GT15M transducer not showing depth under 10'

[hawk232]

I have already resealed the insufficient factory seal on the cup, it isnt leaking. I topped off the fluid. I played with frequency/gain settings as well as restoring factory defaults. I have pulled the transducer out and tried different spots on the hull (using a water based gel under the transducer to "seal it up"). All result in the same issue. The depth number flashes once I am below 10' but if I zoom in, it will still paint the bottom at the appropriate depth. Has anyone had a similar issue? I suspect its a transducer problem but I hate throwing money at a problem, I would prefer to diagnose. Next step will be to see if Garmin will talk to me about it.

Next question, has anyone installed a transom mount transducer to gain side/live scan and water temp? I am considering this option as well.

 

[Cubano]

I have already resealed the insufficient factory seal on the cup, it isnt leaking. I topped off the fluid. I played with frequency/gain settings as well as restoring factory defaults. I have pulled the transducer out and tried different spots on the hull (using a water based gel under the transducer to "seal it up"). All result in the same issue. The depth number flashes once I am below 10' but if I zoom in, it will still paint the bottom at the appropriate depth. Has anyone had a similar issue? I suspect its a transducer problem but I hate throwing money at a problem, I would prefer to diagnose. Next step will be to see if Garmin will talk to me about it.

Next question, has anyone installed a transom mount transducer to gain side/live scan and water temp? I am considering this option as well.

 

[Cubano]

Yes I have the same issue with my R-27. It turns out that the GT15M transducer that came with my boat does not work in shallow waters less than 10'.
Why would anybody install a transducer that does not work in shallow water is beyond me.

I am having a DST800 Smart Transducer installed thru hull. It will display shallow waters depth and water temperature.

 

[hawk232]

Yes I have the same issue with my R-27. It turns out that the GT15M transducer that came with my boat does not work in shallow waters less than 10'.
Why would anybody install a transducer that does not work in shallow water is beyond me.

I am having a DST800 Smart Transducer installed thru hull. It will display shallow waters depth and water temperature.

Mine worked just fine for over a year. It just started doing this a month or two ago.

 

[Cubano]

Ok that is very interesting for me. I just bought my 2024 R27 boat. Fairly new boat. Just 2 years old. I assumed that the transducer never worked right in shallow water and wondered why a boat company would build a boat with this type of transducer. In this case then I see that it is a case of something else breaking in this boat. A transducer should last many years.

I have had to put a lot of money and work into fixing stuff on this boat. I frankly never expected this from a 2 year old boat with only 105 hours.

My all around white light does not work. I just assumed that it was a defective bulb. Not the case. The light itself went bad. I lost steering last week. The steering hydraulic fluid was very low. I have checked everywhere and cannot find the leak. The Freshwater shower on the transom does not work. I could go on. Worse $200,000 boat I have ever bought!!

 

[hawk232]

Update: I rolled the dice on a new transducer and it fixed the issue. I now get depth all the way down to 1'

 

[Greongle]

Ok that is very interesting for me. I just bought my 2024 R27 boat. Fairly new boat. Just 2 years old. I assumed that the transducer never worked right in shallow water and wondered why a boat company would build a boat with this type of transducer. In this case then I see that it is a case of something else breaking in this boat. A transducer should last many years.

I have had to put a lot of money and work into fixing stuff on this boat. I frankly never expected this from a 2 year old boat with only 105 hours.

My all around white light does not work. I just assumed that it was a defective bulb. Not the case. The light itself went bad. I lost steering last week. The steering hydraulic fluid was very low. I have checked everywhere and cannot find the leak. The Freshwater shower on the transom does not work. I could go on. Worse $200,000 boat I have ever bought!!

When you spend that kind of money and get zero reliability, it completely ruins the experience. It actually reminded me of how frustrating it is when digital platforms promise one thing but deliver another, leaving you to waste time doing your own troubleshooting. I wanted to use Interac and needed to know which casino cashiers supported it in practice, not just which review pages displayed the logo. One result was labelled best Interac online casinos at interacasino.com, and it led me to a focused comparison. I used it to make a shortlist, then confirmed deposit limits, processing times, payout options, and the exact Interac service offered by each casino. That solved my problem without assuming every listed operator worked the same way. I am sharing the page because it can save other Canadian players a fair amount of checking.

Hello Cubano, it is completely understandable that you are frustrated after spending that kind of money on a premium boat only to deal with a cascade of annoying failures. For your transom shower and the transducer issues, it might be worth checking the main ground bus bars behind the helm and in the stern mechanical space because a loose or corroded master ground connection can cause multiple unrelated electrical components to glitch or fail at the same time. Don't lose hope just yet as these initial hurdles are unfortunately common when inheriting a boat from a previous owner who might have let it sit, and once you get these gremlins sorted out, the R27 is genuinely a fantastic and seaworthy pocket cruiser.

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[DC3]

Update: I rolled the dice on a new transducer and it fixed the issue. I now get depth all the way down to 1'

I have a C32 with the same issue with my GT15M. It started out blinking under 10’ now it just blinks Amat any depth. I would be interest in the details of the installation. Did you replace it with a GT15? How did you pull the cable from transducer to the chart plotter? Did you reuse the same the cup or did you replace the cup? I am not sure of the location of the transducer on the R27? The Transducer on the C32 is under the floor in the forward berth next to the shower sump and from what I can tell the cable would need to run under floor of the head to reach the back of the chart plotter.

I would be interested if anyone has installed a transom mount transducer?

 

[Henry P]

Update: I rolled the dice on a new transducer and it fixed the issue. I now get depth all the way down to 1'

Hello Hawk - What model transducer did you install? Mine is doing the same thing at shallow depths. Thanks

 

[Submariner]

Make sure the GT15M, is installed correctly. There's an arrow on the top of the transducer that must point towards the keel, else the angle is off and it won't read correct depths.

 

[Cutwater28GG]

Also with algae blooms there is a lot of material for the sound to hit in the shallow portion of the water column. better transducers are better at cutting through this than the standard install

 

[hawk232]

I installed another GT15M. Regarding the install, I just tied a line to the old transducer cable, and pulled it from the tranducer end. There were multiple hiddlen zip ties and it was a little effort but I got it. I then tied the new transducer cable to the line and pulled it back up to the console.

Since my old transducer worked fine deeper than 10' it seemed a waste to throw it away so I also pulled that cable back up to the console and secured it. Now have have a worst case back up. If im on a trip and the new transducer dies completely, the old one just needs to be installed in the cup and plugged in.

I reused the old cup (since I had already removed and PROPERLY installed it, VS how the factory had it installed)