Transducer Problems

Bottom machine problems [that what we call em here ] are most commonly failed transducers . They are a combination of a "speaker" and "microphone" and handle a lot of current , and are a weak link in a lot of systems . If it worked for a while and stops or worked and became intermittent,that's the first place look . If you have 2 bottom machines and 1 is dual freq. run 1 at 50 K Hz [or 83 if its Lowrance ]and one at 200 Khz. That eliminates the interference .On network systems we still have many issues with Ducrs. If it doesn't work going slow , its likely not a placement problem either . Get one to test with,plug it in ,just dunk it in the water before you mount and pull the cable.
That's the first place to look . The transducer.
Marc
 
Seems that my order..( Airmar P66 BL ) from BlueHeron Electonics is on hold..ordered it Tuesday but it still hasn't been shipped and i cann't seem to get a straight answer back from them whether or not it is on ..back order......can anyone recommend another dealer that sells Airmar Products. Thanks Tug
 
I too am having problems with my depth sounder equipment. I have a Raymarine C80 and a DSM 300.
It will suddenly change from reading the proper depth of say 366 feet and switch to 28.6 feet. It will float around the 25 to 30 foot area and then jump back to the proper depth. I have switch the display to read both frequencies and adjusted the power with no luck. This happens at low and high speed. I e-mailed Raymarine who advises to send in the DSM300 for service. From this thread it appears the transducer might be the problem.
Has anybody else had this problem and if so, what fixed it? I am running a 66 transducer.
This equipment was new on the boat in 2005 and we have about 160 hours on it.
Andrew
 
My new Airmar P66 50/200 kHz transducer will be here Aug/25/10 finally. I plan on mounting it on the Port side a little further away from the motor and lower in the water.I will leave the Skimmer transducer mounted in place until i test the P66 just in case it doesn't work either, than i will mount it on the Starboard side as the instructions specify. Tug
 
I picked up my Airmar P66 transducer Wednesday, i haven't installed it yet and probably will not..at least not on this present unit.

I took a friend salmon fishing today..( small 15# King ) and was telling him about my transducer problems.. seems he owned one of these before...in less than 5 minutes he had my unit working perfectly and now i can even see my downrigger cannon balls behind the boat. On the 16 mile run back to the dock the unit worked great, never lost bottom or depth.. Wish i had run into him about two weeks ago ..i would of saved myself some money.ha!ha! Well the main thing is that now i have the unit working..and just in time for the Salmon Derby August 28/29th....Tug
 
B2, i wish i could tell you more, he did say i had my sensitivity to low and he did asked if i had a gain control feature..but i am not sure what other adjustments if any he made...he did say it was good and not to mess with it . Funny, i have had numerous fish finders ( transducers ) but this is my first unit i have troubles with adjustments.Must be the bad eyes and old age setting in. Tug
 
About five years ago, my Lowrance chart-plotter/fish finder went blank at sea. It was not a fuse. It was fried. Don't know why, other than a defective unit. The warranty had expired a few months earlier. I called Lowrance Support in Florida. They told me to ship it to them right away because a hurraicaine was heading their way. As soon as they got it, they sent me a new unit and closed up for the hurracaine. I asked what was the cost for the "repair" and they said nothing. That replacement unit still works six years later, so I'd call that outstanding service.

In these tough economic times, I wonder how well Lowrance staffs their service dept and whether they'd be so accomodating. If you have recent service experience you'd like to post, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

Keith
C-Pup16
 
Many service departments are that way. When I find one, I am always surprised and pleased. There are some good folks and companies out there. Be thankful and support them! The dealers we have on the site are great too, please support those folks also...

Charlie
 
My airmar P66 transducer is acting up. It is five years old and has always worked generally well. It would occasionally lose bottom for a few seconds and then restore itself so no big deal. It is networked to a Raymarine C-80, mounted as recommended by the manufacturer and Raymarine and the only problem is depth. It shows speed accurately as usual. Over the last few days we have been on the water for several hours at a time running at 15-17kts. The transducer, (Triducer according to Airmar since it does depth, speed and water temp.) loses bottom for several minutes at a time, 5-15 minutes, and when it recovers sometimes shows a false shallow depth, i.e. 33 ft when we are in 500ft of water, before blanking again then showing an accurate depth. This happens mostly at cruising speed and it seems to work properly at low speeds or when we start off from a prolonged halt. I have changed sensitivity, switched from auto to manual for lock, tried both 50 and 200 KHZ, etc. I have switched off the power to the DSM300 Raymarine depthsounder unit and have gotten a warning on the C-80 that depthsounder signal is lost so I know the DSM300 is outputting a signal. I have not yet done a factory reset as I can't get on the water for a few days and want to do it underway. The DSM300 is not where I can watch any lights for error codes (unless I stand on my head!). Has anyone had similar problems? All ideas are welcome. And...if a new transducer is in my future shoud I just replace the P66 or go for something new. I am not much of a fisherman so don't need to count scales.

Thanks.
 
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