Installing new fishfinder??

[SpeckWick]

It is upgrade time I guess. Just installed a new trolling motor the other day, thanks to those who helped. Now I am going to install my new EAGLE Fishmark 480. Any advice or tips for the best way to do so? I had an older, low end EAGLE up front before that wouldn't work right for anything but depth and temp. I'm not sure if it was something I did wrong, but the screen would fill with fish and cover anytime I moved. The transducer was mounted on the trolling motor, as the new one will be also. Maybe it was interference from the other components, since I had run the wire all the way to the back? The new EAGLE will be hooked to a battery in the front deck storage, so only maybe 5' of wire to run, and only the trolling motor and front anchor light wires will be anywhere near it. All the other electrical and electronic accessories on the boat will remain hooked up in the rear of the boat. Are there steps I can take to make sure I don't get any interference, or is this something I should be concerned about with all new components? Any help will be appreciated.

[Barnacle Bill]

Here are some tips from Lowrance. The ferrite blocks they mention are available at Radio Shack.

If you get lines on the screen or the unit reads erratically when the trolling motor is running, this could indicate trolling motor interference.

Trolling motor should run off of a separate power source than the unit. Use 2 different power sources if possible.
Make sure cables are on different sides of the boat.
When using skimmer transducer on motor, use a piece of rubber under the transducer.
Use ferrite blocks, one on the transducer cable, and one on power cable. Make sure to get the ferrite blocks as close as possible to the unit.
Ground the foot-control pin on the trolling motor to the negative terminal of the trolling motor battery.

[SpeckWick]

Ground the foot-control pin on the trolling motor to the negative terminal of the trolling motor battery.

Where is the foot control pin? Is it the place where the wires from the foot control come into the circuitry on the motor itself? I am new to doing all this, so excuse the ignorance. I got the boat new in '02 and everything was already installed, so the only experience I have with upgrading is the trolling motor I installed two days ago, and the old EAGLE I had in the front that was apparently not installed correctly. I have the new Minnkota Powerdrive V2 with the long cord type foot control that can be moved from the front to the back of the boat, an taken off to avoid theft. I will have seperate batteries for the trolling motor and the fishfinder, so that is not a problem. The wires will be coming into a gap at the top of my forward deck storage compartment so there won't be but maybe 3' of seperation at the widest point between the trolling motor and fishfinder wires. I hope that is enough.

[Barnacle Bill]

I'm not sure what pin they are referring to. The ferrite blocks and piece of rubber fixed my problem. From the sound of it, you shouldn't have any problems. You have done everything right.

[SpeckWick]

Well, it's installed. Haven't been able to get on the water and test it yet, but everything seems to be good. Guess I'll see soon enough. In the past week I've installed a new trolling motor, battery, fishfinder, motor hydrofoil, and a new rod holder set up. I also moved my trolling battery and accessories battery to the front deck storage compartment to add weight and make front hookups a little easier. Trolling should be a lot more productive this year. I will get on the lake this week if I have to play hookie from work.

[LIL' Joe]

Your not going to get any fishing done due to playing with all the new toys.

[ted]

what is a ferrite block ?

[SpeckWick]

Your not going to get any fishing done due to playing with all the new toys.

That's alright. The lake looks like chocolate milk right now, and cold as heck. What better time to learn to us the new equipment. Plus, I'll be on Weiss Lake this time next week, and I'll get plenty of fishing done there:D

[wefish]

Ferrite block is attachable to wires to cut down on interferance. Can order them from www.sewelldirect.com

[FisherMike]

SpeckWick, turn your graph on and your trolling motor also to see if there in interference. The trolling motor doesn't have to be in the water to cause the problem.

I agree with IBNFSHN. Sounds like you got it done right.