transducer

[Robert Stivanello]

My Kenyon depth meter must have gotten water inside mecause the numbers "run" like a water painting that got wet. Is there any cure? Since these are no longer made, and no parts are available, can the same transducer be used with a new instrument? I would like to change the depth meter this summer if I must, without hauling the boat. Is this possible?

 

[Robert]

Doubtful

I had a similar problem recently, and replaced the meter and transducer. I didn't mount it in a thru-hull however. I just used toilet bowl wax; smeared it on the transducer and stuck it in various places in the area where the old transducer was mounted in the thru-hull. Next time I pull the boat, I'll replace the thru-hulls, and remount the transducers.I don't mean to imply that you can't match them. I would certainly talk to some people and look for some responses here and elsewhere, but I had no luck, nor patience for that matter.Good-luck!

 

[Hayden Jones]

Consider mounting the new transducer

inside the hull and shooting through it to get readings. I don't know how big a boat you have but I expoxyed my transducer to the inside of the hull and it works fine. There's a bucnh of information on how to do this in the archives. It took me about an hour to get it done (most of the time was waiting of rht epoxy to dry).Another idea is a puck which is designed to be placed on the inside o the hull and shoot through it.Try contacting the manufacturer to see if they still sell your current model. If they don't, maybe they have a unit that is compatable.Good luckHayden

 

[Brent]

May be able to use same transducer...

My boat had an old flasher type depth sounder and I had a Hummingbird fishfinder laying around I wanted to try to throw in. Since the transducer should really just be transmitting 1's and 0's that are manipulated by the depth sounder, I figured I could get the old transducer to work so I didn't have to try to remount a new one, and it did work (although probably not as good as a new transducer would). I just cut the wire coming from the transducer mounted in my boat and the wire to the transducer I had that came with the fishfinder and spliced them together. They looked like coax for cable tv. If you order a new fishfinder without a transducer you may run into a problem of the plug being different and I'm not sure how easy that would be to match, but I'm sure if you go to the store you could at least have a look and see if it looks right, it would be a gamble.The reason I say this didn't work as well as a new transducer would is because the fishfinder I put in says it can read to 600 feet, but with this transducer hookup it starts to get funky at 200 feet (starts reading like it's under 10 feet). I'm sure this is because of the weaker transducer and fact that it is through-hull.

 

[David Foster]

New Uniden works with old Transducer

A transducer is a passive device that is excited by the electronics, emits a sound, and then converts the returning echo to a signal back to the electronics.The key to matching the transducer to the electronics is the pulse frequency. New Uniden electronics pulse at around 200khz. The faceplate on my old, non-functioning electronic said 200 something. So I got some connectors from radio shack to mate the wires, and the depth guage works perfectly and reliably. The new electronics expect a ground wire from the transducer, but ignoring this doesn't seem to cause any problems.The only caution to this approach is that I think some of the newer fish finders may use a different frequency. But electronics that use 200 khz ought to work fine.DavidLady Lillie