Depth sounder took a dive

[dhays]

A couple days ago, my depth sounder started to quit setting a depth. At first it was intermittently when over deep water (150 fathoms or so). Then it started to crap out anything above 15 fathoms, then 10, then 5, and now it will only give me a depth if it feels like it, which is very rare.

Bad timing as I have spent a couple days exploring new places. Today I am in Oyster Bay, which is off of Ostrich Bay, which is off of Dyes Inlet. The channel into this shallow little pocket has a depth of 7 feet at MLLW which aroumd here is about 2.7ft. there is going to be a -2 tide tomorrow. I am guessing I anchored in 16 feet of water at a 8' tide. So at a -2, tide I should still have 6' of water and I only draw 4.5'. what could go wrong? Fortunately, a soft mud bottom.

Anyway, any ideas on what could have caused the sounder to quit reporting? I replaced the transducer about 4-5 years ago. At the time, I would get a DSM error when the depth wouldn't read. No such error now. I am assuming that means that the transducer is still connecting to the Raymarine ST60.

Bottom was painted within the last year.

 

[Blissboat]

Had to open Google Maps to clarify where Dave is (Oyster Bay in Bremerton Washington, not Oyster Bay, Long Island). I miss the previous TF version that displayed members' locations at a level of detail more helpfully specific than "United States." When the present version of TF went live, everyone's profiles defaulted to the present "dumb" style, requiring those who care or think about it to go back in and edit their info.

Other than checking the surface of the transducer for gooey mud sticking to it, hard to guess why that fatho has gone silent.

 

[dhays]

Had to open Google Maps to clarify where Dave is (Oyster Bay in Bremerton Washington, not Oyster Bay, Long Island). I miss the previous TF version that displayed members' locations at a level of detail more helpfully specific than "United States." When the present version of TF went live, everyone's profiles defaulted to the present "dumb" style, requiring those who care or think about it to go back in and edit their info.

Other than checking the surface of the transducer for gooey mud sticking to it, hard to guess why that fatho has gone silent.

Thanks for the reminder. I have not updated my profile since the new TF version.

 

[O C Diver]

I would start with a lead line. A large fishing sinker on braided nylon line with a knot every 10'.

With out being too critical, it's hard to imagine you have only one transducer on that boat. In this age on newer generation electronics, many transducers connect to the NEMA 2000 network and can be displayed on most MFDs and most 4" displays tied to the network. I felt 3 transducers would be sufficient. One for video display, one in the bow for entering extremely shallow water, and one because I didn't want to haul out only to change a transducer.

Last spring the video transducer slowly died. Finding a replacement was tough as it had been discontinued. IMO, the transducers that have been available for almost 20 years, seem to almost always have computers (chips) in them. As a result the life expectancy is a fraction of what they use to be. I installed a new video transducer when I did my refit. It lasted 7 years (about 5,000 hours). The video transducer on my charter boat ( no chip) was still going strong when I sold the boat with around 20,000 hours (stayed on from departure to return to the dock).

Ted

 

[ranger58sb]

I miss the previous TF version that displayed members' locations at a level of detail more helpfully specific than "United States." When the present version of TF went live, everyone's profiles defaulted to the present "dumb" style, requiring those who care or think about it to go back in and edit their info.

??? I didn't have to update. I see everyone's profile info, didn't notice any reverts to U.S.

??

Thanks for the reminder. I have not updated my profile since the new TF version.

Assuming everyone can what I see about myself here...

=================

Ooops. Belay all that. I notice I'm located in "USA" now. Thanks for the tip.

(Looks like the forum change may have begun pulling that from the Location field, whereas before it was maybe pulling it from the City or Town field. Looks like none of my previous entries had actually changed at all...)

-Chris

 

[twistedtree]

What devices are involved in your depth sounding? That will help. It could be a transducer + fish finder, a transducer + a simple depth sounder, or a "smart" transducer that connects directly to N2K and sends depth. I have found the first two to be quite reliable, and the last to be quite unreliable. I think my current DT800 (Depth and Temperature) "smart" transducer is startign to fail because it now reads 4 deg higher water temp than my fish finder.

 

[dhays]

I would start with a lead line. A large fishing sinker on braided nylon line with a knot every 10'.

With out being too critical, it's hard to imagine you have only one transducer on that boat. In this age on newer generation electronics, many transducers connect to the NEMA 2000 network and can be displayed on most MFDs and most 4" displays tied to the network. I felt 3 transducers would be sufficient. One for video display, one in the bow for entering extremely shallow water, and one because I didn't want to haul out only to change a transducer.

