Depth Sounder Stopped Working

[impi]

We left Prickly Bay today (Grenada) for Tyrrel Bay (Carriacou) and I noticed a consistent reading of 6m depth on my ST 70.

Once we had rounded the southern part of Grenada and headed North, I engaged autopilot on a course that would be in deeper waters, whilst I went downstairs, removed the transducer and cleaned it thoroughly. I then followed all wiring making sure all connections were nice and snug - all seemed fine.

I 're booted' the St 70's (have 2 upstairs and one downstairs) and had the same thing - 6m depth.

I went to Transducer setup - search - finds 1 x wind and 1 x DST800

(model number is DST200) s/n 1651160, software version 1.002 and 1.005

The display (ST70 is software version V3.03.

Depth response level is set at 12 (all units in meters so I assume it means 12 m)

At first I thought it was due to being in water that is too deep for the transducer echo, but as we passed over 'Kick em Jenny' I headed for Ronde Island and it became clear that even in fairly shallow water, the ST 70 remained at 6m.

At anchor here in Tyrrel Bay - gues what depth I am in - Well ... it says 6m !

I wondered if software could play a role in this?

Does anyone have advice or experience with this problem?

[rubyjean]

Don't know much about those rich mans systems but, my cheap unit would have a simular problems. Mind would be solved by cleaning the bottom where the transducer was. Always helped to get it working again.
Must have something to do w/ the black slime. That's my best guess. Mine shoot's thru the bottom[glue in] Hope you figure it out..Michael..

[rubyjean]

Try; justanswer.com/raymarine

They claim an answer ever 9 seconds.
Worth a try....Michael..

[impi]

Thanks Michael ... went there but could not make out how the payment structure works and it seems they want a deposit of J$2600 ...

[Hugh Walker]

Hi impi,

How did you go resolving this problem? The same thing just happened to me Depth readout on an ST70 stuck at 6M for a few days. I replaced the STng connector thingy at the DST800 as it looked a little corroded with a spare and now the depth display is "---".

The DST800 (Airmar) is a tri-transducer with sea temp and speed as well, both of which are working perfectly so I doubt very much a connection issue was our problem. Software also seams unlikely. I'm guessing the depth sounder part has just died...

Did you end up replacing it?

Cheers,

Hugh

[bstreep]

Just saw this thread. If yours has a Raymarine computer unit hidden somewhere, I've found that ours has a problem communicating IF the display doesn't get turned on within 30 seconds of the depth computer. As long as I turn on the instruments (which includes the depth computer), and immediately turn on the display, all works OK. It seems that after a bit, the computer quits looking for the display.

[pandw]

Hi Impi / Hugh Walker,

Did you ever figure out how to fix your depthsounder?
I also have an Airmar "smart tri multisensor" depth in a raymarine system, that just stopped working....it permanently reads 0.2m or "---", but the speed log works.

Love to hear what happened....

[Hugh Walker]

Hi Pandw, we couldn't find any permanent fix and ended up replacing the depth sounder. Oddly I'm having exactly the same problem 10 yrs later on another boat... I haven't yet but I'll replace this one soon.