fish finder false readings

[Donkeyzmilk]

gday good people

recently my fish finder has been giving me some false readings for instance it will say im in 17 meters of water when i can clearly see the bottom and im in more like 3 or 4 meters of water , is there some sort of calibration thing im missing or do i have to take it to a shop to get it looked at ?

finder is a lawrance X24 , i don't have any documantation on it

[honda900]

sure its not displaying the depth in feet?

Regards
Honda

[ozynorts]

Mine was telling me I was in 300m of water in Bustard Bay the other day. It is a lot less than that. It only gives me a depth if I am moving and then it is wrong. Hope you get a resolution as I am over mine and looking for a replacement.
Cheers
Ozy

[Donkeyzmilk]

it's not in Feet i changed that to meters , i'l do some mucking round with it!,more then i already have , but it's not looking good ..am i right in thinking the traducer should be horizontal on the mount at the rear of boat?

this is my first boat with all the gadgets so it's a learning curve, but i want to make sure i get all the simple things/checks out of the road before i spend $$

[ozynorts]

Hey donkey, try this link.
http://www.devicemanuals.com/product...24_manual.html
not sure if it will help or not.
Ozy

[Donkeyzmilk]

thx for the link Ozy i searched for ages for that manual ..haha , i can't get it to open or download though ?

Edit: got it , you have to rate the search service before it will DL , seeing as you found it, i'l rate it high , because i couldnt find it.

[ozynorts]

I just hope it helps mate. Gotta look after a fellow Yalta owner.

[Donkeyzmilk]

thx Ozy , had a read through it , at least i know the ins and outs of the unit now (which i didn't before) so i got a good starting point once all settings are set correctly or the manuals recommendations hopefully i get some readings i can use

[Dignity]

Donkey, give the section on transducer mounting a good read, it won't be a big section but can probably point you to the fault especially if transducer is pointing to where the boat has already been and gone although my first thought was simiolar to Hondas.

Ozynorts, I had a raymarine that started doing the same thing and when i took it in it needed repairs, cost me almost as much as I could have bought another unit for but I had already sold the boat and on good faith and had to get it going, First thing to do is check all connections, it is amazing how they corrode. Get a mate check the readings while you wriggle all connections at the back of the unit and even check the power circuits as low current can affect their readings. Best of luck.

[ozynorts]

Hey Dignity, I have been getting low voltage warning's every now and then. Might have to check out the connections.
Cheers
Ozy

[honda900]

Ozy,

I did a bit of tracking down on a similar issue on my boat, wound up being the main fuse holder (30a) was corroded..

Regards
Honda

[Moonlighter]

Hi Ozy

Sounders are very touchy when it comes to getting a good, solid 12V power supply.

They can do some really weird things when they are not getting a quality power supply, so if you have been getting low voltage warnings, then this could easily be the cause of your problems.

I have personally seen some strange things on my sounder that immediately disappeared once I sorted out some bad connections or corroded wiring, which can be hard to detect at times. A tiny nick in a wires protective plastic coating can let the salt in, and it corrodes out from the inside where you can't see it.

In any case, check the wiring and the battery, and all connections to make sure they are 100%. Replace any wire that looks even slightly dodgy. Once that is sorted,if nothing else, you will have eliminated crook power as the cause of the problems. Yes, also check the fuse holder carefully, take the fuse out, clean the contacts on the end and in the holder itself, and replace the actual fuse with a fresh one if necessary.

As others have said, the next most common thimg is the placement of the transducer. Read the manual carefully and check the placement of the transducer. On tinnies it can be a problematic thing to get right. But it is usually when you are planing along that poor transducer placement becomes an issue, not so much when your boat is drifting along quietly.

I would also suggest starting off with the unit set in auto mode, as they usually have auto settings that at least are a fair startin point.

Cheers

ML

[ozynorts]

Thanks guys. Will check what I can and see how it goes.
Ozy