Trojan Boat Forum

Put in a new Garmen GPS/sounder two years ago,with a new plastic [cheaper than bronze] through hull transducer. Sounder/fish finder worked well first season. I had the hull sand blasted last winter, followed by blister repair [ouch]. This spring, very little bounce back at the beginning of the year, then nothing. Sounder fish finder, useless for the rest of the summer.

I had the boat hauled last week, was a little pitting on surface of transducer [ I assume from overspray of the sand blasting] ,was not painted with bottom paint, or transducer anti-fouling paint. Here's my conundrum. Firstly did the pitting damage the transducer, and then I lost the signal from bottom growth [never did get my butt under the water to check during the season], should I just say to heck with it, and throw when a new transducer [only about $100], or use transducer paint, put the boat in the water in the spring, see if it works, and haul it out if it doesn't ? Or is there any easy way to check its function when a boat is on the hard? Appreciate the help, thanks.

I think the sand blsting killed the transducer. I would replace the transducer. A hundred bucks is less then the cost of a hall out next year. Let's look at what you told us. The transducer worked the first year . After the bottom was sand blasted it didn't work well, and then not at all. What makes you think that it will heal itself, or that with a coat of antifowling will cure it.

Operating a boat without a depth finder is asking for trouble. Running a ground will cost you a bundle, not to mention the lost boating time while the boat is laid up in drydock. Do yourself a favor and just replace the transducer.

yea...dumb question....

Why you are replacing, think about 2. I have two through hulls and then one transom mount. On through hull used to be a speedo and I replaced it with a dual purpose unit. If I have problems mid season, I can swap cables and keep on playing, avoiding the haul out (which where I'm at can run about $700 if I want it blocked to work on something for a few days.

hmmmmm.....

Speaking of extra transducers - I put another depth finder on with just a little digital display on the lower helm. The thing was only about $50 on Ebay and it actually came in handy. During a storm I was forced to navigate from below and couldn't see a damned thing. The little depth gauge told me if I was moving away from the center of the channel - with primary help from a little gps.

Also, my primary fishfinder is not a thru-hull...it's just one of those you can glass to the bottom in the bilge. Because our lovely Trojans don't have cored hulls (except some big International designs), I've found mine works great without going through the hull at all.

Tony