Depth Sounders

[Ward H]

My boat has a Humminbird depth sounder. The screen is filled with condensation so it is not readable. A new unit is around $85. Is Humminbird a good quality unit? Are there better units I should consider? Do all units use the same type transponder? The Humminbird transponder is epoxied into the bottom of the boat, not thru the hull.

A working depth sounder will probably be important next season due to Sandy rearranging things in the bay.

Thanks

Ward

 

[Merlin Clark]

Hi Ward,
A lot of guys use fishfinders instead of depth sounders, including me. I have my transducer set in toilet wax seal as far forward as I could put it, wanting a little more warning of what's in front of me.
My next one will be a gps/chart plotter/fishfinder - prices have come down on these, within reach for this small boat guy!
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|2028688|2028741&id=1821311
$200 for this one, $300 for color model.

 

[Lake Superior Sailor]

Open it up and dry it out ! I did to mine & it's all good..Dale

 

[petersea]

Have you tried to leave the light on ? Most of the time it will generate enough heat to get rid of the condensation

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I had a Humminbird once. Never was really happy with it. Replaced it with a Lowrance Fishfinder. Very happy with that. Transducer is glued to hull up forward with epoxy as they recommend.

Personally, I don't much care for combination units- Because if one happens to fail, they all crap out. I much prefer stand alone units.

 

[Doc_holiday]

West Marine has the Garmin 441s Chartplotter with GPS, Fishfinder and you can subscribe to XM and get weather as well. The Admiral picked one up for me for Christmas yesterday. Of course you will also need the transducer. There's a Thursday only coupon flier at the store for an additional $20 off.

 

[Bill Roosa]

An alternative to taking the unit apart to dry it is to put it in the oven set to about 120 degrees for an hour or two.

 

[Ward H]

"Open it up and dry it out"
"Have you tried to leave the light on ?"
"put it in the oven set to about 120 degrees for an hour or two."
Man, I wished I had asked earlier.

I practically destroyed it just trying to take the front ring off. Turns out the PO glued it in place, solid. Even the ring was glued on. He had mounted it in a piece of rectanglur starboard which was screwed and glue to the cockpit bulkhead, then he glued in the head unit.
Looks like I will need to use a multii tool to cut the starboard free from the gelcoat, then repair the gelcoat or mount a panel over it to hide the damage. I might try mounting whatever I replace it with like in the 3rd photo, which is of Trinkka. I like what Joe did there.

I do have a nice Gamin 176C GPS Chartploter that came with the boat. May be old but works well. Would a fishfinder/depthsounder have shallow water alarms? The Humminbird depth sounders do. Sounds like a good feature.

Photos show it before it was attacked.

 

[rpwillia]

Like Humminbird

Had a fish finder on my old boat, the cheap one (<$100), worked well. It did get some condensation after 2 years and they replaced it (out of warranty) which was sweet.

Have a Humminbird chart plotter now and love it. Have not seen anything match it for features and use. Humminbird fish finders have a pretty loyal following among the bass fishers.

 

[Merlin Clark]

Ward, I've seen a couple posts about using fishing line with dowel handles (like a garrott) to cut through adhesive caulk. Might help with removing the starboard piece.

 

[alexco38]

You can use "deBond" to melt the glue. It come off real easy after a few days of soaking.

 

[Chris Patterson]

I've got a fishfinder/depth sounder on my 22 that has a shallow water alarm. And water temp as well. Personally, I like the water temp feature, which is why I didn't mount it to shoot though the hull.