Lowrance elite 5 - wont read depth after 200 feet

[therise]

Fishing the hump, or anywhere deeper than 200 ft, my elite 5 loses the bottom. As soon as I hit shallower water ( about 200 ft or less) it reads perfectly.

Suggestions?

 

[Hookin'up]

Transducer may not be aligned properly should be tilted down 3*-4* so you can catch the ping while trolling deeper depths
Also take it off auto depth and set your depth manually if you can

 

[Sangstercraft]

Have you experimented with the hz setting? Mine has 83 and 200. Try switching between the two and see if that helps.

 

[static]

Is it the HDI, it's not made for deep water

 

[therise]

The transducer appears to be in the proper orientation, but I have not tried taking it off auto depth.
I tried the 83/200 setting, but no luck
It's the elite 5 gold (not hdi I believe)

 

[Hookin'up]

try manual depth mode for sure and set it to a depth known to be deeper then the area your fishing
betcha it helps,

 

[JAC]

Is yours a dsi unit?

 

[fishin solo]

wouldn't that depend on the trandsducer? I just bought elite 5 hdi and there are a few transducer options .I believe the 83-200hz is good to 1000' and the 50-200 is supposed to be good to 2500'.when I ordered mine I went with the 50-200

Transducer may not be aligned properly should be tilted down 3*-4* so you can catch the ping while trolling deeper depths
Also take it off auto depth and set your depth manually if you can

Is it the HDI, it's not made for deep water

 

[fishin solo]

didn't mean to quote u hookin up clicked by accident

 

[Hookin'up]

The 50khz would be for depths over 200' and the 200khz would be best for depth up to 200'

here maybe this will help explain

Frequency is a measure of how many sonar pulses or signals that the fishfinder sends into the water each second.
The higher the frequency (more pulses per second) the higher the detail (target resolution) of the sonar returns.
The lower the frequency (fewer pulses per second) the better the signal can penetrate into the water allowing for use in deeper water.

 

[static]

You're right sorry, I meant DSI not HDI

 

[SpringVelocity]

Fishing the hump, or anywhere deeper than 200 ft, my elite 5 loses the bottom. As soon as I hit shallower water ( about 200 ft or less) it reads perfectly.

Suggestions?

How close did you mount it to kicker.... take a look at install instruction make sure the mounting and angel to transom are set correctly. I used to lost depth on other sounder and I was getting cavitation etc, and it was screwing it...same thing it work fine shallow but not deep.

 

[Seafever]

Betcha it 'll work if the settings are right.....

First off take out of 'automatic" mode if it is......the automatic mode doesn't work worth a crap in salt.

Set the sensitivity about 86%.........usually if it's higher than that in the chuck they start to act up.

Over 200ft use 83 hertz or 50, depending on which yours is...

There's a setting for "noise"....sometimes this helps when it's on, sometimes it messes you up. If it is on keep it at "low".

In the "setup" mode......does yours come with depth options like 'Fresh', Shallow, 'Deep' etc ?.....if it does, leave it on deep all the time.

Ping speed....I find that certain ping-speed settings can mess a finder up.......I just have mine in the "normal" range...when I set it to high that's when it acts up.

I don't have the same sounder as you but I had all the same problems.....

I found that the place and height of the transducer makes a world of difference. In relation to waterflow over the transducer.......a difference of even as small as 1/2 inch in height can produce different results....too high and it messes up, too low and it messes up.

Try not to mount it where roiled turbulent water comes off the bottom of the transom........that causes more problems than electrical interference. I don't get electrical problems and my transducer is less than 1 and 1/2 feet away from engine leg.

Once I had mine (not your model) dialed in it will read down to 900 ft.......as advertised. Before I set it manually it wouldn't go 200.

 

[Hookin'up]

therise and fishin solo Seafever has you covered with some great info
definately start there then fine tune as required.

 

[Seafever]

OOps...my bad.....I see you have the Elite 5 DSI....which says in the specs it's only rated for 250ft max........sorry about that......

 

[Olde School]

I also recently purchased an Elite-5 and was given a choice between exceptional bottom detail to 200' OR the ability to pick up the bottom up to 1000'.
We prawn so I went with the depth.