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Author Topic:   Lowrance Factory Support: A Narrative

thekidd posted 10-24-2005 02:13 PM ET (US)
I realize this is not exactly Whaler Product information, but I am sure many of us here have a Lowrance Product, be it a GPS or Sonar.
I am adding this to the [SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL] forum so that it may prove helpful should anyone else have similar problems. My Lowrance 335 LMS GPS/Sonar went out about three months ago. The Sonar worked well, but the GPS could no longer find my position. I called tech support and spoke with an employee with substantial knowledge of the product and troubleshooting. They sent out new "pig tail" connectors and said that it would do the trick. A few weeks passed and I had time to replace the cables. No luck.
Next phone call I was told that that I had the unit installed improperly, so I went through everything again and dispelled that input.
Next phone call I was told that there was a Memory Chip that was being sent to me to refresh the antenna because it had been wiped out by Radar. The chip did no good.
The last employee I spoke to mentioned that the antenna I had was a model that had been experiencing troubles with Radar. Although I do not have radar on my boat, it appears that maybe another boat (the Coast Guard Cutter in the harbor) may have fried my antenna and that they needed to replace it. They now have a new antenna that is "radar proof".
Sure enough! I sent the unit and antenna in and Lowrance replaced it with a new unit, even though it was not under warranty any more.
If anyone else has this problem, hopefully they can take all of the steps above and get them over with right away. This way they will not have to wait many months to get the product up and running again.
This is not a knock against Lowrance because they were very helpful throughout the entire process and eventually replaced it as they were not required to do. It's just a case of having numerous tech support individuals with different opinions. All of whom were very knowledgeably and seemingly well trained.
JMARTIN posted 10-24-2005 02:36 PM ET (US)
Same unit, but slightly differnt problem. My unit could not find my position either. By phone we found out I had hooked it up incorrectly, no power to the antenna. It still did not work after power was hooked up. They sent me a new antenna, and fixed the problem. There must be something a little off on the original antenna. Lowrance help desk was terrific. They even called me back to make sure the new antenna worked. John
jimh posted 10-24-2005 04:20 PM ET (US)
[Moved to the SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL area.]
drd posted 10-24-2005 08:38 PM ET (US)
I have had great luck with lowrance customer service. My problem was with a 102c FF. In my case the unit was fairly new, 2 months old. It just one day shut off and would not restart. I sent it back and within 10 days I had a new one at my door.

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Author	Topic: Lowrance Factory Support: A Narrative
thekidd	posted 10-24-2005 02:13 PM ET (US) I realize this is not exactly Whaler Product information, but I am sure many of us here have a Lowrance Product, be it a GPS or Sonar. I am adding this to the [SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL] forum so that it may prove helpful should anyone else have similar problems. My Lowrance 335 LMS GPS/Sonar went out about three months ago. The Sonar worked well, but the GPS could no longer find my position. I called tech support and spoke with an employee with substantial knowledge of the product and troubleshooting. They sent out new "pig tail" connectors and said that it would do the trick. A few weeks passed and I had time to replace the cables. No luck. Next phone call I was told that that I had the unit installed improperly, so I went through everything again and dispelled that input. Next phone call I was told that there was a Memory Chip that was being sent to me to refresh the antenna because it had been wiped out by Radar. The chip did no good. The last employee I spoke to mentioned that the antenna I had was a model that had been experiencing troubles with Radar. Although I do not have radar on my boat, it appears that maybe another boat (the Coast Guard Cutter in the harbor) may have fried my antenna and that they needed to replace it. They now have a new antenna that is "radar proof". Sure enough! I sent the unit and antenna in and Lowrance replaced it with a new unit, even though it was not under warranty any more. If anyone else has this problem, hopefully they can take all of the steps above and get them over with right away. This way they will not have to wait many months to get the product up and running again. This is not a knock against Lowrance because they were very helpful throughout the entire process and eventually replaced it as they were not required to do. It's just a case of having numerous tech support individuals with different opinions. All of whom were very knowledgeably and seemingly well trained.
JMARTIN	posted 10-24-2005 02:36 PM ET (US) Same unit, but slightly differnt problem. My unit could not find my position either. By phone we found out I had hooked it up incorrectly, no power to the antenna. It still did not work after power was hooked up. They sent me a new antenna, and fixed the problem. There must be something a little off on the original antenna. Lowrance help desk was terrific. They even called me back to make sure the new antenna worked. John
jimh	posted 10-24-2005 04:20 PM ET (US) [Moved to the SMALL BOAT ELECTRICAL area.]
drd	posted 10-24-2005 08:38 PM ET (US) I have had great luck with lowrance customer service. My problem was with a 102c FF. In my case the unit was fairly new, 2 months old. It just one day shut off and would not restart. I sent it back and within 10 days I had a new one at my door.