Opening Eagle Sounder
 

Gday all
I have inherited an Eagle Fish ID II sounder, which has a minor fault,
with my boat. As far as I can make out, it is sealed inside a double
case, with the outer case halves glued together. Does anyone know of a
way to open the sounder and get access to the innards to repair it?
Thanks
JM

Moores family wrote:

Gday all
I have inherited an Eagle Fish ID II sounder, which has a minor fault,
with my boat. As far as I can make out, it is sealed inside a double
case, with the outer case halves glued together. Does anyone know of a
way to open the sounder and get access to the innards to repair it?

Look for "soft spots" on labels to locate a recess for a screw that is
not visible.

If none, try pressing firmly along the seams to see if you can find an
area that gives under pressure. The give may be more to one side of the
seam than the other. If one side gives more than the other, pressing in
may release a self latching hook-type latch.

If that fails, I mentally prepare myself to causing irrepairable damage
and try to penetrate the seam with a single-edged razor blade or a
utility knife. If you can get the blade through the seam (only go a
very short distance inside the case) try some gentle twisting to see of
you can get the case halves to start separating.

Work up and down the seam a little, if you can get a 1" wide thin bladed
putty knife in, you can apply more lifting force.

If it has not opened and I still want in, I have sawn around the seam
with an Exacto razor saw (thin, very fine toothed) to get things open.

Sometimes it is only after you get it open that you can tell how you
should have opened it. :)

Good luck!

Jack

--
Jack Erbes in Ellsworth, Maine, USA - jackerbes at adelphia dot net
(also receiving email at jacker at midmaine.com)

"Moores family" wrote in message
...
Gday all
I have inherited an Eagle Fish ID II sounder, which has a minor fault,
with my boat. As far as I can make out, it is sealed inside a double
case, with the outer case halves glued together. Does anyone know of a
way to open the sounder and get access to the innards to repair it?
Thanks
JM

Eagle is manufactured by Lowrance and they are designed not to be opened in
the field. The same is true of Lowrance products. Contact Lowrance for a
return authorization number. They usually do not accept shipments without
the RA number on the outside shipping label. If the product is no longer in
production they may not even repair it. Usually units 3 years or so out of
production results in you receiving a discount voucher from them to take to
a dealer to purchase a modern unit. The USA toll free number is
1-800-324-0044.
73
Doug K7ABX

Jack Erbes wrote:
Moores family wrote:

Gday all
I have inherited an Eagle Fish ID II sounder, which has a minor fault,
with my boat. As far as I can make out, it is sealed inside a double
case, with the outer case halves glued together. Does anyone know of
a way to open the sounder and get access to the innards to repair it?


Look for "soft spots" on labels to locate a recess for a screw that is
not visible.

If none, try pressing firmly along the seams to see if you can find an
area that gives under pressure. The give may be more to one side of the
seam than the other. If one side gives more than the other, pressing in
may release a self latching hook-type latch.

If that fails, I mentally prepare myself to causing irrepairable damage
and try to penetrate the seam with a single-edged razor blade or a
utility knife. If you can get the blade through the seam (only go a
very short distance inside the case) try some gentle twisting to see of
you can get the case halves to start separating.

Work up and down the seam a little, if you can get a 1" wide thin bladed
putty knife in, you can apply more lifting force.

If it has not opened and I still want in, I have sawn around the seam
with an Exacto razor saw (thin, very fine toothed) to get things open.

Sometimes it is only after you get it open that you can tell how you
should have opened it. :)

Good luck!

Jack

Thanks all,
Yep, I've done all the obvious stuff, I wanted to find out if there's a
known trick before I decide whether repairing the minor niggle- the off
button doesn't work, is worth the risk of causing irrepairable damage
getting to it.
Thanks again.
JM

Moores family wrote in
:

Thanks all,
Yep, I've done all the obvious stuff, I wanted to find out if there's a
known trick before I decide whether repairing the minor niggle- the off
button doesn't work, is worth the risk of causing irrepairable damage
getting to it.
Thanks again.
JM



If this off button is the usual rubber switch, try pressing it in while
sliding it around to see if you can clean the contact off without taking it
apart. Rubber switches are nothing more than a black, conductive rubber
nipple in the middle of the button, made right into it, that makes contact
with some "fingers" on a printed circuit board. If any foreign material or
a little corrosion because it's made as cheaply as they can make it, get
between the rubber nipple and the fingers....it won't contact enough to
flip the IC it's connected to. There's just scanning signal on these
fingers...no DC or current....so it won't clean itself. Try pressing it in
fairly hard and rubbing it around like you would a pencil eraser as far as
it will slide sideways....



--
Larry

You know you've had a rough night when you wake up and you're outlined in
chalk.

Larry W4CSC wrote:
Moores family wrote in
:


Thanks all,
Yep, I've done all the obvious stuff, I wanted to find out if there's a
known trick before I decide whether repairing the minor niggle- the off
button doesn't work, is worth the risk of causing irrepairable damage
getting to it.
Thanks again.
JM




If this off button is the usual rubber switch, try pressing it in while
sliding it around to see if you can clean the contact off without taking it
apart. Rubber switches are nothing more than a black, conductive rubber
nipple in the middle of the button, made right into it, that makes contact
with some "fingers" on a printed circuit board. If any foreign material or
a little corrosion because it's made as cheaply as they can make it, get
between the rubber nipple and the fingers....it won't contact enough to
flip the IC it's connected to. There's just scanning signal on these
fingers...no DC or current....so it won't clean itself. Try pressing it in
fairly hard and rubbing it around like you would a pencil eraser as far as
it will slide sideways....



Unfortunately it's got a stiff plastic adhesive membrane over the
"keyboard". The next step'll be to peel that off to see what I can get
to underneath, I may be able to use the wiggle technique then but it
feels more like the type that's got little dimples in a thin metal sheet
for contacts than conductive rubber. We'll see. If not it turns off
when I turn off the master battery switch anyway...
Thanks
JM

"Moores family" wrote in message
...
Larry W4CSC wrote:
Moores family wrote in
:


Thanks all,
Yep, I've done all the obvious stuff, I wanted to find out if there's a
known trick before I decide whether repairing the minor niggle- the off
button doesn't work, is worth the risk of causing irrepairable damage
getting to it.
Thanks again.
JM




If this off button is the usual rubber switch, try pressing it in while
sliding it around to see if you can clean the contact off without taking
it apart. Rubber switches are nothing more than a black, conductive
rubber nipple in the middle of the button, made right into it, that makes
contact with some "fingers" on a printed circuit board. If any foreign
material or a little corrosion because it's made as cheaply as they can
make it, get between the rubber nipple and the fingers....it won't
contact enough to flip the IC it's connected to. There's just scanning
signal on these fingers...no DC or current....so it won't clean itself.
Try pressing it in fairly hard and rubbing it around like you would a
pencil eraser as far as it will slide sideways....



Unfortunately it's got a stiff plastic adhesive membrane over the
"keyboard". The next step'll be to peel that off to see what I can get to
underneath, I may be able to use the wiggle technique then but it feels
more like the type that's got little dimples in a thin metal sheet for
contacts than conductive rubber. We'll see. If not it turns off when I
turn off the master battery switch anyway...
Thanks
JM

I think I'd leave it alone. If you don't want it on all the time the master
switch is on, you could fit a switch in a nearby panel.
There could be one problem though, on a lot of fishfinders (not sure about
the Fish eagle) pressing the off button momentarily changes the backlight.
To switch off you have to hold it pressed for several seconds.
Regards,
Brian