Hey guys and gals, I have a quick question about voltage output. I took the boat out yesterday and noticed under the status page on my Lowrance, that the voltage while running the big motor is less than 12v, sometimes actually going below 10v and disabling my sonar. I had a brand new battery up front for the trolling motor, so I switched the cranker and trolling motor battery, but got the same result. Is the Lowrance voltage status completely accurate? I also noticed that when I turn the radio volume up, it would shut off the radio momentarily, then come back on. One more thing happened, when I tilted the motor, the am/fm radio would shut off.Even just blowing the horn will shut the radio off. Seems like a low voltage condition, maybe not charging correctly? I tested the new battery with my Fluke and it has 13.2 volts, but when I installed it as the cranker, the Lowrance immediately showed it under 12v.

You have either a bad ground, bad ground cable, or bad positive cable or bad positive cable connections. You have voltage but not carrying amperage to operate the accessories.
Just ran into this with a merc 115.

Mine did the same thing. Check to see if you have a voltage regulator. Mine went out. Got two new ones and that fixed it

I dont know if it has voltage regs, I dont think so. I checked all the cables and connections and changed the battery and charger while I was in there. Got a stowaway 1000 CA and a Minn Kota 6 amp charger installed. I need to dig out the manual and find out what the output is supposed to be from the stator.

"You have voltage but not carrying amperage to operate the accessories" that seems exactly what I think is wrong. What kind of amps does a 38hcx Lowrance draw?

Whats the make, model, and year of the motor???

If it is electric start I am sure it has a regulator.

Sorry its a 96 Johnson 130 V4. It does have a regulator rectifier, and I found out the output for the stator on this motor is only 9 amps.

Voltage should be running around 13-14 V on the meter.

It stated in the manual to test it correctly it has to be at 4500 rpm. I guess I will have to wait until I get it back in the water. I put my fluke on the battery and turned on the Lowrance to compare voltage readings, and it was +- .5v, which I think is acceptable. Also I had the stereo and Lowrance sharing the same power supply, so I remedied that situation.

My 2000 Johnson 90hp when running puts out 13.8-14.2V from idle to running on plane. That is what my Lowrance shows. I also have GPS and I had to install a "Power Off" switch on the leads going from battery to the console because even when Lowrance is turned off, it will run down a battery over time. Paperwork with the Lowrance stated that the gps portion will always have a little bit of a drain on battery. Installed switch to keep from having to unhook the unit + if critters get in the boat and flips a switch nothing will come on. Always wanted one of those switches anyways.

I actually did install the swith per the instructions when I put the Lowrance in, it is a good tip to know, thank you.

having my voltage regulator changed as we speak,hoping it didn't ruin the stator