Think I got a bum bird!

[sslopok]

Decided to hook up my new Humminbird 788 ci combo today. Ripped out the old lowrance and hooked up the new bird. Everything went smooth and easy throughout the install. Power on the unit and I get beeps and the buttons light up but no screen. I figured maybe it was the constant power source I used with a three amp fuse so I straight wired it to a charged battery and I got the same thing. Looks like I got one with a bad headunit.

Brandon

[HONDAM]

It happens every once in a while I got a bad 300 series a couple weeks back.

[Priority1]

Brandon, Sorry to hear that. From all I have gathered Bird's customer service is great. I hope it's a simple fix that can be handled over the phone.

[sherman51]

i think we have all got a lemon on something at one time or another. just make sure you have all the wires hooked up. sometimes they have 2 wires that goes to power. if thats not the problem, which it probably isnt. did you get it someplace where you can take it back. i had bought a brand new color unit once at bass pro shops. i installed it and went to brookville lake. the unit was just bad. the screen was full of clutter. nothing i did made any difference. so i loaded it up drove over to cincy to bass pro and they gave me a new unit. sometimes its better to go back to where you bought the unit than to have to ship it to the company. good luck. and let us know how this works out for you.

sherman

[silver one]

purchased the Humminbird ice 35 back in feb for ice fishing that never happened around here but when I was dont putting it all together it was running backwards. I will say Humminbird was quick to email me fed ex prepaid shipping and had a new unit shiped back to me with in 7 days.

I also had a garmin 250 unit go bad back in 05. the bad thing is that when I contacted them I had to send them everything back including the transducer. which meant I had to uninstall it and then reinstall it again. Make sure when you cantact humminbird that they dont want the whole thing back. Garmin would not warranty my unit without all of the parts that came with that unit. Not sure about humminbird.

[captaink]

I purchased a 778c unit a couple years ago on-line. A significant savings over a purchase from a sporting goods store. The deal included a speed wheel for free. I received the unit without the speed wheel. The on-line company denied that the speed wheel was included. After several e-mails disputing their claim though they had renewed an advertisement indicating the speed wheel was free, they sent me the speed wheel. I then decided that it would be in my best interest to connect the unit to a battery (January) instead of waiting for the spring when I would put the unit in my boat. Connecting the unit to a battery, the unit would not power up. Contacted the seller, I returned the unit. They tested it sent it back, reporting that the unit powered up. I tried it a second time and it did not power up. Returned it a second time and then received it back with no explanation, but this time the unit powered up. Lessoned learned - I will never purchase marine electronics on-line. The cost of sending the unit back twice eliminated any cost savings from buying it on-line.

[sslopok]

I should have hooked it to a battery when I first got it because I bought it in November from Gander Mountain and they only return/exchange things for 90 days. I am sure humminbird will take care of me though. They had me up and running when my 737 ci combo bit the dust on my last boat.

[Line Dancin]

I should have hooked it to a battery when I first got it because I bought it in November from Gander Mountain and they only return/exchange things for 90 days. I am sure humminbird will take care of me though. They had me up and running when my 737 ci combo bit the dust on my last boat.

Thats one reason i quit buying a lot of stuff at gander. Even worse is Cabelas policy they started last year. You only have 30 days to make a return there. No exceptions, and they dont care if you live close to 3 hours away. I tried to explain that to a manager telling him that i usually only get to that area every other month and was basically told sorry for your luck call the manufacture if you have a problem. Only place that still has a liberal policy is bass pro. So they get most of my business now.

[Side JOB]

call humming bird they have always done right buy me.

[TAKIN IT EZ]

lesson learned on mine yesterday, don't have unit on when starting main motor. My screen went black & gray with vertical lines and would not power off had to remove from base unit. Hooked back up run fine. Rudey

[Liberty800]

I had a screen freeze one winter (left it on my boat....dumb move). Ruined it. HBird's customer service repaired it for me for a nominal fee....turn-around was very quick.

[sslopok]

The screen on mine turned out to be bad from the factory. Gander exchanged it for me.