# Transducer repair



## HighSide25 (May 15, 2007)

garmin? most cheap ones are about 50-70$ new to replace. i would double check the entire line. mine had several smalln knicks in it,. i had to cut and repair the lines, now it works fine,. and the bottom of mine has many surface scratches.


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## firecat1981 (Nov 27, 2007)

if it is just the plastic that is gouged you can try using plastic weld epoxy to fill them in and sand it smooth. The grooves are probably causing slight cavitation or something and effecting the reading.


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

mine is a humminbird...I haven't checked prices yet, but I'm sure it won't break the bank to replace with a a new one, but this one has only been in the water like 4 or 5 times, so I'd like to not have to dump more $ into it yet if I don't need to.

Do you think I could take a fine grit sandpaper and smooth out the scratches/gouges without filling it with epoxy first or do I need to put the plastic weld stuff on there first?


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Since you came in contact with something to scratch it, make sure that it is pointed in the right direction so that it won't create an air pocket or cause air turbulance under it when moving. The scratches should not make a difference since the "guts" are buried deep inside (unless you scratched so deep to scratch the node inside the housing- if so, only fix is a new one)


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## FSUfisher (Jul 16, 2007)

> Since you came in contact with something to scratch it, make sure that it is pointed in the right direction so that it won't create an air pocket or cause air turbulance under it when moving.  The scratches should not make a difference since the "guts" are buried deep inside (unless you scratched so deep to scratch the node inside the housing- if so, only fix is a new one)


X2. Transducers can be very picky about their position. If you knocked it one notch up, it could take you from perfect readings to what you stated above.


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

> Since you came in contact with something to scratch it, make sure that it is pointed in the right direction so that it won't create an air pocket or cause air turbulance under it when moving.  The scratches should not make a difference since the "guts" are buried deep inside (unless you scratched so deep to scratch the node inside the housing- if so, only fix is a new one)


I read on another forum that the transducer face could be wet sanded to restore functionality.  For someone who has never wet sanded...what is involved in doing this?

Thanks again,
David

PS - I did confirm that the transducer is still in the same position as before when it was working fine.


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

basically you need to hike it on down to lowes and pick up some wet sand paper. i would probably start with 400 grit then after a bit of elbow work move up to a 600 grit. the way you do it though is to allow water to run over the work surface as your sanding, it lubricates the sand paper and washes away sanded material giving you a dull but smooth surface, once you've got it thru the 600 grit you could probably buff it with a buffing wheel and some plastic polish that would give it a pretty smooth and shiny surface. 

note***  you may even need to start with a more course paper to start with depending on how deep the scratches are thats why it was suggested earlier to fill those areas with an epoxy or such... the whole idea is to start rough then graduate up to finer grits till most if not all scratches are gone...


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

> basically you need to hike it on down to lowes and pick up some wet sand paper. i would probably start with 400 grit then after a bit of elbow work move up to a 600 grit. the way you do it though is to allow water to run over the work surface as your sanding, it lubricates the sand paper and washes away sanded material giving you a dull but smooth surface, once you've got it thru the 600 grit you could probably buff it with a buffing wheel and some plastic polish that would give it a pretty smooth and shiny surface.
> 
> note***  you may even need to start with a more course paper to start with depending on how deep the scratches are thats why it was suggested earlier to fill those areas with an epoxy or such... the whole idea is to start rough then graduate up to finer grits till most if not all scratches are gone...


Thanks - this is exactly what I needed.

I'll give this a try - maybe even a combination of the ideas suggested and let ya'll know how it turns out.

Thanks again!
Dave


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Give str8 a pm and get his number...call him and get details. This is his profession.


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

I wet sanded as smooth as I could and finally had a chance to go out a test last night. Still not working properly. I get a good temp reading and I think I am still getting an accurate depth displayed (just the number, no additional detailed readout on the screen showing structure, contours, etc. Do you guys have any other suggestions? Is there a chance that I just assumed the scratched transducer was causing the problem when it could be something else like the wire, etc? 

Thanks, 
Dave


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Send a message to the manufacturer stating what you did and steps you have taken and see what they suggest.


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## Un-shore (Sep 27, 2007)

I knocked mine out of place putting the boat on the trailer and it has not worked since, just temp. No visual damage, just swung up on the hinged mount.

Maybe something got knocked loose on the inside.


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## gnuraider (Nov 4, 2008)

> Send a message to the manufacturer stating what you did and steps you have taken and see what they suggest.


Not sure why I didn't think of this...I just called them. They asked a few questions, I told them what I'd done and they are shipping out a new transducer for free under warranty.

Kudos to Humminbird for top notch customer service - they had every right to just tell me I was out of luck since I scratched it, but they stepped up and took care of me instead!!!

Thanks again for the suggestions...

Dave


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