Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Is the Lowrance 3500 the original equipment for 2000 models? That's whats in my 182 Shabah.

Is is not reading right, when you turn it on, it flashes .05 about five times then gives a reading, but it isn't long before the reading is all over the place. Normally a three digit number....reseting it don't do anything? Is the transducer in the bottom of the boat loose? It don't seem to be?

Anyone have any thoughts?

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

A loose or malfunctioning transducer is usually the problem. Possibly the epoxy its mounted in has gotten brittle & it wont read correctly. You may have to remove & reset the transducer or you may need to simply replace the transducer. Although discontinued, they are still available on eBay etc.

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

I have a Lowrance 3500 in my 1996 Z210 as well and it malfunctions about half the time. When it works it gives the same readings as my hummingbird but about half the time it will begin flashing the last reading it had and occassionaly it will give three digit readings. Shutting it off usually doesn't help. After a while it comes back on with the correct readings. There seems to be no consistancy as to when it works and when it doesn't. The transducer seems to be solidly glued down. Anything I could/should be checking before I use more force to pull up the transducer and reset it in epoxy.

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Try checking the wiring connections to the display unit. There may be a bit of corrosion. Other than that, there just isnt much else to check .

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Ya, mine is just like that.
I did find out that you can not use two finders at the same time, they both send a sonor "ping" and they can't tell out from the other, so they go into that three digit mode you were talking about. so only one on at a time.

The thing about my Lowrance unit is that it seems to work just fine in deeper water and when I'm on plane, but who needs it then??? I need to know how shallow it is!! I will not work, going slow in shallow water?? What's with that?

I would think the transducer is loose or bad, but why would it work on plane in deeper water then??

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Try turning on and then off and back on, seems to work for mine.

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Thanks Purple Shabah for the info on running 2 sonor devices at once. Makes a perfect sense once you stop to think about it. If my memory serves me correctly, I did have the problem with only the Lowrance on by itself but I take note of when it happens next time I get out.

Jake

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Ya. It's called crosstalk.
Let me know how you make out.

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Mine did this a few times and I found out why... There was water in the bilge, and when I was underway, the water was filling in the discrepancies in the epoxy, which actually allowed it to shoot through and get accurate readings back. As soon as I came off plane and the water moved away, I lost the readings... You could probably test this by covering your transducer in water while you're out next time, and see if you get readings or not... If it does, and it disappears once the water's gone, I'd say you should consider re-epoxying the transducer.

Re: Anybody having trouble with their OE depth finder?
 

Ah, great idea! I'll try that.