Last spring the video transducer slowly died. Finding a replacement was tough as it had been discontinued. IMO, the transducers that have been available for almost 20 years, seem to almost always have computers (chips) in them. As a result the life expectancy is a fraction of what they use to be. I installed a new video transducer when I did my refit. It lasted 7 years (about 5,000 hours). The video transducer on my charter boat ( no chip) was still going strong when I sold the boat with around 20,000 hours (stayed on from departure to return to the dock).

Ted

Ted, I don't think you are overly critical. The experience and knowledge y'all have is why I keep coming back.

I was thinking yesterday that a second transducer would be a nice thing to have. Primarily so that I wouldn't have to haul out to have one replaced. I only have one tranducer on the boat. All of my boats have only had one transducer. Most of the time in my area, depth is a convenience, not a necessity. However, there are some places that are nice to get into that do have skinny water.

Also the other day, I was thinking about the idea of an electronics refit. The Raymarine package that is on my boat was introduced around 2005. So it is going on 20 years old at this point. My electronics are original and have been in service for 15 years. Generally, I am in the the "if it ain't broke..." camp but I have started to get interested. An electronics refit would likely include adding a second transducer.

I will look for the lead line I made when the last transducer died.

 

[dhays]

What devices are involved in your depth sounding? That will help. It could be a transducer + fish finder, a transducer + a simple depth sounder, or a "smart" transducer that connects directly to N2K and sends depth. I have found the first two to be quite reliable, and the last to be quite unreliable. I think my current DT800 (Depth and Temperature) "smart" transducer is startign to fail because it now reads 4 deg higher water temp than my fish finder.

B744V

Both the fish finder display on the Raymarine E120 classic MFD, and the ST60+ depth display fail to display the depth and they fail at the same time. I don't get a signal error message from the Raymarine network like I did when the prior transducer failed on me, I just don't get any depth readings. Of course, it is intermittent and so far this morning it is working fine, but then there is only 5' of water under the keel at the moment...

The Transducer is an Airmar/Raymarine B744 I believe.

 

[dhays]

Low tied now. 2.9' under the keel according to the depth sounder when it occasionally deigns to give me a reading.

 

[twistedtree]

I’m not intimately familiar with Raymarine, but it appears that the transducer connects to the ST60 which interprets the echo and displays depth. I’d guess the ST60 then sends depth to other devices in the seatalk network, and that’s where the E120 is getting the data.

I’d start by locating the connects for the transducer cable, disconnect them, clean with contact cleaner, dab in some silicon grease, and reconnect. That might solve it.

It’s also just as likely that the ST60 is failing vs the transducer. I don’t think there is any way to tell other than swapping it out. I’m not sure how
much one costs. But if it works, then the transducer is fine and could be used in a new system too.

 

[Blissboat]

Low tied now. 2.9' under the keel according to the depth sounder when it occasionally deigns to give me a reading.

To eliminate one possibility, any chance someone could slip over the side with a long-handled deck brush and give the area around the transducer a quick scrub? (Not volunteering, just suggesting . . .).

 

[WestCoastMcgyver]

I had a similar issue with mine earlier this year. Convos with the manufactures tech dept, they sent me another transducer, problem was a thru hull and I'm not hauling out till sept. On a whim, donned mask and fins and dove. Very very minor growth but scrubbed it anyways, (I was there) started depth sounder and perfect. Would have lost the bet that that little growth could cause any problem..... worth a try?

 

[dhays]

To eliminate one possibility, any chance someone could slip over the side with a long-handled deck brush and give the area around the transducer a quick scrub? (Not volunteering, just suggesting . . .).

I did consider it. However, since I'm solo and the water temp is about 52 degrees and air temp is 64, I decided against it.

 

[dhays]

I had a similar issue with mine earlier this year. Convos with the manufactures tech dept, they sent me another transducer, problem was a thru hull and I'm not hauling out till sept. On a whim, donned mask and fins and dove. Very very minor growth but scrubbed it anyways, (I was there) started depth sounder and perfect. Would have lost the bet that that little growth could cause any problem..... worth a try?

I am due for my quarterly diver hull cleaning pretty soon. They usually do a pretty good job on it but I will bring it to their attention before they do it. I am hoping that is all it is.

 

[O C Diver]

I think my current DT800 (Depth and Temperature) "smart" transducer is startign to fail because it now reads 4 deg higher water temp than my fish finder.

There are two DT800 transducers on Slow Hand. Have had zero problems with the depth portion. 8+ years and atleast 30,000 hours without a hiccup. They're on my NEMA 2000 network which would get turned on April 1st and off around November 1st. Maybe switched off a total of 3 weeks during the summer.

Temperature sensors were crap, both failing the 1st year. Was worried about the depth portion failing, but it hasn't been an issue.

Ted

 

[dhays]

Water temps have never been important to me. There is typically only a 5 degree swing in water temps winter to summer here and I don't fish. Also, the transducer get heat from the engine room so it always shows higher than actual water temps anyway.