I have had great luck with the black box. The most important thing is to check your boat to see if it is "hot". Do this through www.ScottyUSA.com. When the Scotty black box is turned off and then turned right back on it will pulse up and down different voltages. This is a feature. To clear this shut it off for 10 seconds and it will reset back to manual settings. The Scotty is quite a bit more. I bought mine before cabellas had them. Dick Pool is the one who made them for Scotty, He made them for Cabellas, got into a huge controversary with them and they parted ways. He is now making them under the name Pro-Troll. Outdoor Emporium has the black box for $80.00. There is probably nothing wrong with your black box. It probably works the same as the Scotty as the same guy made them all.