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(Richard Malcolm) wrote in message . com...
it is that time of year again. I have a 25' four winns that I keep in
the water for 8 months or so. When it is not in the water it is at
some marine storage area. Since I don't own a trailor, I have my local
four winns people winterize it. Since I don't have a trailer, I must
get everything that needs to be done to it when it is out of the
water, done now.
I have a Garmin GPS/Sounder and a small round in-dash depth finder.
The built in round one hardly works and the Garmen works poorly at mid
to high speeds. My mechanic says that they all do that, but he suggest
replacing the in-dash one with a new one and new transducer, perhaps a
hummingbird. "Total cost for parts and labor around $400."

What do you poeple think?

No, they don't all do that that, and yours shouldn't either. First,if
its a transom mount make sure the entire transducer ia at least 1/4"
below the bottom of the boat. On a V-hull this means the inner edge.
This is per the manual, which you can buy in original form or download
for free in pdf format from the Garmin site.

I have a Garmin that worked fine at speed for awhile but then began
cutting out at planing speed. Turns out the cheap plastic release
mechanism (and that's making it sound more complex then it is)that
allows the transducer to swing up if you hit something was relasing
with very little load - like the load applied at planing speeds.
Sometimes it would flop down when I slowed down, sometimes it
wouldn't. If it didn't I took the boat pole and pushed it back into
place. This year I'm going to add a little RTV on the flats between
the bracket and the transducer that should hold it in place unless
there's a big load, like a log.

FishFan