Anti-fouling over depth sounder

[cdrmike43]

What is the received wisdom re-painting anti-foul over depth guage transponders? I have just re-launched after anti-fouling and the depth guage reads 0 even though there is plenty of water. Can I adjust the gain so as it ignores any paint on the surface of the transducer?

 

[pvb]

It's OK to antifoul the depth transducer - it won't affect the operation. If yours isn't working, there's another reason.

 

[boatmike]

Agreed!

 

[sailing86]

its probably just a loose wire (ie the transducer cable has fallen out the back of the unit).

 

[VicS]

Mine has about 30 layers of antifouling over it and that's in addition to the grp hull and a pot of oil that its mounted in.

 

[swampthing]

The reason they say dont antifoul em is that some strong solvents in antifoul may compromise the integrity of the plastic transducer skin fitting.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
The reason they say dont antifoul em

[/ QUOTE ] Yes but the question was whether a film of AF would affect the sensitivity.

The manual for mine ~~~~ you know what they say; RTFM ~~~~~ says one thin coat of hard racing copper or TBT should be used ... care should be taken not to trap air bubbles .... do not use any other AF.
It goes on to advise how to crush barnacles with pliers and not to pull them off which can damage the transducer face. It also advises that particles of shell should be dissolved in hydrochloric acid.

 

[cdrmike43]

Guess what? Today when I tried out the echo-sounder it worked a treat! The difference between last week and today is you guessed it 1.4m of tide. The trouble was I was on an unfamiliar berth where I believed there to be plenty of water. Clearly there wasn't and I had thought the worst of the instrument and the anti-fouling. For the record I had cleaned off the A/F but was worried I had left some at the edge of the transducer. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif