# Lowrance hds 8 issue



## talltim (Jul 25, 2008)

Yesterday I was fishing Lake Erie and my screen on my HDS 8 would change to almost an x-ray looking screen. Very hard to see in the sun light, then it would switch back. I’m thinking it’s something internal, I have not had time to check all the connections yet. Anyone ever had this happen? Here are a couple pictures I took in the garage.


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

Looks like Russian interference!  Sorry, I’m of no help at all when it comes to electronics!


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Gen 1, 2, 3?
Have you tried a soft reset? or a hard reset?
Might want to try to save your waypoints, tracks ect to an sd card before you do.


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## talltim (Jul 25, 2008)

It's a GEN 2 , I do have it linked to another unit,so was able to use that one for my waypoints. I am shopping for a new unit, so will down load my waypoints. Thanks


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Have you tried a reset? Sometimes that will restore it to original format?


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

It's not hard to do


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## s.a.m (Feb 22, 2016)

I did a hard reset,on my lowrance,
I bought a Garmin!!


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

s.a.m said:


> I did a hard reset,on my lowrance,
> I bought a Garmin!!


So beside not being helpful to the OP, who cares? That's not helpful so why post it.

IMO there is no "best electronics" or "best manufacturer" out there. All these units pretty much function the same. Whatever unit you bought (like all computers) is already outdated, they're working on it's replacement long before any unit makes it to the market. For the most part, a good fisherman is going to catch fish regardless of what brand of electronics he uses.
All depth finders pretty much show all the same stuff so brand itself is unimportant although I'll give the Panoptix/Livescope and 360 degree units a slight difference.

FWIW I know a guy who bought a new boat. Of course he ordered all the latest and greatest Garmin electronics. It's pretty cool stuff watching his jig fall to the fish (Panoptix) and watching the fish go after it. It all worked just fine for about a month. Now however after a few hours of use it begins to become less and less clear, harder to see.
He called Garmin and talks to the tech guys. They tell him to upsize the wires (he did, no change) replace his battery (he did, remember it's new and again, no change). Now the tech guys say the battery isn't big enough so again he upgraded and eventually bought a separate battery to just run the electronics. Still his Garmin unit isn't working as it should.
Now Garmin after months of this BS has agreed to replace the unit...they say there maybe something wrong with it. They told him to pack up the unit and send it back BUT...it will be 3 to 4 MONTHS before they could get a replacement to him because they don't have any stock right now. Imagine his surprise to that, it will be Oct/ November before he's back fishing again with. Last time I talked to him he was trying to decide what to do.
Is he alone? Is this just an isolated case? Well his friend has the same unit and the same problems. What do you think?
Is Garmin junk? I don't think so but they aren't perfect either.
I hope your switch to Garmin works out for you, this stuff is too expensive to replace every year and justify that cost.
I know my friend is thinking of making a switch too...he's thinking of going to Lowrance.


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## s.a.m (Feb 22, 2016)

crappiedude said:


> So beside not being helpful to the OP, who cares? That's not helpful so why post it.
> 
> IMO there is no "best electronics" or "best manufacturer" out there. All these units pretty much function the same. Whatever unit you bought (like all computers) is already outdated, they're working on it's replacement long before any unit makes it to the market. For the most part, a good fisherman is going to catch fish regardless of what brand of electronics he uses.
> All depth finders pretty much show all the same stuff so brand itself is unimportant although I'll give the Panoptix/Livescope and 360 degree units a slight difference.
> ...


WOW, I've had nothing but problems with my lowrance a hard reset may help, for a little while, half the people I know have to get them updated quite often (bps) recommends yearly why? I have better things to do than keep screwing with electronics that don't work when you need them to, so if you didn't think my post was helpful maybe you need to look at it in a different way, sorry


PS. My money is on the lowrance in question is on its way out. Jm2c


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## CDUCK (Feb 7, 2012)

I have the Lowrance hds 8 for 7 or 8 years never knew you had to upgrade every year, mine works fine, never had an upgrade


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## Popspastime (Apr 1, 2014)

Try removing the network cable and boot it up, see if thats the source.


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## SJB (Mar 22, 2017)

In this order, I would trouble shoot:

1. Save data, 2. Soft Reset. 3. Hard Reset 4. try a different power cord 5. Contact Lowrance or find a service person near you.


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