Hummingbird helix 7 issues.

[quickshake]

Asking for my fishing partner, he has this model and has issues with the unit staying on. He goes out in the morning with a fully charged battery and the unit draws the battery down to 70% within 4 hours and then shuts off. He carries a 2nd one  with the same issue. He keeps his screen brightness down around 20-25% all the time to try and conserve battery, is this normal or ? I don't know much about it and neither does he. He  received it for a x-mas present.

[vanhln]

I think we need more info:  what kind of battery?  SLA or Lithium?  What size battery (aHrs)?  Is it a GPS, DI or SI unit?  First Gen, second Gen??

[ChillNtheMost]

I have the helix 7 as well. With a 10 ah SLA battery I get around 4 hours of battery life. After switching to the 12 ah lithium from amped outdoors I haven’t run out of battery in a full day of fishing yet.

[quickshake]

I have the helix 7 as well. With a 10 ah SLA battery I get around 4 hours of battery life. After switching to the 12 ah lithium from amped outdoors I haven’t run out of battery in a full day of fishing yet.

yes he has 2 10 ah sla's. Is it normal to shut off though when the power gets lower than 70%?

[marknpanfish]

Mine runs all day. Sorry I don't have a solution.

[kpd145]

Those units use a good amount of power.

My buddy has a helix 7 G2.

Had the same issues with his SLA batteries. He purchased a Dakota lithium and it's been fine ever since.

[ice dawg]

I have a Helix 7 g2 and the last time I was out I used it for 7 hrs. At the end of the day my battery monitor was reading 70%. I use night mode with screen brightness set at 5. I use a 9ah sla battery.

[kpd145]

OP

Have you checked to see if you are running the newest software?

[quickshake]

OP

Have you checked to see if you are running the newest software?

no he/we haven't he just got it for x-mas, neither one of us have ever used a flasher or any other electronics of any type until this year, we're old school boy's I guess.

[jethro]

I would question those batteries and even more so the charger that he uses with them.

[quickshake]

I would question those batteries and even more so the charger that he uses with them.

ya IDK where his wife got the spare battery from but it's identical to the original battery and he uses the charger that came with it.  I do know that when he puts the charged battery in his screen reads 100% power though on both and it literally drops 1% every 5-6 minutes or so.

[ice dawg]

I don't put much trust in the Helix 7 battery guage. I don't think mine has ever read 100% when fully charged. My battery voltage will read 12.65 volts with my multimeter and the battery monitor will read something like 86%. The last time I was out it read 80% at the start of the day and somewhere around 67% after 7 hours. I wouldn't think you should have a problem with low voltage if you are using a freshly charged 12v 10ah battery in good condition.

[quickshake]

I don't put much trust in the Helix 7 battery guage. I don't think mine has ever read 100% when fully charged. My battery voltage will read 12.65 volts with my multimeter and the battery monitor will read something like 86%. The last time I was out it read 80% at the start of the day and somewhere around 67% after 7 hours. I wouldn't think you should have a problem with low voltage if you are using a freshly charged 12v 10ah battery in good condition.

His unit will shut right off the second it hit 70% on the screen. You can restart it and within 30 seconds it will shut off again. I think there is other issues with it.

[gaspumper]

On the Humminbird Helix units they will shut off when your battery reaches 70% or lower.

[TickleStick]

Mine has never shut off and I've had it down to 12%

I've also ran mine for 9 hours strait...

Running on a 9ah from sheels

[hays47]

The Helix 7 uses .85 amps per hour. So a 10AH battery should last at least 10 hours. If not something is wrong with battery or charger.

[Evil Tom]

A fully charged sla batt should read around 13.1-13.5 volts fully charged.Any good charger/maintainer will automatically charge it to that point.The helix uses alot of power .85 is probably an estimate.Those units def need a lithium battery the bigger the better.

[marknpanfish]

Been using regular batteries for mine for three years with no problems. I turn the back light to six or seven and it run all day.

[quickshake]

Thanks for all the replies, sounds like everybody has a different experience with them. He is going to try a new lithium battery for next season, Now will he need a different charger for that or will his work? His is putting out 14.17 volt on the multimeter.

[Evil Tom]

Lithium batteries need special charger to get best life.They have chargers that can charge all types and are not expensive.I Personally use noco chargers.