Can anyone recommend someone to fix a speed and depth transducer. The transducer is working intermittently for depth but it is not working for speed. Can you also please let me know if this can be fixed without taking the boat out of the water, We have a Northshore 27. It is moored in Woodford Bay. I am pretty sure the transducer brand is Ray Marine. Thanks in advance for your help.
Dunno about someone who can repair them specifically, but there's probably a fair bit you can do yourself.
Almost all the speed/depth/temp transducers are actually made by the one company, Airmar. The most common model is the DST800 (sometimes also confusingly called the DST200) which is depth, speed & temperature. Others might be just speed or just depth, so you could have multiple transducers. There are specific manufacturer types, but that's more to do with what the rest of the system is and what sort of plug it needs.
If you have a look at this video:
Hi Brisa
The viability of repair and ability to repair depend on the age of your system, which will effect the availability of spare parts.
There are many posts by people lamenting the fact that they cannot repair a unit that is only 10 years old..
The first thing you can do is go to the trouble shooting section of your manual. This is what Planeray has suggested. His information on the transducer is very valuable.
If you don't have a manual, search for one on line or tell the members of Seabreeze your model number and maybe someone can help you.
If the manual doesn't help, your next step is to contact the manufacture's service department. This is where I imagine you will be informed that parts are not available and your best bet is to buy a new system.
You have asked, "Can anyone recommend someone to fix a speed and depth transducer. "
There are few technicians around who do not work for the manufacture. Maybe someone here will come along with a name and contact.
But I expect that it would be a very expensive way to find out that spares are not available.
The transducer is working intermittently for depth but it is not working for speed
The speed is a five minute fix that will cost nothing.
Download the app, Boat Speed. You will have speed over the ground in nice big numbers and also a little lady inside you phone will read them off to you. Doesn't need an internet connection.
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.herberlin.boatspeed&hl=en_US
When you haul out next time you can check the paddle wheel, I suspect you will fall in love with Boat Speed and continue with it.
For the depth sounder a cheap fishfinder with an internally fitted transducer will fix that for approx $200
www.whitworths.com.au/garmin-striker-plus-4-with-dual-beam-transducer
You want a sounder with the biggest numeral display. All of the other stuff they offer is pretty well superfluous.
Can always stay fitted as a back up.
I have an old black and white unit on my trailer sailor with numbers that fill the whole screen. Wish they still made them like that.
All the best
gary
Speed has been discussed, either App or clean the paddle wheel.
Depth being intermittent, from experience, I had the same thing once, it was just 1 bad joint on a back of plug near the display, occasionally the wire touched, and other times not... if it's intermittent my first guess is check the cables and plugs.
What instrument is it? You mentioned Raymarine, is it a tri data, or just depth? Is it old and Black or Grey? What is written on it?
Hi Brisa, both the speed and depth readings can be effected if the transducer/paddlewheel unit is fouled, this may be why you're experiencing intermittent readings.
So the first thing to do is clean the unit really well. If you have a removable transducer/paddlewheel unit, then doing as Planeray's video suggests is the first step. Take it out and clean it, then test. If you have a more permanently fitted type (can't be removed unless the boat is out of the water), dive on the boat and clean it, then test.
If after cleaning it's still playing up, then the second step would be to go through all your electical connections from the transducer to the Head unit/plotter that displays the data. There's a possibility that there's a bad connection or corroded wire or something. On my system the transducer wires go via a box which converts the analogue signal from transducers into the digital signal that Raymarine uses (Raymarine ITC-5) before it goes to the head units and plotters, so there's plenty of scope for loose or corroded connections. Check to see you have one of those converter boxes and check connections to and from that. The unit itself could also be faulty and should be checked. (they look like this: www.raymarine.com/view/index-id=3338.html)
Best to check these steps before looking to replace the transucer unit, as they're usually pretty reliable and problems are often from fouling or electrics. Good luck and let us know how you go?
Thanks a lot for all your detailed responses. We will go to the boat tomorrow to follow your suggestions. Hopefully we can fix the problem with the depth measurements.
The transducer is tridata and I would say it would be more than six years old as according to what we were told by the previous boat owner so it may even be over ten years old. We have the manual in the boat so we will have a look tomorrow. I will let you know how we go.
We went to the boat today and fiddled with the cables of the transducer. It is working now so hopefully that was the only issue.
Thanks again for the tips you provided.
Select to expand quoteBrisa said..
We went to the boat today and fiddled with the cables of the transducer. It is working now so hopefully that was the only issue.
Thanks again for the tips you provided.
Good to hear Brisa. Did you actually find any corrosion or a bad connection in the cables?
Select to expand quoteBrisa said..
We just had a loose connection. Thanks again.
A bit late now.... I take mine (Airmar) out every time I leave the boat so that it doesn't get fouled. I get more of a water spout than the cat in the video, presumably because in a monohull the transducer is lower in the water where the water pressure is greater. I found that if you inadvertently put the transducer in at a slight angle, 2 things happen. First, the paddle wheel does not work properly and you can be doing 5 knots although the instrument says you are doing a fraction of that, and the second is that you can cross-thread the plastic collar which secures the transducer in place. And of course the more you cross-thread it, the more the thread is permanently damaged. I wish they'd make them in bronze. Lesson: count how many turns the collar takes for a normal placement and always tighten it gently. (Let the adrenalin rush from the water spout subside first!) If it only goes a couple of turns and stops, back it off gently and start again. DO NOT FORCE IT. I've never tried it, but vaseline on the thread might help.
