transducer worries

[snapperback]

hi all,
has anyone ever damaged a transducer by operating the sounder out of the water? i got my new sounder installed recently and took it out for a test run the other day and everything was fine and it all worked. today i decided to play around with it at home with settings etc and it doesnt seem to get a depth or display on the screen. im hoping its nothing to worry about, maybe it just needs to be immersed in water for a picture??

[mirage]

As far as I know it needs to be in water.

[tunaticer]

They definitely do need to be in water to work, they hear the echo coming back and that echo gives the reading.

High powered transducers can suffer damage from being operated out of water but the average ones seen on most rec boats will not suffer.

Jack.

[Foxy4]

Try cutting the side out of an old plastic bucket so the transducer will sit in the water and see what happens.

[bayfisher]

Very doubtful that you have damaged it. Most traducers don't work well when the boat is sitting on trailer. Mine cant pick up a bottom reading on the trailer but works fine in water.

Cheers Chris

[honda900]

mate,

doesnt sound right, I have used 2 lowrance and a hummingbird sounder which all worked on the trailer and provided a depth reading.

One thing to consider is that the transducer is actually encased in plastic and rubber to protect it, so it never actually gets wet, so theory being it shouldnt make any difference unless the density of the water has an impact in some way.

However in saying that perhaps it is having issues in reading depth in shallow water or it is getting some type of deflection from the surface that it is hitting maybe sensitivity gain might help.


Regards
Honda

[snapperback]

hey thanks for all ur input guys, i was beginning to worry i buggered my brand new trandsducer up. I was was thinkin bout it all morning so decided to take the boat for a run today and test out the sounder and all seems to be workin well..thankgod!!! i can rest easy now phew! anyway thanks again . happy fishing :)

[finding_time]

.

High powered transducers can suffer damage from being operated out of water but the average ones seen on most rec boats will not suffer.

Jack.

Spot on Jack;) Anyone that tells you your damaging your transducers by running them out of water is repeating an urban myth, Larger transducers 3kw and above will get hot and this may damage them but lower output transducers are not a problem, And yes i do know most manufactors state running them out of water damages them but it's just a case of them covering themselfs .

Ian

[FNQCairns]

I used a Lowrance once to find cavities in a wall, so they do work out of water but obviously not a design feature:)

cheers fnq