Garmin sonar problem

[magna 6882]

I have two 8612s and a 8612 xsv and a b260 airmar transducer. The depth has been erratic since i got the boat last year. Depth blinking for several miles and giving crazy number like +47ft as if we went airborn. This is on and off and seems to get worse in deep and shallow water.The newest problem is 4 lines a dot then a line. I reset to factory defaults and several reboots. I took a screen shot and also took pictures of the troubleshooting pages. I called garmin and they were stumped and are investigating and said they would get back to me. I was wondering if anyone with a similar system could compare my troubleshooting data with theirs to see if i am reporting something different.

 

[jimdavi]

Does it happen in both modes, eg 50 and 200 kHz?

 

[twistedtree]

And does it happen while at anchor or at a dock? Aeration can be a problem with transducers, and is highly dependent on where/how they are installed.

 

[magna 6882]

in both modes and in auto. It usually is blinking when it cant find the bottom while underway. Now it is just showing blank at the dock.

 

[magna 6882]

Airmar thinks its a bad transducer but they have no idea what the diagnostics page is displaying and neither does garmin. They would like me to have the transducer tested.

 

[BandB]

Airmar thinks its a bad transducer but they have no idea what the diagnostics page is displaying and neither does garmin. They would like me to have the transducer tested.

Most likely one of two things. Either bad transducer or the location of the transducer. If it previously worked fine, then not likely the location unless you changed something else. I'm surprised there are not more transducer failures than there are. Have you physically checked the transducer to see if anything there interfering or if it appears physically damaged?

 

[jimdavi]

Or connection between transducer and mfd.

 

[rsn48]

I am having the same problem. I am guessing in my case, when the boat goes up on plane, there is too much turbulence at the transducer location. It is located roughly half the length of the boat.

 

[magna 6882]

So today it was showing the depth. Both shots were at the slip. The screen seems to look a little odd. I dont like it working then not working. Airmar wants me to have the transducer tested so i am looking into that. Not many that have the equipment.