whats wrong with my fishfinder?

[limeyangler]

Hi all,

 

wondering if anyone can help.

 

i have an Lowrance X67c fishfinder....i have it on a clamped bracket on the transom. it works well in depths upto 50 feet, although it does freeze up every now and then, but as soon as i get over 60 feet the bottom dissappears. I knw it can register these depths as i have used it ice fisahing in over 100 feet of water, although i appreciate that is while stationary...any pointers for me as to the problem??

Edited July 18, 2008 by limeyangler

[Terry]

make sure you have bottom lock

or auto depth

or

auto sensitivity

or all of the above

that's about all I can think of on short notice

[Greencoachdog]

Could it be your Zoom setting? or maybe you've locked it on the 50' scale by mistake?

 

Another thing that came to mind is you transducer angle, check your puck to see if it's "level" when you're in the boat.

[Roy]

I'll bet you it's the transducer. Any chance of getting a pic of how/where it's installed? Position mainly....

[limeyangler]

Thanks for the replies guys. Terry, i just recently changed my settings to auto depth range and auto sensitivity and what a difference it made....started to work more efficiently. GCD i was checking constantly yesterday whilst downrigging for trout, i had it set to 100 feet because i know from last year that the deepest point where i was fishing is 85 feet deep. I am a bit concerned that the transducer may be faulty as well as being wrongly/improperly installed because it seems to fade to nothing when i'm on soft bottom as opposed to rock, even in fairly shallow water at a standstill. Every now and again it works brilliantly so i too am convined that is is not correctly installed(the transducer. I have played around with it lots but cannot get it to work properly all the time. It absolutely does not work if i go anything over 5mph.

 

I would have liked to install it on the hull itself but as you can see from the picture there is an aluminum panel blocking access to fit mounting screws, hence the aluminum flat bar mounting bracket. I took my lead from the old fishfinder/transducer mounting that came with the boat package so am guessing that it would be unwise to try and remove the panel blocking access to mount direct to hull if the last guy decided not to...especially since the guy was obviously skilled in metal work/and welding as he built the casting deck himself. I have tried to mount it between the ribs to avoid cavitation, but another issue seems to be that when moving at speed, the shape of the hull creates a wash that leaves the transducer almost out of the water at the back.....i could go with one of those mounts from Cabelas or Tite-Lok and try and get it lower under the boat with less resistance than the flat bar...waddaya think? Failing all that i could just buy a bigger new boat with all the trimmings......lol.....in my dreams.

 

 

 

Here are some pictures Roy....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jwl]

I would check out the settings like Terry said, as for mounting the transducer that way...my wife's uncle does this on his boat and it works like a charm...As for working under power, mine does not work when the boat is under power either and that is factory installed(hummingbird)..it may just be the sensativity setting that keeps losing the bottom on you as well, or the depth/zoom setting..you should see what it goes up to..mine goes up to 300ft, from your pics, it looks to be in a decent placement on the boat, perhaps as well, if you say it freezes up on you so to speak..check your chart speed settings