NASA Clipper Depth Sounder.

[Jim@sea]

Just bought a boat which has a NASA Clipper Depth Sounder.
I think its defective. Its located in the cockpit where it can be rained on or subject to sunshine. The previous owner had protected it by making a cover out of a Cornflake Packet stuck together with Duct Tape. (Have bought a proper cover)
The depth reading flickers between what the depth under the keel may be and 1.5m which could be the depth of the keel.
When it was sunny recently the inside of the square display was very damp and misty obviously showing that the instrument had damp inside.
It could be that I have not set it up properly. About 10 years ago I fitted one to a boat and it was excellent, just fitted it, switched it on and it gave a depth reading.
I wondered if I could send it back to NASA for checking., or could it be me that has not "programmed" it properly.
Any advice gratefully received.

 

[davidpbo]

I had a NASA of some description that had a vent at the back for ventilation.

If you are practical and have the time get it off. Open it dry out, clean any signs of corrosion. Look at the PCB, contacts and connections and clean as necessary.

Or just put somewhere warm and dry for a few days and see if that clears the issue.

Also inspect contacts on cable if possible.

I have a NASA Cruiser depth gauge, it seems to me that when I set a low water alarm I also seem to set the deep water alarm which cruising on the Clyde as we are is not good because the depths sometimes exceed 100M. I must read the manual again as we have been in Tarbert since Monday having rudder repaired. We went into shallow water and because we had had erroneous alarms did not believe it immediately.

Otherwise fix with new.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

I don't think it's that unusual to have a bit of damp inside.

If you can leave it direct sunlight ( if we ever get it any again this year) it should clear.

Not sure about the flickering though.

Is the transducer inside or outside the hull ? If inside, is the level of fluid ok ?

 

[Caer Urfa]

Yes if all else fails you can send it back to NASA for repair who a usually very good from my experience

 

[TernVI]

It may help drying it out, if you leave it powered up with the light on as much as possible. It should 'breathe' on the indoor side. It helps if the cabin is dry of course.
One thing that can make dodgy readings more likely is fouling, it mucks up the beam shape so you get reflections off the keel.
Is the transducer thru hull or glued inside or what? Anything less than ideal gives the signal processing more work to do.

Or you could have something swimming under the boat. Getting a 3m shallow alarm half way to the Azores was spooky first time! Second time it was 'where's the fishing rod?'
Third time was 'whales are big!'