Sounder incorrect depth reading

[The Incredible Hull]

Hi Raiders,

I've recently purchased a second hand boat, it came with a Lowrance sounder. When I turn the sounder on at home, it has a depth reading of 18m. I did a factory reset, and it still shows 18m.

I was planning on replacing this sounder anyway, however was hoping to see if I can use the same transducer.

Any tips on what I can check to fix this, and also to see if the transducer is working ok?

Thanks in advanced.

David.

[fragmeister]

Hi David,

When you are testing this at home do you have it in a bucket of water?

I don't think they read properly unless they are under water.

Cheers

Jim

[BWV]

Got to be in water to get a reading.

[Captain Spanner]

It's my understanding that you should never run your sounder (with the transducer on) out of th water. The pinging generated heat and it can burn out without the water cooling it. It will give a differen reading out of the water depending on a lot of things like the height of the tranny above the ground, the angle of the boat in the trailer and the ground, the angle of the ground under and behind the tranny and what the ground is made of. Mine reads 2m when out of the water on the trailer driving up the ramp, my mates reads 4.3m sitting dry on the grass out the front. But both read correct in the water.

So basically, test it in the water before making a decision and don't run this or any other sounder out of the water. If you want to play with your sounder, punch in gps waypoints etc at home then unplug the transducer cable from the back of the sounder head unit.

[stevefish]

I ran my old Garmin in the garage for a couple of days with no problems. Had me wondering what the sound was each time I walked past it. Tck. Tck. Tck. Tck.

[The Incredible Hull]

Right got it. So on my old boat, the sounder reading at home, is like 0.5m which is correct. So I wasn't quite sure with the new boat.

I'll submerge it a bucket of water tomorrow and give it a try then, thanks for the tips raiders!

[fragmeister]

Right got it. So on my old boat, the sounder reading at home, is like 0.5m which is correct. So I wasn't quite sure with the new boat.

I'll submerge it a bucket of water tomorrow and give it a try then, thanks for the tips raiders!

I think probably the best way to test is just to run the boat into shallow water (say 1.5 meters) and drop a fishing line over until it hits the bottom.

Then lower the tip of the rod to just under the surface near the sounder transducer, lift it up and measure it.

You don't need to be super accurate as I am sure you know about how much 1.5 meters is against you own height.

Cheers

Jim