# Humminbird 597 problems



## chopper (May 15, 2004)

My friend just bought a new 597 ci HD DI unit. He mounted it on his trolling motor. It will not give him a good bottom reading. It jumps from whatever the depth really is to all kinds of readings. He called HB and they told him to change some settings. He did and it did not work. They sent him a new power cable. That did not work. They want him to ship the unit back to them. Has anyone had any of these problems?


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

Mine is not the HD unit as I bought it on sale. I still don't have it hooked up or the boat in the water, but I'll sure be following this thread with interest.


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## chopper (May 15, 2004)

My friend is really getting upset. I talked him into going with HB because of their great service. I have the 800 series unit and they have been great with me. They are given him the run around, having him try different settings, then they sent him a new power cable, now they want him to do an update. Whats making him mad is that it is all taking time and he's missing some fishing, between rain. He asked them just to exchange this one for another unit and they said no. I'll keep you posted.


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

Chopper, I don't blame him fo being upset. I've had that problem with a couple other manufacturers of outdoor equipment. Did he buy from a dealer? My dealer in Youngstown gets on the phone if a manufacturer fails to stand behind equipment. After he gets through I'll bet their ears are bleeding. He's gotten a gun problem fixed and a high end fishing rod replaced with a new one.

When I owned a production company before I retired I got camera problems resolved by writing the president of the company.


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## Star1pup (Aug 3, 2004)

One more suggestion: Do you have an outdoor newspaper column close? Sometimes the threat of bad press can get a company moving in the right direction. Maybe write a letter to outdoor magazines with a copy to Humminbird.


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## HBirdDeborahCRC (Apr 19, 2011)

Chopper I am sorry to hear your friend is having problems with his unit. What is your friends name so I can research his Humminbird account. 

Please send me an IM with his information. Name/ location /zip code etc.

Thank you
Deborah @ Humminbird


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## whjr15 (Jun 16, 2005)

If the transducer is mounted on the transom too close to a motor (15" minimum 
I believe), when the motors running your sonar will act up bigtime -- too much turbulence. 

Don't know if thats the case or not, just throwin' it out there!

I have the same unit, and haven't had any problems arise yet.

EDIT: oops, my fingers were moving faster than my brain lol, didn't notice you mentioned it was a trolling motor mount. I assume he has the correct trolling motor transducer, and I'd check it over to make sure its tight and not moving around at all.


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## chopper (May 15, 2004)

I did not get on this site for a couple of days. I sent you a PM Hbird. Thanks in advance if you can help him. These are all good ideas for him to do. I am asking him to be nice and see if they will help him. I feel bad because I talked him into going with HB. I think they will help him. Thanks, Chopper


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## HBirdDeborahCRC (Apr 19, 2011)

Chopper, you should have a reply today regarding what has been done for your friend.


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## choppers helper (Feb 28, 2011)

Thanks Chopper for putting that out on my 597 HB I still haven't heard from Deborah @ Hummingbird..I did talk to [email protected] HB she is sending me a SD card , She thinks it will fix the problem..Its only takin 3 1/2 weeks to get this far I just think or feel Hummingbird is dragging there feet a little


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## HBirdDeborahCRC (Apr 19, 2011)

Chopper/Chopper Helper,

The SD Card with the update shipped on May 9, 2011 per fed ex it looks like it was delivered on May 11, 2011 at 3:36 PM.

Please let us know if you have any other problems.


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## HBirdDeborahCRC (Apr 19, 2011)

choppers helper said:


> Thanks Chopper for putting that out on my 597 HB I still haven't heard from Deborah @ Hummingbird..I did talk to [email protected] HB she is sending me a SD card , She thinks it will fix the problem..Its only takin 3 1/2 weeks to get this far I just think or feel Hummingbird is dragging there feet a little


I didn't receive an IM from you directly. The last message I replied to was on 5/9 when I told chopper that the SD card was being shipped out to you via fed ex. 

I was not aware of your user ID on this forum to be able to reply to you directly. If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thank you.
Deborah @ Humminbird


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## SwollenGoat (Apr 13, 2005)

After reading this I just wanted to give a "kudos" to Deborah for staying on top of this. Yes, I know how aggravating it can be when things don't happen as fast as we want them to. However, it seems HB is trying to get the problem resolved.


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## tmsmalley (May 19, 2011)

Hi - I found this forum by googling "Humminbird 597 problems. 
I bought this same unit a couple of weeks ago. Just got it on the water last weekend and am having the same issue as your friend. I'll be trolling along and all of a sudden the depth reading starts jumping all over the place. 

The transducer is mounted on a clamp-on holder I have had for years and used with success with two other sonars. I have tried also resetting the settings to default. I did the update on the software. Not sure what I should try next. Is there some sort of update I can get on an SD card from Humminbird?

The thought of sending the unit in and losing weeks of fishing is not pleasant to me. 

Tim Smalley
Minnesota


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## Ruminator (Apr 6, 2004)

Tim, send Deborah a private message here at OGF like she requested in her above post of the other member. Include the same info. !%


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## chopper (May 15, 2004)

Thank you Deborah and Humminbird. They sent my friend an update that seemed to solve his problem of loosing the depth. After the update, all seems well. I had an issue with my 898c si and called in and got help right away. I told you they have good service. Just be patient. Thanks, again.


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