987 Loosing Depth

At speeds, I loose the depth signal past 25 to 30 mph. I’ve made multiple adjustments as well as sending it back 2x’s. Has anyone else had this issue and/or still having this issue?

Any resolve?

Possible transducer placement and/or angle of said transducer?

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At speeds, I loose the depth signal past 25 to 30 mph. I’ve made multiple adjustments as well as sending it back 2x’s. Has anyone else had this issue and/or still having this issue?

I would agree with RedLab I believe the placement “angle” of your transducer might be the problem , try tilting it downward slightly from the rear of your transducer, then check the progrees as you go.

Any resolve?

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Can you post a profile pic of your transducer as it is mounted. That would help us help you

Here is what I was able to take today,

As you can see I have a bit of the tail down and elevation should be set fairly well. I have moved this several times and the last time it went back to the factort they sent me a new transducer. All updates are installed corectly doing the return to defaults before installing new drivers.

Got any ideas?

Tilt it a little more tail up??

Turbulence due to the rivets??? This would be my guess, but I’m no expert…. I wonder if you put the ‘ducer down into the slipstream/waterflow a little further… Or course, that slightly increases the risk of damage if you hit a stick/debris, but probably not a whole lot more than the current position.

Not sure… Mine is mounted further down the hull, further below the waterline (towards the engine), but I run an outboard not an I/O, so not sure if that would help… But if you are are getting turbulence from the ducer being up higher or closer to the chine, you might consider moving further down towards the engine. (Does your mesh livewell intake or engine interfere at all with your right side SI? — Is your right side SI screnshot less detailed or darker than your left at any times??)

Mike

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Q)Tilt it a little more tail up??

(A)I had the tail up earlier and dropped the rear side down to help some.

(Q)Turbulence due to the rivets??? This would be my guess, but I’m no expert…. I wonder if you put the ‘ducer down into the slipstream/waterflow a little further… Or course, that slightly increases the risk of damage if you hit a stick/debris, but probably not a whole lot more than the current position.

(A)I have only broke one transducer in 20 years, not afraid to do that. I wondered if that would drop it too far in the water though. I’m already getting some flow over it. I had it higher before its present position.

(Q)Not sure… Mine is mounted further down the hull, further below the waterline (towards the engine), but I run an outboard not an I/O, so not sure if that would help… But if you are are getting turbulence from the ducer being up higher or closer to the chine, you might consider moving further down towards the engine.

(A)I placed according to manf instructions based on boats structure and dimensions and have made adjustments from there.

(Q)(Does your mesh livewell intake or engine interfere at all with your right side SI? — Is your right side SI screnshot less detailed or darker than your left at any times??)

(A)The motors out drive does block some of my SI visuals. The in-take for the live well is well above it and out of the water while moving and underway at lower speeds. I really believe the live well intake has no effect on it what so ever.

Thanks for the feed back. Unless any one on here can offer suggest any other possibilities I will try dropping and tilting the rear down some more.?

Thanks again, I’m still looking for more input!

What are you running your sensitivity on? Have you tried easing that up during high speed runs?

From the picture,the right side is right at or above the water plain. You could be getting to many bubbles. My whole transducer is lower,I get a rooster tail from it.But it works fine. I read somewhere a rooster tail is inevitable on some boats. Angle is related to how high the bow sits in the water.Every boat is different,depending on hull design and front loading.

When you are on plain,use your trim to change bow angle,if the transducer is close,you should be able to find the sweet spot,and adjust transducer accordingly!

my .02

I agree…I think the issue is on the right side of that transducer. Dropping it down will likely solve the problem. Bummer that the transducer isn’t mounted on a mounting board, which would save you from putting more holes in your transom.

If you do get the rooster-tail, you can solve that problem by using wraps of black electrical tape (or similar) to close the hole that water is shooting through.

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(A)I placed according to manf instructions based on boats structure and dimensions and have made adjustments from there.

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I placed mine much closer to the engine than per the manual instructions… I need to avoid a few other obstructions/transducers that I had mounted higher… So I put mine much closer to the bottom of the hull, beneath the other obstructions to avoide SI interference, and closer to the engine than the manufacturer recommends… I get crystal clear images… Again, not sure about the I/O vs an outboard, obviously results may vary… But I did have good luck with a much lower placement… I might try putting your ‘ducer below you livewell intake, but thats just me…. It might actually help eliminate some engine interference potential if you can get it lower… Does your ‘ducer get pretty close to the water level when on plane/when you lose the signal? A lower mount might keep it in the water

Attached is the photo of my mount… Not the best photo, but the engine that you can see is the kicker… The main engine is tilted up, but you can see how close to the bottom of the hull I have it. I’m sure the ‘ducer is a foot or less from the main engine when I’m running, and it works well… I sort of mashed in my livewell intake to avoid potential interference, and it seems to work fine.

Good luck,

Mike

Whit,
Did you mash that intake screen flat to get it out of the way?

I did.. Maybe not the best idea I’ve ever had, but I thought it might interfere since it was sticking out (into the path of the SI sonar) further than I would have liked. I was impatient and just mounted the ducer and mashed the screen the same day…. I probably should have waited to see if it actually caused any issues, but it seems to work fine now.

