Eagle transducers

[Stinkies Daddy]

I have twin Eagle 320's and the 1 on the console is acting up a lil bit. It seems to wanna lose the depth reading at 30 mph or above. it will read depth for a few mins at top end but then it will just start flashing and maybe in a few more mins it will start reading correctly. any ideas?

[lilmule]

Transducer not reading,due to location or loss of contact if inside shooting through the boat hull?
I have one that dosnt give much below a certain depth as mine is digital readout with first numbers kinda scrambled,but reads at speed just not shallow,anything above 20 or 30ft it does ok,and will replace for same reason.

[Stinkies Daddy]

no its a skimmer on the transom mounted well below the water line, well at least i think its below the w/l when the boat is moving

[lilmule]

Just as mine a replacement might be in order.
If the two are interchangeable try the bow mount on the console if it works ok then its the unit itself
If not then its the ducer

[Stinkies Daddy]

Just as mine a replacement might be in order.
If the two are interchangeable try the bow mount on the console if it works ok then its the unit itself
If not then its the ducer


good idea, i must be a bigger moron than i thought, because that never even occured to me. Actually i just got a 480 so ill try that 1 first and then rotate in the other 320. really good idea thanks for the suggestion, some times its the simple things that we over look

[Bullet20dc]

you said "its well below the water line" but is it right
it should be flush or below the edge of the boat by no more than 1/8 in and slightly lower at the rear edge. If its too low it will create an air stream with bubbles and it won't read thru air. A skimmer is what you want back there for anything over 20 mph they have a stronger signal , and are made to withstand impact the puck type doesn't work back there very long

[Stinkies Daddy]

you said "its well below the water line" but is it right
it should be flush or below the edge of the boat by no more than 1/8 in and slightly lower at the rear edge. If its too low it will create an air stream with bubbles and it won't read thru air. A skimmer is what you want back there for anything over 20 mph they have a stronger signal , and are made to withstand impact the puck type doesn't work back there very long

I think this is where the prob is. The skimmer is pretty well below the waterline on transon and hangs below the bottom of the hull. I'll make the adjustment today before i go to the monster in laws house. Thanks for your help.

[Stinkies Daddy]

brought the ducer up to where it should be and that improved it bout 90%, but it still keeps locking in on a number and freezing. could it be that i need to move it up to where its above the bottom of the hull to avoid dirty wash water?

[Nightmare]

:eek: No.... At speed you'd have no reading since the water level would be coming straight off the bottom of the hull for a short distance and you'd have an air gap between water and bottom of 'ducer. Even flush or juuuust barely below, you'd have air bubbles in the very top layer of water that get trapped under the hull that come streaming out the back.

I read Bullet's comment about too deep causing an airstream, but, I think that exact phrasing to be in error. ;) If though, what he was saying was that it would cause an air pocket on the trailing end (vacuum created), then I would agree with that - whether it would cause your problem at that rate, I wouldn't say one way or another. I completely agree with his advice below the edge of the boat by no more than 1/8 in and slightly lower at the rear edge. As above, I don't agree with flush. That's just my experience and his may differ. He juuuust may have set up a few more than myself. :D

But in the end, you can experiment with all the possibilities and find out for yourself - ain't gonna cost ya a thing and then you'll know. ;););)

I don't see anywhere here where you say one way or the other if you've always had this problem or just started at some particular point, AND if maybe there was any sort of "physical event" that might have happened at the same time that can be associated with the symptom you now have?

[Nightmare]

:o Forgot two other things;

Did you ever try one of the other control heads?

How far off from center line of the hull is this thing mounted, AND, to port or starboard?

[Stinkies Daddy]

:o Forgot two other things;

Did you ever try one of the other control heads?

How far off from center line of the hull is this thing mounted, AND, to port or starboard?

yre, tried both 320's and my 480, same deal!
port side maybe 14" off center

ducer is a lil rough on the bottom side, i just went out and laid my fat butt on the ground to check, maybe 1 of the larger scratcher is grabbin bubbles?

[lilmule]

1/8 below is about right,doubt if scratches are effecting it that much,possibly the ducer itself or a voltage problem to the head units,you could also try switching the ducers,if it does the same then its mounting or electrial to the head,(low voltage)if not then its the ducer.

[Nightmare]

ducer is a lil rough on the bottom side, i just went out and laid my fat butt on the ground to check, maybe 1 of the larger scratcher is grabbin bubbles?

