ST 50 TRI DATA

[john w.]

My tri data ( Autohelm ) has decided not to work this season on depth and water temp . I had a simular failure two years ago mid season . I followed trouble shooting hints from Autohelm and even sent the display unit to the factory . ( It was returned with no problems found ) I removed the transducer and jumpered it together with the display unit ( per Autohelms directions ) and a battery and hung the transducer over the sea wall into the water . All worked as it should . I reinstalled everything back in the boat and again and everything worked fine . This has lasted until this season . The knot log functions fine but the depth reads "0" and the water temp. reads 460 degrees . I have checked for loose connections but have not checked the transducer ( Faint ticking sound when you hold your ear to the transducer ) as the boat is in the water . I am hoping for an easy fix as I am not looking forward to pulling the boat out of the water nor can I chance a season on Lake Michigan with the water levels being so low this year . HELP !!! John

 

[Justin - O'day Owner's Web]

tri-data thoughts

john,I had a client recently with a similar saga. His issue turned out to be a chafe through in the cable that was shorting out the signal the ducer was sending to the head. You mention that you have checked the connections. Have you checked the length of the cable for damage, especially where it passes through bulkheads etc?An outside thought: is there anything like an inverter near the the line that could be inducing interference? My guess is that the signal in from the sender is coarse enough that this is not likely, but its worth checking.I am assuing the speed function is working correctly? Is this a safe assumption? I am thinking that the head itself may be at issue because I believe that the temperature signal comes from the speed transducer. I know it does on Standard Horizon instruments, don't have my Raytheon catalog handy to look it up.Worst case scenario - buy a transom mount ducer, attach it to a plank and secure it to the pushpit. Ugly, but it'll get you through the season.Justin - O'day Owner's Web