Hummingbird ice 45 makes me mad!!!!

[mc1984ss]

Like the title says I own a hummingbird ice 45 that I am not happy with and every year I say I'm replacing it. A very good portion of the time I cannot see my lure on the screen. There are times I can see my lure better on my sons flasher next to me than I can on my own. There are times I can see the swivel but not the lure. My average fishing depth is 10-17 ft of water and a lot of times I need to crank the gain up super high to see my lure. I was hoping for sure that the transducer was bad so I spent to $90 and bought a. New transducer with the same results. I had wondered it I felt was the battery but I charge it every time I use it and think if the battery is bad the unit would not work at all.  I have had a few times where the display turned off all by itself but the sonar is still spinning. Also sometimes the digital depth readout does not stay still, it must be lock-in get on my lure as the bottom because the digital readout varies as I jig. Any help would be greatly appreciated this unit has all the features that I need and would be happy if I didn't have to replace it. Thanks in advance!!!!

[Pheasanttail]

I have a 45 and know several other people with them. I have never had any issuers with mine. I don’t really have any idea what could be wrong. I would either send it in or get another flasher. Sorry to hear about your troubles.

[Buckshots]

Have you contacted Humminbird? They should take care of it under warranty if it’s not too late.

[DR.SPECKLER]

Try a different battery..all flashers do some wonky stuff with a weak battery or a bad cell.battery will show charge on charger but start to fail under load.most flasher problems stem from weak batteries.

[Cousin weakeyes]

I have the 55 and don’t experience any of those problems have mine for 4 or 5 years and I love it

[Kevin23]

The first couple issues sound like a non-level transducer. But could be power source issue. Check the pins in the power cord to make sure one is not bent, and check the connection with the battery (spade connectors should fit tight on the terminals).
Are you still using the float or are you laying your transducer up against the side of the hole? Are you using the support cable on the float?

[mc1984ss]

I will admit I do not use the support cable. I let it hang down the side making sure the cable is going straight down and not hung up. I make sure the transducer is right below the bottom of the ice. I know they want you to use the second cable but to be honest I see everyone else doing it this way

[RedRiverRick]

I use my Birds without the support cable. I always have to adjust something. Bought a Vex, I only touch it twice. On, and off. Wish I would of tried a Vex 7 years ago.

[Kevin23]

I will admit I do not use the support cable. I let it hang down the side making sure the cable is going straight down and not hung up. I make sure the transducer is right below the bottom of the ice. I know they want you to use the second cable but to be honest I see everyone else doing it this way

Good! That was what I was going to say, ditch the support cable.. it can make your transducer hang funny. Hang down the side, side of the hole (as in no float or arm)? The humminbird transducer is REALLY touchy, if its not perfectly straight up/down it will give weak readings. I use a transducer arm to suspend it in the middle of the hole and sometimes a fish coming out of the hole will knock the ducer over to the side of the hole and if its touching the side the readings will be funky

[ctbob]

When I used to use the airplane jig the vinglas, it would flutter to the bottom outside the cone range of my transducer. I realized this after I too didn't see it on my flasher, but on my buddies next to me, 

[REDin13]

I've had a 55 for 6 seasons now and it does have issues at times. several that were stated in the above posts. replaced the battery last season which seemed to help but yea the jig still disappears at times, even in shallow water. thanks for the suggestions, will have to try them before sending the unit in for a bench test. cheers

[JohnnyO19]

I've had my 45 - five seasons now, never really had a problem. I've finally started using the zoom, especially if I'm fishing deeper & really want to focus on the bottom 6ft of the water column. Maybe that would help. Hope you figure it out.

[John_BZ]

Good! That was what I was going to say, ditch the support cable.. it can make your transducer hang funny. Hang down the side, side of the hole (as in no float or arm)? The humminbird transducer is REALLY touchy, if its not perfectly straight up/down it will give weak readings. I use a transducer arm to suspend it in the middle of the hole and sometimes a fish coming out of the hole will knock the ducer over to the side of the hole and if its touching the side the readings will be funky

Sounds like humminbird is the wrong choice if you like to hole hop.

[3300]

i have the ice-55 and the power/depth knob is messed up. you have to wiggle it to make it come on and get a depth.

also, the center display always blanks out completely every few minutes and has done that since new.

the motor fried in it.

i paid hb twice to fix the issues and they only fixed the motor. hb refused to fix the other issues.

never again.

moved onto a better brand.

[Light liner]

My son runs my old 45. Weve had it 9 or 10 years. No issues.
I switched to a vexilar 3 years ago.
Nothing wrong with a humminbird, great units.
Like someone else mentioned sounds like a battery issue.
Hope you get it resolved.