took out the bote for the first time this year last weekend. everything was in good shape but my depth finder (bottom plotter) was not working. it powers up and gps works fine plots course waypoints etc, water temp, volt meter good too. i noticed it was showing depth in ft but not showing the bottom. i thought maybe the transducer is kicked up so i go back and check. sure enough so i moved it back to the correct position. now, no depth in feet displayed OR bottom. tried zoom in & out, changed frequencies, fiddled with just about all of the settings but nothing. unplugged the unit a few times… re-power and the same results. all the while every other function on the unit works fine.
i looked at the pins on the input to the unit and all appear straight and free of debris and corrosion (i’m really good about regularly applying dielectric grease on the pins) and i always take the unit off the bote and keep it inside while not in use.
what am i missing? anybody else with similar issues?
I have the Garmin 441s. I have had it freeze up after losing lock on the bottom. This is usually resolved when I power it all the way down and re-boot it. On mine I don’t unplug it I just shut the engine off and click off the batteries. It sounds like you have already done this step. I wonder if your transducer cable didn’t get kinked somehow?
If you don’t find any obvious problem in your transducer cable I would take the boat out again and see if it reboots. I bet it will work fine next time out. I know it sounds crazy but its like if those units lose lock on the bottom the sounder over heats or something. Take it out again and make sure the transducer is in the correct position and I bet it will work just fine.
I have the 441s and when I loose bottom I can usually power it down and everything works again when powered back up . I only use the transducer for shrimping so it’s not always on the boat.