problem with Depth Sounder

[jim]

I recently had my H28.5 hauled to paint the bottom and fix the iron keel. When the boat was back in the water the depth sounder (Data Marine)worked fine. Now it gives me only the "MSD" message which according to the manual means "missing the bottom". I checked the connections and supply voltage. They look fine. Need help on what could be the problem, transducer or gauge?? or anything else ??

 

[Jim]

Remove paint

You may have put to much bottom paint on the transducer. You can sand off the excess with very fine sand paper. West Marine has transducer paint. If you power washed the bottom, you may have damaged the transducer. Power washing the transducer can damage it.

 

[Jon Zaimes]

Trace the wiring

When this happened on my Datamarine depth sounder, I traced the wiring and found a spot that had chafed through the insulation where it went through a bulkhead. Might have been assisted by a mouse that took up residence over the winter. One of the wires was cut through enough that operation was erratic and the MSD reading came up. I spliced the wiring and taped it up and has worked fine for past two seasons.