My Garmin GPS/sounder is acting up. The Gps is working fine but the sounder part doesn't get a strong signal. It worked fine for a year but recently shows a very cluttered bottom shot and often will not read a depth. I have a puck type transducer and have move it all along the hull to differant locations with no change. The olny clue i have is the battery alarm on the GPS will go off many times during the day. I have it set for a low reading of 11.2 volts. I hired two differant boat tects and both have said the power going to the GPS is fine. Good bateries, Good ground, good power source. i have replace the power cord going to the GPS and no change. I have sent the transducer and the GPS back to garmin and they have said both check out fine. I plan on sending the entire unit back to garmin to have them check it out again but other than that does anyone have a suggestion? thanks, jack
- Status
Sounder
Jack- Check the transducer when the unit is turned on. Listen for a slight ticking noice coming from the ducer. Start there. There should be no reason that you cannot provide ample voltage to this unit. Re-wire, new batteries, check your wiring, get this possible problem solved. Find someone that has your same unit and swap their head unit with yours. Make sure the unit is set back to the factory settings. Deduction is the way to solve yor problems. Good luck and keep us posted.
Jack- Check the transducer when the unit is turned on. Listen for a slight ticking noice coming from the ducer. Start there. There should be no reason that you cannot provide ample voltage to this unit. Re-wire, new batteries, check your wiring, get this possible problem solved. Find someone that has your same unit and swap their head unit with yours. Make sure the unit is set back to the factory settings. Deduction is the way to solve yor problems. Good luck and keep us posted.
Transducer
Landsend is correct if you have a cored hull. Since you stated it worked fine for a year, I would think you do not have a cored hull. In which case it should work fine shooting through the glass. My Garmin shoots through the hull, and works just fine. I did have a problem when I bought the unit, ( 498 ) and after calling Garmin tech support they sent a new ducer and all is fine. I would think the false or no readings from the depth are a result of the low voltage alarm, and if you solve that problem, you will solve the depth reading problem also. I have always managed to solve the few problems I have had with a call to Garmin tech support. Those guys are good.
Landsend is correct if you have a cored hull. Since you stated it worked fine for a year, I would think you do not have a cored hull. In which case it should work fine shooting through the glass. My Garmin shoots through the hull, and works just fine. I did have a problem when I bought the unit, ( 498 ) and after calling Garmin tech support they sent a new ducer and all is fine. I would think the false or no readings from the depth are a result of the low voltage alarm, and if you solve that problem, you will solve the depth reading problem also. I have always managed to solve the few problems I have had with a call to Garmin tech support. Those guys are good.
Reset back to factory settings.
This was mentioned earlier by Bob. I had problems when I set the low battery alarm feature on my unit. Went back to the original factory setting (battery alarm off), and system works fine. You may also wish to check that you have used slow cure epoxy for the transducer mounting. Slow cure epoxy is what all the manufacturer's recommend for mounting the puck. You very well could have air bubbles interfering with the signal.
This was mentioned earlier by Bob. I had problems when I set the low battery alarm feature on my unit. Went back to the original factory setting (battery alarm off), and system works fine. You may also wish to check that you have used slow cure epoxy for the transducer mounting. Slow cure epoxy is what all the manufacturer's recommend for mounting the puck. You very well could have air bubbles interfering with the signal.
Voltage drop measured with unit on
If the GPS low voltage alarm is going off the you have a voltage problem. I'll bet the tech checked the voltage at the GPS plug with no current flowing. This always gives battery voltage even when the circuit has major problems. You have to measure the voltage when the current is flowing to get a true indication of what is going on. This is called a voltage drop test. To test the circuit first lets establish the true voltage drop across the GPS unit. Turn the unit on, with back-lighting turned on, and let it run for 15 minutes to get all the connections "warmed up". You want to get the most current flowing through the circuit as possible. With a multi meter pierce the GPS power wires as close to the GPS unit as possible. You can fix the little holes with a dab of caulking when you are done. If the voltage drop on the multi meter is the same as on the GPS then the GPS is reading correctly and the plug is OK. Measure the voltage drop from the + post on the house battery and the + wire on the GPS right at the GPS plug (use the same hole as before). You should get no more than 0.5 volts drop showing on the multimeter. Do the same test between the - battery post and the - wire on the GPS. You should get no more than 0.5 volts here also. If you get more you need to investigate that wire more closely. Each connection is allowed (textbook allowed) 0.2 volts drop. 0.02 volts drop is a great connection. By setting the multi meter to its lowest voltage range and measuring the voltage across the connection (with current flowing) you can find the one that is causing the problem. Through all this I assumed the battery is charged and is not the problem.
If the GPS low voltage alarm is going off the you have a voltage problem. I'll bet the tech checked the voltage at the GPS plug with no current flowing. This always gives battery voltage even when the circuit has major problems. You have to measure the voltage when the current is flowing to get a true indication of what is going on. This is called a voltage drop test. To test the circuit first lets establish the true voltage drop across the GPS unit. Turn the unit on, with back-lighting turned on, and let it run for 15 minutes to get all the connections "warmed up". You want to get the most current flowing through the circuit as possible. With a multi meter pierce the GPS power wires as close to the GPS unit as possible. You can fix the little holes with a dab of caulking when you are done. If the voltage drop on the multi meter is the same as on the GPS then the GPS is reading correctly and the plug is OK. Measure the voltage drop from the + post on the house battery and the + wire on the GPS right at the GPS plug (use the same hole as before). You should get no more than 0.5 volts drop showing on the multimeter. Do the same test between the - battery post and the - wire on the GPS. You should get no more than 0.5 volts here also. If you get more you need to investigate that wire more closely. Each connection is allowed (textbook allowed) 0.2 volts drop. 0.02 volts drop is a great connection. By setting the multi meter to its lowest voltage range and measuring the voltage across the connection (with current flowing) you can find the one that is causing the problem. Through all this I assumed the battery is charged and is not the problem.
- Status