Thread: Garmin and aluminum boat/my boat, are they compatible?

Only time I've ever seen "wavy" images on my depthfinders was when the boat was bobbing up/down with the waves.

The "line on the left side view" is probably prop wash.

From the last side imaging picture in 5.3 ft of water my guess is that there was a 2 to 4 inch chop on the water that the boat is floating on causing the wavy lines in the water column. The line on the left is probably from the trolling motor being down causing a slight disturbance in the water that you are being shown a very detailed sonor return from using 1070 Khz frequency. you could take a tape measue and measure apx 2 ft to the left of where the transducer is mounted to see if there is anything that could cause disturbance in the water, my guess is the trolling motor shaft at the front of the boat.

Side and down imaging aren't really designed to work well when sitting still regardless of manufacture.
Is movement required for side imaging to work? – Humminbird (johnsonoutdoors.com)
Fish Finder Mistakes: The Top 5 Mistakes (Most Anglers Make) (catfishedge.com)

Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Only time I've ever seen "wavy" images on my depthfinders was when the boat was bobbing up/down with the waves.

The "line on the left side view" is probably prop wash.

My boat definitely “bobs”, as most do. Maybe mine is too buoyant, which doesn’t seem to be a good excuse for the bad imaging.

the motor was all the way out of the water when the line is there. It’s there all the time.

Originally Posted by zekepa

From the last side imaging picture in 5.3 ft of water my guess is that there was a 2 to 4 inch chop on the water that the boat is floating on causing the wavy lines in the water column. The line on the left is probably from the trolling motor being down causing a slight disturbance in the water that you are being shown a very detailed sonor return from using 1070 Khz frequency. you could take a tape measue and measure apx 2 ft to the left of where the transducer is mounted to see if there is anything that could cause disturbance in the water, my guess is the trolling motor shaft at the front of the boat.

Side and down imaging aren't really designed to work well when sitting still regardless of manufacture.
Is movement required for side imaging to work? – Humminbird (johnsonoutdoors.com)
Fish Finder Mistakes: The Top 5 Mistakes (Most Anglers Make) (catfishedge.com)

Good point on the TM, I’ll do some more testing for that. That’s crazy sensitive if it’s causing that line from 18ft away.

Also, just to add to my post here, I’ve been fishing and using electronics for over 40 years (fish finders for probably 25-ish years) and I’ve never seen wavy images this pronounced/bad. It’s just mind boggling that this sort of thing is “normal”. These units are on everything from yachts to kayaks and I’ve never heard of or seen this issue. It’s driving me nuts. This was/is a huge purchase for me personally and I just expected it to work as expected.

Is this the first unit on this boat? If not, I'm guessing you did not have the issue with the unit before this one?? You mentioned that Garmin had you purchase a new transducer; did you keep the original? If so, could you temporarily mount you unit with the original TD in another boat?? You can use a suction cup to temp mount the TD and you would know if it is the equipment or the boat.

I'm really just spit balling trying to help, I don't know much about Garmin units.

This is what I was talking about, but this is a screenshot from my Lowrance Elite 5 DSI unit (now deceased).

I have a Garmin 93sv but bought it only for use with my Livescope, so I didn't get a transducer in the deal ... so I can't try and imitate those screen waves.

Have you sent Garmin these pics and asked them what they think the problem could be ??

i have a hummingbird side image and never had that probablem .

Hello,
You might try connecting your Water Ground on the 126 to the negative of the (starting or dedicated) battery that supplies it . Worth a try


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