Difficulties with Lowrance GPS/ Sonar

C

Chica

New member
My lowrance LC113 quite working. The Lowrance company, withour seeing it said it was not repairable.







My Lowrance LC113 quit working. The tech. support for the company said it can not be repaired. Even though the unit is 6 or 7 years old it has had limited use. I am sure they want me to buy a new one which I have done. Does anyone know of an independent repair source that would look at this unit.

The instructions booklet that came with the Elite 7 is not worth the paper it is written on and since I am 79 and not a teenager the format is difficult without a decent instruction manual.

This is my 3rd Lowrance product and, I believe, my last.

Chica
 
Recently, a friend bought a boat with an elite 5 gps with navionics chart. He was completely baffled by it & thought that I could teach him how to use it as I have a lowrance 3500c with navionics chart. I took his instruction book home with me to read. Waste of time! The instruction book is a waste of paper. My 8 year old lowrance book is far more informative. I had considered upgrading to the elite 7 m plotter not long ago . Sure glad I didn't. I agree, my last lowrance will be my last lowrance ! I'm 69 & I think I would have to be 12 to understand the elite series instructions. Vern
 
Unfortunately that is a 7 year old product--and similar to what I had on my Tom Cat--which I understand failed at sea trial. The problem in these is usually the Antenna. But I would not waste any money on it. Repair shops are going to charge $100 an hour for even diagnostic work--and today, the repairs are plug and play--that is they put in new circuit boards--and if you can find a junked 113, it has a high probability of failure.

Garmin makes a GPS which is much easier to use. There are some good buys on some of the units which are being phased out currently. (Again 6 years from now, you will probably not be able to get them repaired.) Welcome to the disposable society! (except C Dorys!)
 
Bob is right. That series had a high rate of failure and is electronically considered "ancient". I always recomend Garmin for reliability and ease of use. They have always known their average customer was not a computer tech so easy to run. George
 
I currently have the Lowrance chart plotter and GPS. It is working fine, but I agree, it is not user friendly. If I were to swap out and go for say a Garmin with a bigger screen, is it compatible with my depth sounder transducer or does all that have to be changed as well?

Martin.
 
we just replaced our 2001 furuno combo unit with the new 1870f. man I tell you electronics have come a looong way in that time. our old unit also lost the antennae which was external and a nightmare to replace. no worries with the new internal technology
 
bridma":f4kwf07w said:
I currently have the Lowrance chart plotter and GPS. It is working fine, but I agree, it is not user friendly. If I were to swap out and go for say a Garmin with a bigger screen, is it compatible with my depth sounder transducer or does all that have to be changed as well?

Martin.
Click to expand...

A lot depends on the transducer. Almost all transducers are made by Airmar. The standard transom transducers which come with the combo chart plotters are often dual frequency 50/200KHz or 77/200KHz. Generally Lowrance is 50/200; Garmin are 77/200. Also important is the power the transducer is rated for. The plugs may not match. I would put in a new transducer when you change the heads out. If there was an after market high end transducer, then keep it and and swap out the plugs--not real easy to splice the cable--and recommended to use an adaptor or have a professional do the the splice.
 
thataway":18vkiy3s said:
bridma":18vkiy3s said:
I currently have the Lowrance chart plotter and GPS. It is working fine, but I agree, it is not user friendly. If I were to swap out and go for say a Garmin with a bigger screen, is it compatible with my depth sounder transducer or does all that have to be changed as well?

Martin.
Click to expand...

A lot depends on the transducer. Almost all transducers are made by Airmar. The standard transom transducers which come with the combo chart plotters are often dual frequency 50/200KHz or 77/200KHz. Generally Lowrance is 50/200; Garmin are 77/200. Also important is the power the transducer is rated for. The plugs may not match. I would put in a new transducer when you change the heads out. If there was an after market high end transducer, then keep it and and swap out the plugs--not real easy to splice the cable--and recommended to use an adaptor or have a professional do the the splice.
Click to expand...




Thanks for the info Thataway. I will check out my frequency. For me, electronics has to be a no-brainer a 6yr old could handle. If not, looks like I'm keeping the Lowrance until it quits.

Martin.
 
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