I have a shoot through hull transducer that I suspect is going bad. Weird part is that it looks like the 200 is going out but I can still read 83 once in awhile. I've only had this transducer for 3-4 years. Anyone experience their thru hull going bad that quick? This one is a pain to replace! Have to take out batteries and plate. This is the third one I've put in in 10-12 years. Seems like I'm only getting 3-4 years on each one.
Be glad you don't have to remove the gas tank (my 20-gal gas tank is out now); will be installing new PD-WBL this week. Actually not that bad removing tank, but not good either.
Champion 184
Mercury 175 EFI
It is more common for shoot through hull transducers to lose a good bond with the fiberglass than to actually go bad. Considering the pounding a flexing fiberglass hull goes through when running, it is amazing they last as long as they do.
A transducer that lives an easy life can last for a dozen years or more. However, with age the crystal gets weaker, and the head unit compensates by increasing the reception sensitivity automatically. While this works fine, it does increase "noise" and can affect the image quality. With the expense of today's units it makes sense to replace your through hull transducers on a more frequent basis (I replace it every 3 years since I am a fanatic about my image quality).
It is a pain to pull out batteries and plates to replace your transducer, but there are other benefits to doing so than simply replacing the transducer. It is a good idea to inspect the livewell and bilge plumbing on a regular basis, as well as clean out the sump area of lost weights and hooks, and dirt.
These videos may be of interest as well:
ciao,
Marc
The cheap Lowrance-transducers (like PD-WBL and HST-WSBL) starts to lose sensitivity after 400-ish hours in my experience, and should be changed after 6-700 hours maximum. It is a gradual decrease from day one though, so in most cases the user never notice this at all until they get a new transducer.
As Marc said a shoot-through can work itself loose, and in this case I would take a good look at your transducer. 83kHz has more energy in the signal, so it "punches" through better, which might point to a loose transducer.
Thank each one for the input. I'm going to pull it out this weekend. I'll give feedback when complete.
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