setting up a transducer

[brinky]

Does anyone have any tips on setting up a Humminbird transducer?
I can't get it to work at speeds more than 15mph, it either tells me the waters hundreds of feet deep or nothing at all......

[ashbypower]

I guess it's in aerieated (sp) water or being on the surface when planning
needs to be in clear non turbulant water

[BogMonster]

I think it's a fairly common problem with transom mounted transducers. Mine used to do the same, would suddenly jump to read 230ft or something - more or less as you went on the plane though oddly sometimes it would read up to about 25kt other times it was gone at not much over 10kt. It was also very easy to prang it on kelp etc and I had to fix the bracket a couple of times. The transducer on Seawolf is going to be mounted in the hull because of this, I was tired of it never working properly at speed.

[wavelength]

the Humminbirds we have had were all c**p and suffered from this problem.
However if you have a drain well at the stern where you can get to the hull, as opposed to the deck, the transducer will shoot thru that ok and will be less trouble than mounted outside. Put some water in the well first and put the transducer in there and find a good position where it will give you the best reading. Then dry it out and fix it with a thin layer of silicone and it will be fine providing you squeeze any air bubbles out of it. The books will tell you not to use silicone cos it degrades the signal etc etc and to use two pot epoxy. Tis bollox - will work fine with silicone with the advantage that you can get it out again if need be. When you have done all that buy a cheap Eagle Cuda sounder instead - which will work at 40 odd knots siliconed in, good waterproof head unit and so, so reliable!

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by wavelength

...buy a cheap Eagle Cuda sounder instead - which will work at 40 odd knots siliconed in, good waterproof head unit and so, so reliable!