Need NEW depth gauge recommendations

[Jayrodau]

I have re-epoxied mine down and moved it all around and it still doesn't pickup worth a crap. Always getting the (--) or (00) symbols. It will read sometime times though. Im sick of fooling with it!!
Its the stock one that came with the boat. What is a good replacement/upgrade that everyone is using?? Hopefully I can order one from amazon and comes as a kit. Shouldn't be to hard of an install I wouldn't think.
Thanks,
Jared

[bergermaister]

Faria Digital Depth + Air/Water Temp

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Faria-Digital-Depth-Sounder-with-Air-Water-Temperatures&i=74431&r=view&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlebase&s_kwcid=googlepla&cvsfa=2587&cvsfe=2&cvsfhu=3734343331&gclid=CL22mv7Vk8ACFbRzMgodPFoAFA

Don't have one yet, but plan to when the cheapo Uniden finally dies. I'm planning to go with the in hull "eye" vs the glue down "hope it works - hope it stays" thru hull puck.

[jboardman]

I've had Faria's in previous boats and as far as I'm concerned, they're junk. I have a friend with a Hummingbird that is always spot on! I'm going to go with it when my stock one completely quits.

[trayson]

I have a faria with a airmar in hull transducer. I had some frustrations with mine because I first mounted the transducer with silicone to the hull. You fill the base with mineral oil and lock the transducer into it. Mine ended up leaking out some of the mineral oil. So I used JB weld on the inside and outside of the base in hopes of making it not leak out mineral oil anymore.

That lasted 1/2 a season and then I was having to top it off way too often. So I pulled the base off my hull and the silicone peeled right off. I cleaned everything up and reapplied the transducer base with some 3m 5200 Fast cure. That finally did the job and seems to be working great.

That said, if I was to do it all over again, I'd probably get a thru-hull transducer (getting water temp would be a bonus, although I already get water temp with my Perfect Pass paddlewheel).

I don't like the fact that the LED backlighting is integrated into the Faria gauge and can't be changed. It's not bad with the red backlighting, but it doesn't match anything else I have.

The reason I went with the Faria/Airmar combo is simply because the previous owner of my boat bought it and never got around to installing it and included it with the boat purchase...

[OrangeCrush]

Just installed humminbird hdr650 excellent product.

[sivs1]

I will second the 650.

[bergermaister]

I'll be curious to hear about your experience with the hdr650.

My crapola Uniden was up to its tricks again this weekend (3.5ft, no 163ft, no 34ft, no...) although I'm wondering if it acts flaky when there is more water in the bilge. It shouldn't but now I'm suspicious if there's some cause and effect going on there.

[trayson]

I had to refill my transducer with mineral oil when I went to lake Merwin... Having that mineral oil FULL in there seems to be pretty key to making it read accurately for me.

[freyse]

how do you fill the transducer ???Have not had a working depth gauge for years now also see the --- . Removing old transducer is next option .

[trayson]

how do you fill the transducer ???Have not had a working depth gauge for years now also see the --- . Removing old transducer is next option .

So, on my depth gauge, there's a wired transducer that has a baseplate that is affixed to the hull. The pieces look like this:
http://www.asap-supplies.com/web_images/Products/Products/large/FAR-SN0010.jpg
In this pic, the baseplate is the piece on the right, and the transducer is upside down on the left.

Once it's assembled, it looks like this:
http://www.killerdeals.co.za/images/P-79.jpg
The transducer snaps into the top of the mounting piece. The mounting piece is really just a tube with a flange on the bottom and a mechanism for the transducer to snap into it at the top (with an o-ring to seal that connection). The mounting piece is open at the bottom. The flange is what is affixed to the inside of your hull. I used 3m 5200 fast cure to affix mine.

Actually, this is a great picture of the two pieces that I have.
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/7973/img4312ek.jpg

So, because the bottom of the tranducer isn't touching the hull itself, you fill the base piece with mineral oil. That way it's not shooting through a pocket of air before it goes through the hull and the water. Mineral oil is used because it's thicker...

I don't know what type of transducers are in other boats, but this is how my wired, no-drill one works.

[rca]

Does that wired top piece just unscrew from the base plate that is epoxied to the boat? I need to take a look at mine.

[trayson]

Does that wired top piece just unscrew from the base plate that is epoxied to the boat? I need to take a look at mine.

Not unscrew per se. there's a notch in the base that a tab on the transducer fits down into and it spins about 1/2" to allow the transducer piece to come out. So the top piece has 2 tabs that slides into the base (on the inside) and then you rotate the top about 1/2" to lock it in place.

I hope that makes sense.

[rca]

I believe so. Now that I know what to look for I think I can figure it out. I'll report back when I get a chance to go over and take a look at it.