A couple of things frank:

- datamarine may be out of business, but there are two companies that sell
parts. One is dmi marine at www.dmimarine.com - the other, I forget, but a
google search should bring them up - I think they are both in the same town
in Mass - Pocasset?

- If you get a reading, it may be that something is interfering with the
transducer - It should not have any anti-fouling paint on it. There should
also be nothing else like say part of the hull or engine that could cause an
echo - the beam has quite a wide angle - forget the number but probably
about 30 degrees.

- Stupid questions, but do you have more than 2.1 ft below the transducer
when docked!

BTW, don't worry about pulling the transducer (if it is of the retractable
type). It would be best to have a plug that you can use to stop the water
coming in - Most units were supplied with blank plugs when new, but a rag or
tapered softwood plug would suffice for a short period. A spare set of hand
s may help. Try cleaning the unit and dropping it over the side to see if
you can get a different reading.

BUT, I have a Datamarine depthsounder myself (different model), and the
transducer cannot be pulled - It is permanently installed - If it is
removable, there should be two nuts - one that holds the thruhull in an done
at the top that holds the xducer into the thruhull.

Finally - You can buy a complete new depthsounder with a transom mount for
less than $169, so shop around!

Good Luck!


"frank1492" wrote in message
...
If you have read all my messages, would you agree that the
transducer itself is likely the cause of the problem? If something
else is likely (or possible) I need to be careful because the
transducer will cost about $170.
Are you saying that when I pull the transducer out, the
hole will go all the way through? Seems pretty risky with the
boat in the water. I assumed that it would be like a chamber
with the bottom sealed off so that I would just drop the
transducer in with no "fountain."
Thank you very much for your help!!
Frank