Clipper Depth problems

[timb]

I have a clipper dual speed and depth instrument on board and the depth reading appears to be all over the place and when in deeper water it reads scary depths of 2 - 3 meters. It also keeps flickering between "OUT" and a depth reading.

The transducer is bonded inside the hull in front of the keel.

Can anybody give me a clue as to what to check.

 

[Strathglass]

Perhaps,
You happen to have bonded it to a part of the skin which is too thick or just too near the keel.

Can you remove it from the present position and see if there is a better place?

What is it bonded with? That may cause a problem.

Iain

 

[simonfraser]

hull too thick possible, more likely air in the way somewhere, either inside whatever you used to stick it on or turbulence in the water under (hopefully) your boat

 

[dmayes]

If you "bonded" it, did you use epoxy resin? if so you may have trapped bubbles under the sensor. You may have to try to get it "unbonded" then test it in water. You should be able to install it in an oil bath to prevent air getting beneath the face.

 

[broadcaster]

Our one sits in a tube bonded to the hull which is filled with oil.

Not sure if is the NASA transducer or a Stowe one interfaced. When our's did this I needed to top up the oil.

Andy

 

[timb]

I did not actually fit the transducer it was already there when I bought the boat.

I should have mentioned earlier that it seemed to work fine last season before standing on the hard for 4 months.

I will have another look to see if I can determine what it is bonded with.

 

[JAYEL]

I had a NASA unit with exactly the same symptoms, but only with the engine running. Turned out to be interference fron alternator. Re-routed cable, problem solved. Just a thought! Good Luck.

 

[SteveGorst]

Just a thought which is probably totally off the wall but I know these transducers are thrown out by any air voids. If your boat has been on the hard for 4 months and the hull has dried out could it be that there are some voids somewhere in the hull that had previously contained water?? As your boat remains in the water for a bit longer maybe the voids will refill with water and your transducer will start working again.

As I said this is just me thinking aloud, or brainstorming as we call it at work, so don't place to much emphasis on it. But if it does start working again after a few weeks....

 

[Dipper]

I had a similar problem with my NASA depth sounder in shallow waters after working perfectly OK for years. It also kept jumping around - mainly doubling/halving the depth. I found that somehow the sensitivity setting had been changed. Once I reset it to its original (factory) setting it was fine. You can see how to do this in the user's manual. If you haven't got one you can download one from the NASA site.