Need advice please - sounder reading stuffed

[Tony_N]

Furuno 600L - Operating well as per normal when we went out yesterday. Then image started to break up. At best it was like the attached pic (tried to photograph it with a phone but too joggly yesterday, so had to hijack one of Ben G's photos - hope thats OK with you Ben). At worst, when on the move there were just bits an pieces of very broken colour across the screen. When we came inside and cruised back to the jetty it was fine again. Transducer seemed to be sitting in the water OK and straight -I don't get it, any ideas?

thanks

Tony

[Cruiser]

Some ideas Tony (but I'm sure you've considered all these already)......

1. Air bubbles around transducer due to rough conditions or being in reverse gear.

2. Some weed caught around the transducer (there was a lot of it in the bay yesterday).

3. Another boat close by causing interference.

Chris.

[finga64]

gees you get yourself into trouble Tony :-/
Hope that's not in the new boat :'(
Unusual for Furuno gear gear to stuff up so:-
Try what Chris has mentioned or the gain setting. I got a bait bag on mine one day. Lucky it wasn't 8" to the left and got the motor.

[gavsgonefishing]

Went out yesteeday in that crap as well. my 582 was doing what yours was doing ( I was trolling). I ended up leaving it on 200khz, upping the gain to about 5-6 in 70 mtrs of water, then screen went almost all blue from the signal level, then I turned the signal level filter onto SL1 ( the lowest). This got rid of most of the blue, you could pick up the bottom well and the bait ( what little there was anyway).

Hope this helps

[Tony_N]

Thanks fellas

*Not anything (weed, bags etc) on the transducer
*We were the only boat out of Evans Head yesterday except for trawlers which were a long way away so no interference from them
* It was seriously rough - but we have been out in rougher and not had this problem

Worked on the gain clutter and noise and anything else i could tweak and couldn't get rid of the "holes". I reckon that these have to do with the sounder firing blanks somehow. I'll have to have another look at the "Advance" setting again. It got worse (much) at speed, which reinforces this idea, but was still there with the motor turned off which doesn't. It was fine when we came inside, so Cruisers idea of the bubbles make sense, except I've had this sounder for two years and it has worked like clockwork, never missed a beat irrespective of it having to operate in some pretty shabby conditions on plenty of occasions.

There was plenty of dirty water around because of the flood - but adjusting the gain should have dealt with that

finga - mate it wasn't the new boat - no way I'd even fantasise about taking a 4.1 out into that. It was very joggly, 2metres coming about every 3 seconds, or so it seemed.Also 15-20 knots behind and slightly across the swell . It was an old reliable 20ft glass Nova Star with 140 Evinrude - 2litres! We finally fished the protected area (protected fron theS-E swell by Goanna headland) around the bar and dirty water out of the river , trolling the edges- but apart from a shark almost as big as the boat and catching a tailor we didn't see any fish. Oh, except for tons of baitfish everywhere in close b4 the sounder started to play up.

I still don't have my boat BTW - mechanic is waiting on a 10" prop which he thinks will help the boat get out of the water and run level. All the outside advice I can get indicates that this will make the motor rev too high - recommended is 12 or 12.5. Anyway this bloke has a the reputation of being a fantastic mechanic, so I'll hang in there with him.

There's a solution to the sounder problem, just gotta think what it might be

cheers

Tony

[Tony_N]

Right - Ok Gav, thats very reassuring. i must say i wouldn't have thought of that sort of adjustment. Were you out of Evans yesterday? I remember now there was a boat trolling with outriggers, that went in quite early I thought it was a pro.

So do you think it was just the air in the water from all the sloppy wave action?

thanks for that I'll remember what you did if it happens again. So much to learn - so little time

cheers

Tony

BTW I must have been writing my post when you sent yours - so I hadn't seen it before i posted

[gavsgonefishing]

NA up at mooloolaba. I reckon the electronics is great, the boat just needs to be a heap bigger and heavier. Have those dramas in certain seas. I know the tranducer is in the water, so I guess it must be the air under the hull

[Hagar]

Tony

600L owner . Have seen similar readings in really rough water on mine and am gonna set the transducer lower on the transom . Just an outside chance but on mine one of the plugs on the back is very loose in the locked position and actually fell right out once . Could it have been making intermittent contact ?

[MulletMan]

As a generalization, any lines on a sounder screen that look too symmetrical invariably come from "man made" interference!
Vertical lines are not uncommon if the sounder cannot ping the bottom but this would be picked up easily by seeing the depth fluctuating wildly. Obviously you didn't have that!
Have you tried it on 50 Hz to see if it is the same as on 200 Hz?
You will get less resolution than the 200 Hz and the search area will be wider but worth having a look all the same.........................
I wouldn't discount the dirty water even though you have been in that sort of crap before. This could possibly amplify my above point that the sounder is having trouble pinging the bottom due all the particles in between ................ running out of ideas I am!
Most Furunos have a self diagnostic tool in them so maybe yours does too? Be buried in the manual somewhere!
Bit hard to make out on the pikky but what is the 31.5 reading on the left top corner?
If that is a temperature and you have a temp transducer fitted, it is a really weird and high reading! Should normally be around the 18-21 degrees C in summer.
Also not sure on the depth reading on the pics.............................
The top left corner shows what I guess to be 9.0 metres but the 12 on the lower right in increments of 2 has me tricked............
I would have thought that should also be 9.0 if in metres? What does the 12 represent? I keep going back to the impression the old girl is having trouble pinging the bottom .................
I've got a good old colour Marinetec CRT sounder and it gets the same lines on it if I am using too much gain in shallow waters.
I'm dun! Hope you find the problem!

[Tony_N]

Thanks PP - yep its a conundrum alright!

Going out again tomorrow - so we will see.

Don't take any notice of the readings on the sounder - its a pic I pinched off another thread and manipulated the bare lines on it because I couldn't get a pic of mine on the day (only had a phone camera and it wasn't up to the job, especially on such a rocky day)

cheers

Tony

[finga64]

Tony,
Bugger, we'll be in town tomorrow but will not have any time to spare. Might have been a nice day for a fish?? ;)
What time are you going out? I'll walk down to the wall and watch you bounce out the bar :)

[Tony_N]

Hagar

Missed yur post earlier - we did have a bit of a scratch and tug at the transducer when we came in - it all seemed pretty tight. I'll have another closer look.

Finga

As you can see we didn't get out today. Mate was unable to go :-[

Should be pretty busy at Evans today - Lismore Deep Sea Fishing Club have their monthly outing from there . They do it at Evans month about with Ballina. Weigh -in should be around 1PM - might be worth a look.

Tony

[2DKnBJ]

Tony
Have you ever thought of putting a wet box in.
I was having a heap of trouble with the reading on my sounder until i put a wet box in.I can still get a good reading at 60kph in the Haines.
Cheers Dazza

[Tony_N]

Dazza

Hadn't thought of it - sounder has been fine at speed for a couple of years. Just now has decided it doesn't want to play. I'm trying to think where I'd put the wet box - is there a site somewhere that describes the installation?

As to the immediate problem of why it has changed, I suspect there is something loose in the transducer. Noticed yesterday that every time we started the boat there was a thin vertical reading on the screen. Suggests electrical interference somewhere.

I'll have a look re wet box

Tony

[2DKnBJ]

Will post some pics on my set up and where i have it.
Cheers Dazza

[2DKnBJ]

G'Day Tony

The wet box i made for my Haines was pretty damn simple.I know there was a thread on here somewhere about a wet box and was a good set up but you think i could find it :-?So i set about making my own and so far it has worked.

To start with i cut a hole in the floor to give access to the inside of hull.
Then i have used 110mm pvc with a screw top as the wet box.The pipe is cut to match the angle of the hull then mounted to the inside of the hull with sikaflex.Make sure you rough up the pipe with sandpaper otherwise it wont stick ::)(trial and error)I have then mounted the trans to the screw top with a hole in the top for the cable to go through,when in place this can be sealed with sikaflex.I did a test run with the box filled with water.Once i was happy with everything i have removed water and filled with glycerine.Important not to have any air inside once sealed.
Will add a few pics.

Cheers Dazza

[2DKnBJ]

Another one

[2DKnBJ]

General idea

[seabug]

Looks a great idea.

But what happens if the hull develops a crack?

Would it sink the boat?

Regards
Seabug

[Tony_N]

OK Dazza - I get the idea thanks a lot for taking the time. Its early morning and I'm not thinking tooo sharply, but how do those two bolts work? Through the hull? Now thats a scary thought - or have you set up a wedge to hold a nut on the inside of the hull?
thanks again
Tony

[seabug]

Not knocking the idea ,it is good.
And perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that the round hole in floor is exposing the Flotation cavity.

But if this is the case would it be possible to use a short length of larger diameter pipe to seal the underfloor cavity.Meaning insert the larger pipe first to seal of the cavity ,and then put the sounder unit inside this sealed off area.
Regards
Seabug

[2DKnBJ]

Tony
The 2 bolts that you see only hold the transducer to the inside of the screw top.The only way the setup is fixed to the hull is with the sikaflex.

Seabug
The hole i have made gives me access to the bilge area in the very bottom of the hull.This area also has a few other drain holes that direct water off the deck into it.This hole is also covered with a screw in inspection hatch so this in itself should reseal the hull.

Cheers Dazza

[Tony_N]

Tony
The 2 bolts that you see only hold the transducer to the inside of the screw top.The only way the setup is fixed to the hull is with the sikaflex.

[smiley=blush.gif] That did occur to me later in the day - gotta stop responding to posts in the early morning or if I've had a couple of cleansing ales in the evening

thanks again for the info

Tony

[Tony_N]

Note to Moderator: cute gentle change to post title :D

Rang Taylor Marine today - as ever they were really helpful. (Must say the service from these people {the Qld agents for Furuno} has always been brilliant). Their first suggestion is to purge the system ie clear all memory and start again. I'd forgotten that this option was available. Anyway he said to try this and then get back to him. Great stuff. He also suggested that our habit of leaving the sounder on all day and starting the boat with the sounder switched on might leave the sounder susceptible to corrupt messages that might give the bodgey readings that we have been getting. Anyway will keep posting updates in case something like this happens to someone else.

cheers

Tony