Sonar not Working

J

John&MaryLou

Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2018
Messages
16
Fluid Motion Model
C-28
Vessel Name
That Horizon
Hi

We are still in Canada after the Desolation Sound Rendezvous. We came through thr Malaspina Straights Thursday afternoon and got caught in that storm. The waves were 2ft to 4ft with the occasional 5 footer. Anyway, as we were about halfway between Lund and Pender Resort we noticed that the depth finder was at a constant 6.6 feet. Today, there is no change, and I looked at the starboard hold in the stern at the transducer relay. The status light is still blinking green. I checked for the obvious making sure all wires were connected but didn’t try anything else. Any suggestions are welcome as we are leaving tomorrow (Saturday) for Salt Spring and we think a that correct depth is important, particularly in Dodd Straight.
 
Check the fluid level in the transducer.
 
I have never done it but if you use the search function on this forum there are more than enough posts to get you through it.
Search "transducer"
 
You did not say what year your R-27 was. Some transducers have been glued down. The transducer should be Waaaay down attached to the hull near the stern, starboard side of the rudder.
 
The two postings by Connerkip and Knotflying are kind of telling as to the problem. In the starboard stern area is a transformer or relay where a wire fed in on one area and another went out to a different area. This as it turns out is not the actual “transducer” which is more akin to a microphone. That is found, at least in a 2018 R27, beneath the step leading to the berth area. It had shaken loose during a windstorm south of Lund Harbour in the Malispina Straight.

The device consists of the transducer with the wire lead and a cup that it fits into. When it comes loose or free which ours did, it came off of the silicone sealant and a thin plastic or silicone “gasket” for lack of a better term, that looks like it would slip inside the plastic cup before sealing it back on the hull. To get that done, one has to remove the screws which hold the transducer in the cup. In addition there is scrap fiberglass down there with extra screws from somewhere. Not sure where I can take this to locally to have the work done.
 
I believe you could clean the old adhesive off, sand the area slightly, degrease the area, then readhere the cup with something like 4200 or 4000. Refill with antifreeze and go. This is what I did. Don’t use regular silicone (although there is a marine type compatible with Fiberglass).

I am not familiar with the gasket referred to, perhaps that’s just a remnant of the original adhesive. I can’t see a reason to take it to a shop.

My transducer does not have screws holding it in the cup, the lid just made a partial turn down onto the cup.

I adhered my cup with 4000 and all is well.
 
It occurs to me you don’t have a cup on your installation. Perhaps your transducer was merely glued to the hull. If that’s the case I’d suggest buying a cup and installing it properly. Does your transducer look like the installation pics in the instructions, with the cup?
 
Hi, I had the same thing happen to me. I corrected it by going to the fishing chart--the one that shows the bottom and any fish beneath the boat. That screen showed depth and when I changed back to charts I was good to go. One other thing I've encountered with my Garmin--recently on a trip, after storing the boat for a month, the Garmin went out when I touched by trim tab controls. I thought, "What?" I restarted it, but it kept goin out, so no depth readings. Thinking it was my house battery not being sufficiently charged, I switched the parallel battery switch to on, then off after a bit. The Garmin came back and all was well.
 
Connerkip - We do have a cup, and I was able to unscrew the transducer from the cup. I tried my best to remove all of the caulk/adhesive with scrapers, razor blades and acetone. That didn't seem to be enough so I used a synthetic scratchy pad. after letting the acetone evaporate I reapplied 3M 4200 to hold in the cup. Held it for 10 to 12 minutes while it was curing. I went to my car and came back and it had slid down the hull an inch or so.

I will pour in the glycol tomorrow and reattach the transducer thing. The part I worry about is the cup sits at an angle with the rear lower than the front. I am hoping that the glycol will stay at the height without spilling out while I attach the transducer.
 
Fingers crossed.
 
Went back to the boat today, the 4200 had cured enough that I felt I could finish the job. I filled the cup with fresh ethylene glycol (antifreeze) and screwed the transducer back on to it. I turned on the panel and it took a minute or so and the depth finder gave a reasonable reading.

Took the boat out of Port of Everett and sent for a little spin past the yellow buoy (100+ feet). I got a depth reading that was accurate but not fish. Finally some appeared and I think that there is just a shortage of fish right not in Port Gardner Bay.

Anyway, it seems to have worked.
 
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