I haven’t had any issues at all with a clogged intake, so far so good. It’s really not much different than it was before, except now it just lays flat instead of being to bulbous. If I do have intake issues down the road, I’ll just figure something else out.. Not a difficult or major repair/issue…. But all last summer I was good to go, so I’m hoping it stays that way…

As it sits, the intake sticks out about 1/5 of of the length of the transducer into the SI sonar path… That was about the most potential interference that I was comfortable with. At times, I notice a VERY (VERY!) slight difference in SI return – The left side (which is the slightly (potentially) interefered with side), seems just every so slightly darker than right… I need just a touch more sensitivity to get a similarly bright return… I’m overstating the problem, though, as I am very picky about it and if you didn’t know about the problem, you would never notice it. Even when you look for it, its hardly ever noticable.. Only in certain depths and bottom content situations. I still get EXCELLENT images, and I’m very happy with the ducer location overall. Not sure if mashing the intake made any difference, but it did reduce the “bump out” by almost an inch.

Mike

Is that water intake mesh really necessary???? I have thought about just taking it off altogether… Any advice about this?

…Of course, it only (potentially) interferes with the topmost sonar (close to 180 degrees, water level basically), so its really a non-issue….

Mike

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Is that water intake mesh really necessary???? I have thought about just taking it off altogether… Any advice about this?
…Of course, it only (potentially) interferes with the topmost sonar (close to 180 degrees, water level basically), so its really a non-issue….
Mike

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If you use your live-well it is. That is most likely the intake for filling your live/bait well. Keeps leaves and etc out of the pump/suction line.

Mike,
The pic of the rear of your boat shows your transducer almost higher than mine is I think, Y/N?

The degree angle of the bottom of my Lund IPS hull (if I remember right) should be the about right angle for the transducer in SI I think with out the hull interfering..

I think mine sits a fair amount lower that yours, its difficult to tell from the photo… My boat is a 1800 Lund Explorer with a IPS hull… It might not be exactly the same, but its close. Your’s is probably a little deeper hull, but similar shape… If my ducer was on your boat, I think it would about the spot that your livewell intake sits (only on the right side)…

I wouldn’t worry too much about your hull interfering with SI, but anything positioned below the transducer that stucks out from the stern…. Engine, livewell intake, other transducers, etc, will potentially be problematic with the SI signal/reception.

I’ll go see if I can get a better photo…

Again, I’m no expert, but mine works very well at its current position (which I believe is a bit lower than yours), even at high speed… I can get returns from both 2d and SI at up to 45 mph depending on conditions.

Mike

A few more pics… You can see how close to the bottom/engine it is, yet it runs fine with no issues… I wanted to leave the 2 other transducers in place 1) for backup and 2) so I don’t have to worry about extra holes to plug/leak. So I was forced to mount the SI ducer lower to avoid interference… so far so good!

edit – sorry, the images are dark/shadowy due to a super wide angle lens and innapropriate flash/lighting.

Mike

Thanks Mike I will also try and get a couple more pics for you, mine is in the shop getting a new cover for the old girl, LOL!

Ok sorry for taking so long, here are mp pics of the outdrive side and under side. Hope they are not too blurred!

I thought when I placed it last time I was OK with everything so again ALL SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!

And now on with the show,

Thanks in advance for all of your inputs!
Denny O

Do you have any pics from straight behind the boat with the engine and other side of the stern included???

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Do you have any pics from straight behind the boat with the engine and other side of the stern included???

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I will get some tomorrow. It’s in the drive now and it’s a little dark out now (10:00 PM) for better ones. I’ll see what I can kick up with the forcasted rain tomorrow. Thanks!

Jason or any body else, Should I still move the transducer down say 1/4 to 1/2 inch and do you still want the trailing end tilted down more as well? I was waiting to make adjustments based on all your last comments from the last 4 pics that were asked for.
Thanks again,
Denny O

Denny,

I dont think you have any choice but to keep making changes. I would drop if 1/8 down over all and put a little more tilt down on the back. not alot, just a little.

When you find the “sweet spot” itll be worth your time.

If you have to drill new holes, drill them so you can use the whole slot,Don’t drill new holes,1/8 below old holes. that gives you more range of adjustment.

I finally got some pics of my installation.

Here is my transducer on the back of my 2001 Crestliner 1750TS. Yes, I broke mine off and repaired it, that is the mesh you see. Drifted into a tree stump and cleaned off both my HDSI, LCX 15 xducers.

Here is some side images at speed:

What is the mesh for? Do you have a pic from under the boat looking at the nose of the transducer to be able yo judge its depth set any better as well as the tilt?

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What is the mesh for? Do you have a pic from under the boat looking at the nose of the transducer to be able yo judge its depth set any better as well as the tilt?

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The mesh is where I welded/epoxied it back together when I sheared it off on the stump.

Here is the only other pic I have.

My boat is 4 hours away.

Very interesting, Which HB unit are you running and with which update?

997 and 1197 v4.750