Depth sounder question

[sgnlman]

I have an older Horizon Depth Sounder DS10 with an in hull transducer. Out of the water, the reading was -- which shows the boat out of the water. Now at the slip, it reads " FE". Has my depth sounder gone south, maybe transducer failure? I'd like to just replace the faulty component, not the whole system if possible.

Thanks

 

[Benny]

Hard to tell. I have had some success with older electronics by disconecting the transducer, cleaning the connectors and reconnecting. Make sure battery voltage at the instrument is in the 12V range. Perhaps some electronics guru has the diagnostic data for the unit and can tell us what the "FE" stands for. I had missed the part about the transducer being inside the hull so go ahead and make sure there is no air between it and the hull. I would think that if the unit was working before there are no problems shooting through the hull of your boat but with the boat out of the water things dry up and may cause tiny air bubbles. Tell us how your transducer is attached to the hull.

 

[sgnlman]

My transducer screws into a 2" plastic pipe bonded to the hull. There is 12v at the gauge.

Hard to tell. I have had some success with older electronics by disconecting the transducer, cleaning the connectors and reconnecting. Make sure battery voltage at the instrument is in the 12V range. Perhaps some electronics guru has the diagnostic data for the unit and can tell us what the "FE" stands for. I had missed the part about the transducer being inside the hull so go ahead and make sure there is no air between it and the hull. I would think that if the unit was working before there are no problems shooting through the hull of your boat but with the boat out of the water things dry up and may cause tiny air bubbles. Tell us how your transducer is attached to the hull.

 

[kenn]

Assuming your transducer is not a thru-hull fitting but 'shoots' thru the hull...can you remove the transducer from the pipe and put it in a baggie of water sitting on the hull? If it works inside the baggie, then you might be lacking some fluid in the plastic pipe that acoustically couples the transducer to the hull.

 

[sgnlman]

I'll give the water bag trick a shot. My transducer does shoot thru the hull and the pipe it mounts in is dry as a bone.

 

[MoonSailer]

Dry is the problem!!!! Air does not transmitt sound very effectively copared to solids or liquids.