I have an HDS 12 gen 3, the down imaging has white dots on the screen. Almost look like a fish would but they're spread out and very white in color. Any ideas?

Electrical interference. About all you can do is to start moving wires around and pray it clears up. I never had any until recently, I replaced my batteries, cleaned up some wiring that was sloppy, bought a new 2 bank charger and a small seperate charger for the cranking battery. Now I have a bad case of interference and I'll have to figure out which one caused it.

That's kind of what I figured. I had a grounding issue I just recently fixed and this problem just showed up. Oh the joys of fixing a BRAND NEW boat!

If it's brand new it sounds like warranty work.

I had a similar problem. Try removing the + from the charger to one of the batteries. That helped clear mine back up. Just re-hook it for charging times.

It is warranty work but I've had to take it in once already. Don't have time for that, I'm trying to be on the water! Thanks for the tips guys!

so it's not really a lowrance problem?

grout-scout's educated guess is a good one. You really have to start eliminating sources to find out if it is interference or not. All the major brands do a decent job of putting filters on their power input, but they can only do so much. If a boat's electrical system is sub-par, issues can be seen.

For instance, do you know if the issue is all the time, or only when the outboard or some other devices are running? Try drifting with EVERYTHING else off and see if the dots are still there. Next, remove both connections for the charger on the starting battery (temporarily as a test, assuming HDS power is from that battery). Warning: do not tinker with battery connections while the outboard is running! I know you are on the water and the charger is not active, but the circuits are still connected.

Do you have a friend with an HDS setup? If your unit isn't flush mounted, could you move it to another boat for a test? Remember, for compatibility it can be Gen 2 or Gen 3, doesn't have to be Touch.