/quick to put them on standby these days...I sometimes do that to save power on tournament days (since livewells running all day), probably not necessary but easy enough to do.  The backlight on the graphs use a lot of power, so just dimming the screen with everything else still running will save a good amount of power if you're worried about it but want to keep everything running.  With a good battery and normal running around it's probably not going to matter either way.  

 

I like to turn off my transducers when fishing crowded community holes on the Potomac and Upper Bay...I don't need depth readings in 0 to 3 feet of water and a little stealth when there's a bunch of other boats around is never a bad thing, even if it's just a placebo (but I think it's actually real).  Instead of depth I just use full screen GPS maps on the bow graph in those situations.  

[Way north bass guy]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

 

I've read this at various times in a lot of places, so I don't know how true it is or not (I wonder). All I can add is that in my 30+ years of boating, 20 of which was tournament angling covering everything from flashers up to the current hi-def units, I've never turned a bow unit off when running and out of the water, and have NEVER had a unit/transducer go bad on me. Even left one or two on accidentally on the drive home and not noticed until putting the boat away. Makes me wonder if it's an old "wive's tale" repeated over and over, or if there is really something to it.

 

Any electrical engineers out there with some insight?

That’s pretty much exactly the way it’s been for me, never ruined a transducer yet, but it’d be interesting to know for sure if there’s anything to this at all. 

[WRB]

The wives tale came directly from a Lowrance tech . Try putting your finger on the bottom of your TD and you will feel a thump with each pulse. The new units may not be affected when running out of water, it's my habit from over 45 years of operating sonar units. My console unit gets turned off with a panel switch that turns on/off all the console power so I don't forget to leave it on and I always take the units off the boat when trailering.

Tom

[Troy85]

I leave my Hull mount on then entire trip.  I put the TM unit on standby when the TM isn't in the water, it only takes a second and I figure better safe than sorry when it comes to the transducer pulsing out the water.

[J Francho]

4 minutes ago, Troy1985s said:

I leave my Hull mount on then entire trip.  I put the TM unit on standby when the TM isn't in the water, it only takes a second and I figure better safe than sorry when it comes to the transducer pulsing out the water.

 

It won't hurt anything.

[MickD]

I like to leave mine on all the time, but found out in my first year with two of the latest models on the boat, and wired into the circuit of the outboard motor, that they drained my battery and the outboard would not start.  Jump start from the trolling motor batteries worked, but there is a better solution.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014F2MN9O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Get one of these and do what you want-you will not be let down.

 

I've never failed a transducer from leaving sonar on while the transducer was out of the water.  Never failed a transducer at all.