So you have eliminated the control head as the issue although I like LM's idea about voltage, although not directly a ch issue. If that were the case, it could be hard to pin down the spot causing voltage flux since its probably affected by vibration when the boat's haulin azz. I'd think LM's idea on switching up 'ducers would be the down n dirty on that. ONE THING though; just move the front one back and connect to the ch, then run the wire across the back deck and to the mount. Take the rear loose from the mount and tie it up out of the way. There's no sense in doing all the work of totally mucking up both ends for diagnostic purposes.

'Nother thing about checking voltage delivery to ch, if you have a diagnostic menu, there should be a feature that shows your voltage in real time. Set the unit to that setting and make a couple runs, keeping an eye on the voltage reading and you should see if you're getting any anomalous readings while under way.

Now for your idea about scratches: I'm gonna differ with LM here, as I mentioned before about possibility of a vacuum bubble forming on the back side, those could also form on any irregular portion of a scratch - either the groove or ridge. And that's if it's a significant enough scratch. Race boats are sanded on the bottoms to promote movement of air (bubbles) that gets trapped under the front of the hull as it moves forward. Basically it's the same effect as when you get that perfect ripple or chop on the water and your boat is bustin loose and runnin fast. Anyway the thing is, that the sanded surface is relatively fine and regular where I might think your scratches on the ducer may not be. That's where either an irregulararity can snag and hold a bubble or can create a vacuum bubble (sorta like catitation burn on a prop).

Without knowing the thickness of the 'ducer skin or depth of the scratches, if mine I would approach that one of 2 ways. Either sand the bottom free of these scratches, or, sand it enough to knock of the significant ridges then paint it with epoxy to smooth it. If in doubt how much skin thickness you can afford to sand off, go with second choice.

I can't remember right off which side of the prop the ducer is supposed to be on (I think the right side) due to turbulance off of it mucking with readings (hmmm) but 14" sounds like plenty of clearence. Maybe somebody can add to that... Other reason for that question was if it's mounted too far out, you may be right at the point where that part of the hull is lifting (just barely) out of the water??? Refresh my memory what sort of boat and hp you got there?

So.............where we at? :D Oh yeah, you gonna move front ducer to temp rear and test, yes?

[Stinkies Daddy]

84 venture kricket, 16' modified tri hull bass boat 40 hp mariner. i'll consukt the book as to what side the ducer should be on, and i have access to another ducer, the front is a puck on the troller. my buddy has another skimmer for the same mod ff and wants a puck ( i have an extra ) and since i fixed the leaking prob on his unit he's gonna have to let me use his skimmer to test this out

[Nightmare]

Yup, sounds like a plan. I misunderstood - though you had 2 skimmers. My bad.

Just switch the ducer, not the bracket. Don't need to try to create leaky screw holes.

The proper side and distance will be more important for you since your transom isn't going to have steps to it or have a jackplate, either of which could have set your ducer further forward and away from the prop influence.

If I knew where my manual was for either new depth finder (last season), I'd look it up myself. :o

If you have a digital camera, ya might try taking a picture from the rear (show whole left half of transom) so we can exactly see where the ducer is in relation to the hull contour - might be an issue there needs looked at.

[Stinkies Daddy]

appearently it dont matter what side its mounted on

[lilmule]

Low voltage did cause a problem with my eagle it read the bottom and fish but would not display the printed depth as digital.As for scratches all my units with a flat bottom have fine scratches,deep ones could create a problem.You might consider getting a pair of two in spacers to let that thing breathe or get cleaner water.Or just replacing the unit with something else.
Wish you luck,hope you can sort it out.

[Stinkies Daddy]

Low voltage did cause a problem with my eagle it read the bottom and fish but would not display the printed depth as digital.As for scratches all my units with a flat bottom have fine scratches,deep ones could create a problem.You might consider getting a pair of two in spacers to let that thing breathe or get cleaner water.Or just replacing the unit with something else.
Wish you luck,hope you can sort it out.


just upgraded to a 480 but only bought the unit because the cabels all matched up, have been seein erratic lines and dots makin me think its noise interferance. will turn noise reject up next time out, which should be soon as i have 2 guide trips next week and need to scout. should be fun fightin over water w/ all the flw boys in town

[Stinkies Daddy]

Installed new ducer and prob solved

[Nightmare]

Good. Now you can get back to serious fishin'! :cool:

[Stinkies Daddy]

Good. Now you can get back to serious fishin'! :cool:

going out tomorrow to fine tune the front unit! Taking crickets and an ultra light that i'll borrow form KKtPFP to see if we cant have tater chips for dinner this weekend