Depth Sounder Inop

A recurring feature of towing for me seems to be inop equipment after putting boat in water after the trip. I towed my 2012 R27 to Oshkosh from the Louisville, Ky area for the big EAA airshow. Who doesn’t take a boat to an airshow? Anyway, when I launched this afternoon, the depth sounder didn’t work. Of course, it worked fine when I cruised 10 miles to the take out at home a few days ago. The roads were particularly rough through Chicago and Milwaukee. I cringe sometimes when traversing the worst parts thinking of the beating the boat is taking.

I have checked the fuses and they are intact. Are there more than two? Where do I go from here?

I've no idea what depth sounder you have.

Our depth sounder stopped working on us this past week. It wouldn't tell me the depth of the bottom and would just draw straight/vertical lines on the chart plotter. It's an in-hull Garmin 8 pin, GT15M-IN.

It needs liquid in it for it to work. First step was to check the fluid level, it was low. Re-filled it with RV Antifreeze. It worked for 1/2 of the next trip then failed. Second step, identify where the RV antifreeze was going. It was leaking out of the bottom, where the sounder was glued to the hull. Part of the glue seal had failed allowing the fluid to leak out. I could wiggle with a little force the cup glued to the hull and depending on which way I wiggled it, I could see some pink RV antifreeze leak out.

The fix was to remove all the RV Antifreeze, let dry. Then apply 5200 Marine sealant/adhesive on the inside and outside around it. Let dry for a day. Refilled with antifreeze and it's back to working. The next time it leaks (which I know it will eventually), I will have to pry the entire transducer off the hull, remove all the old adhesive/sealant, sand everything back to smooth, and re-apply/re-glue the in-hull sounder/cup back to the hull. This may turn into a winter project as right now I just need the sounder functioning for crab season.

Bill, I had an issue with the antifreeze leaking out of the transducer cup but still had some goofy readings. Filled the cup and made sure the seal was in place and all was good with that issue for the next 5 years until we sold the boat. The next time I had an issue with the depth sounder it provided no signal at all. If you take the sending unit (transducer) out of the cup and hold it close to your ear you should be able to hear a clicking noise (or put a stethoscope down near it or a long screw driver held to your ear). Mine was making no noise, so I figured I had a bad transducer. Consultation with Garmin and Ranger Tugs both indicated that it was probably a bad transducer so Garmin sent me a replacement. I plugged the new one into the back of the chart plotter and again no clicking noise. I discovered then that there is a setting that I was able to find somehow in the plotter menu to turn off the transducer. (No one told me about this feature and it was no where in the owners' manual, and I am not sure why one would ever want to turn off the transducer.) Turned it back on from the chart plotter screen and depth finder worked perfectly for years thereafter. I have no idea how or why it turned itself off. I came into the marina one day after about a 35 mile run and things worked perfectly. The next morning I had no depth readings. We did have a thunderstorm with lightning that night but there was no evidence or indication that our boat or any others in the marina were struck and while sitting in our boat I had no sensation of any strange electrical surge but that is the only thing I could attribute the "turn off" to. The unit and the breaker for it would have been turned off at the time of the storm which was my standard procedure for our R25SC when in the marina for the night. I would tell you exactly how to find that transducer on/off setting in the plotter if I had any recollection, which I don't. All I can remember is I just started play with the plotter and looking for some setting screen that might work and stumbled on it. If you can not find it, I would suggest you draft a grandchild from a nearby boat and have them play with it - they seem to find things on these smart phones that I can not ever find.

Ranger often glued the transponder down rather than use the cup and antifreeze. If I were a betting man you may have that installation. It is possible that your transducer has released from the seal. Or as others have said, you may be out of antifreeze if there is a cup installation. If there is no cup I would install one and do the right job. If there is a cup you may just have to add antifreeze or the seal of the cup to the hull may have broken so you need to remove, clean the surfaces and install properly. Make sure you install with proper angle. To get to the transducer (I think on your boat) you will have to remove the propane tank and shelf. Another issue could be no o-ring on the cup to unit. Make sure that is there before dismantling because that may be how the fluid leaked. It will be a long way to the transducer so be prepared to work upside down for a while. While you have things out, check your rudder connection and squeeze a bit of grease in the zurk fitting. Take a look around your thruster to see if anything looks suspect.

Thanks, guys, for the leads. I plan to cruise on Green Bay and maybe Lake Michigan after the show. I’ll look into things as I have time.

If your Lake Michigan cruise gets you to Traverse City please give us a call if you need anything.

Jim

trailertrawlerkismet":175zji1m said:

…..please give us a call if you need anything…

Jim

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A depth sounder repair would be nice!

You also don’t want to run your transducer out of the water (for those of us that trailer our boats). Tap the on/off button in the chart plotter and you get the option to turn off/on all transducers (among other options, like backlight level, etc…)


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