Earlier I posted a screenshot from the other day and got some queries on some of the problems I'd had with my sounder so I'd thought I'd start a seperate thread in case others are having similar issues.

By way of background I was lucky enough last year to purchase a brand new Signature 632F and waited patiently for delivery in December. During that period Lowrance released the touch series of sounders so I upgraded to the HDS12 and ended up with one of the early units in WA in January this year.  As part of the build spec I also committed to a 1kw in hull wetbox transducer (Airmar M260) which was installed in the factory.

On delivery I was impressed with the ease of use and the quality of soundings, then the unit would start "cutting out".  It was one of those annoying intermittent errors that I had a hard time reproducing, although it would generally happen cruising between marks.  Sometimes it would also happen during a drift.  

By cutting out, what the unit would do was suddenly show the depth as 0.3m as though I was ony in a foot of water.  you'll see in the pic attached.

I tried turning the unit off and on, performed a soft reset (losing settings in the process), disconnected the structure scan transducer to see if that was interferring, and upgraded the software which was released around July from memory.  Sometimes those things would work, sometimes they wouldn't, but t because every posthe problem continued.

Before a trip to Exmouth early September the head unit was sent back to Lowrance and was replaced, but the gremlins didn't disappear.  Really frustrating on a trip like that.

The whole lot then ended up back at the dealer where they tested everything.  They did discover the cable had been kinked during the install and they replaced it, did some sea trials and all seemed OK except it was losing contact with the bottom from about 19 knots.  We together bit the bullet and elected to install a through hull unit (Airmar SS164) which is what I should have done in the first place.  This has given me a better quality sounding, better quality at speed, and temperature sensing as well.

Since doing that the boat has had two long days on the water and the problem hasn't (touch wood) come back.  I still think this may be a software problem so I half expect a reoccurence but we'll wait and see.

I have heard that a few Signature owners have had similar issues with a wetbox install, something to do with the variable deadrise?? 

I was asked for a pic of the setup, in the photo of the top of the transducer the in hull unit was installed on the left where the white patch now is fyi.

This is the third Lowrance unit I've owned and I've never had any issues before.  What also makes this problem difficult is the four parties involved - Lowrance, Airmar, the dealer, and the factory.  The dealer has been very helpful and I cannot complain about their service and whilst it would be very easy to point fingers elsewhere they have been trying to help my along the way.

So thats been my journey, happy to share my experiences more with people if they wish.  Have attached photos of the screenshot, the new transducer setup from the bottom and the top, and for good measure a nice Chinaman caught in Exmouth on a PE2 jigging outfit because its a fish!

Cheers,

Andrew.

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