Moomba Depth Sounder

[LakePerson1952]

I just completed my second weekend on my new Moomba Outback and I am really loving her.

One thing I am not as happy about is the depth sounder. This time out I noticed that the Depth Alarm gets turned off every time the engine is turrned off. :confused: Maybe it is just me but it seems a bit silly to have a depth sounder where every time the engine is turned-on you need re-configure the alarm - and need to REMEMBER to do it. That's especially a bother when skiing because I am a bit of a stickler about turning off the engine whenever someone is getting in or out of the water. I've noticed quite a few posts on the forum where people have damaged a prop or shaft and I'm thinking they may not be setting the shallow alarm.

Is anyone aware of a gauge type sounder that is reasonably compatable with Moomba instruments that will "remember" alarm settings between power cycles?

OH! Yes, I did read the User Manual, but somehow just did not catch the significance of the little footnote that said "When power is removed from the instrument, all depth settings are returned to 000." I know my lake pretty well but it does fluctuate a lot.

[Razzman]

In the three years I've owned this boat i've never used the alarm. I do watch the depth religiously when I know i'm in shallow waters. My previous boat had a depth alarm too and it drove me crazy to the point where I disabled the alarm feature.

[viking]

it somewhat bothered me at first but I just got used to remembering to set it every time. That works most of the time..............kinda like remembering to put the drain plug in :)

[E4NASH]

Seems like mine can hardly ever get a good reading anyway so it's pretty much useless...The last 5 trips to the lake it didn't register depth one time on any of those five different trips. Anyone have a suggestion on an accurate and reliable replacement?

[bergermaister]

Do you have the puck style that is expoxied down in the bilge area? If so check to see if the puck broke loose. I put in a brand new one last year and 2nd time out with it the dang thing quit registering - on a lake I was unfamiliar with of course. Hadn't used enough epoxy and it had broken loose. Cleaned up and reglued and works just fine now.

[harmsway]

I installed a Lowrance depth finder this past winter and it works great. I wired it so it comes on when the ignition switch is on, when you cut the engine off it cuts off, and it remembers all the setting everytime you cut the engine off and restart the boat. Pretty simple to wire up and install.

Here's a link of the depth finder.

https://forum.moomba.com/album.php?albumid=397&pictureid=3357

[E4NASH]

Do you have the puck style that is expoxied down in the bilge area? If so check to see if the puck broke loose. I put in a brand new one last year and 2nd time out with it the dang thing quit registering - on a lake I was unfamiliar with of course. Hadn't used enough epoxy and it had broken loose. Cleaned up and reglued and works just fine now.

Not sure, I will check this weekend when I bring the boat home Saturday to install my dual zone volume controller before we hit the water Sunday morning. Do you have a pic of what I should be looking for?


I installed a Lowrance depth finder this past winter and it works great. I wired it so it comes on when the ignition switch is on, when you cut the engine off it cuts off, and it remembers all the setting everytime you cut the engine off and restart the boat. Pretty simple to wire up and install.

Here's a link of the depth finder.

https://forum.moomba.com/album.php?albumid=397&pictureid=3357


Yeah, I saw that in one of your previous posts. I like that one....Where did you get it? Did you end up having to drill through the hull to get the water temp gauge to work? How difficult was that? I'm not real comfortable with doing that but I dunno maybe I could do it...I assume the depth signal (sonar) passes thru hull, correct?

[bergermaister]

I just got a basic Uniden - here's a link that will show a puck like mine. Similar concept with other brands I'm sure.

http://www.westmarine.com/1/1/4477-50-200khz-hull-puck-dual-frequency-transducer.html

HawkEye makes some nice ones as well. There's one that is an actual eye - requires drilling a hole for it to look through which is probably far more accurate and consistent than the thru-hull pucks are. I believe they can also display water temp as well. Drilling the holes really aren't that bad. Done several of them now small to large!

[Razzman]

When I need to replace the stock sounder it will definately be with this one, the Faria Dual Temp Depth Sounder (http://www.faria-instruments.com/depthsounder.php). Shows depth to 200' as well as air & water temp. Faria offers a buch of different transducers (http://www.faria-instruments.com/transducers.php) for a perfect install as well. My brother-in-law has this one on his Sanger and it is the best i've seen, not to mention it matches the stock gauges well.

[bergermaister]

That one looks sweet! Wish I hadn't been in such a last minute rush to replace mine. Anything other than the Uniden would have had to be mail ordered and I needed to install that same night!

[harmsway]

Yeah, I saw that in one of your previous posts. I like that one....Where did you get it? Did you end up having to drill through the hull to get the water temp gauge to work? How difficult was that? I'm not real comfortable with doing that but I dunno maybe I could do it...I assume the depth signal (sonar) passes thru hull, correct?

I picked it up off ebay for $75.00 new, I'm always looking deals. It was a simple install, the puck glues to the botton of hull, I used clear automotive silicone sealer to adhere it, that way if it needed to be removed I could with out damaging the hull. The temp sensor I put into the fresh water intake hose and just reclamped the hose around the wire (no need to drill a hole)

Works great. The only problem I had was when loading the boat the depth sounder would go off. I finally relized you could push any button and the buzzer would stop.

[ptcbtchr]

My dealer installed a hummingbird depth finder and it works fine. It comes on when ignition it turned on and I have never had to reset it, remembers the alarm(5 feet) and has given me consistent readings.

Mark

[schuylski]

Do you all find that the depth finder helps? A lot of the places we find with good water are shallow to begin with. By the time the gauge reads too low... clunk, found the rock! And oh yeah... depth gauge says low....

Do you only use them to tell you about general shallow areas... like less than 4-5 feet? Is there anything else that is better?

[bergermaister]

I've found that going to the same areas I learn the depths pretty well and don't pay as much attention. It's exploring new areas where I'm constantly glancing and double checking it. Absolutely hate going blindly.

Also near end of the season when the water gets low. Last September my alarm kept going off out in the middle of my favorite channel. It was an overcast day and we were the only ones on the water. I thought something was wrong with it but kicked into neutral and drifted for a bit. Sure enough started seeing rocks poking out of a sandy bottom just 3-4ft down... That was one of the days you could have waded across the entire river channel if you picked the right line. If it hadn't been for the alarm and watching it I could easily have loaded up a surf ballast and started dragging my rudder and prop across the bottom.