transducer question...help please!

[Red]

my luck isnt getting any better, thats for sure, cant catcha fish and today my transducer wire got caught up in the tilting mechanism of the trolling motor and was sliced in two.  can these be spliced back together?  i see it has some normal wire inside but it also has this white plastic "wire" in there as well.  is a repair possible or do i need to buy a new transducer?

thanks

Cliff

[Long Mike]

Transducer cable is nothing more than co-ax cable.  The same stuff that attaches to the back of your TV set.  It consists of a central wire and a braided metal shield that surrounds it.  If you sever this cable you must have the skills to re-solder the central wire and then restore the braided shield around it.  I would suggest that you buy a new transducer and cable.

[Red]

yes i see now, after a little fiddling with it, that white plastic "wire" is a protective cover around the inner wire.  then the outer wire must be this braided deal your referring to.  that plastic cover is pretty important eh?  cant just reconnect the wires and tape it up?

thanks for your reply

Cliff

[Way2slow]

If you can solder and it has a braided shield, it's no big deal to repair. Skin the out cover off approx 1 1/2" on both pieces being careful not to cut the braid just under it. Now use a pick and comb the braid out and fold it back out of the way. Now cut about 1/2 " off the center conductor and insulation. Trim the insulation back on the center condutor approx 3/8" on both ends. Tin both these conductors then lay them over each other and solder them together. Use black tape or silicon glue and cover those ends you just soldered until it's level with the insulation and then make a wrap over the whole exposed inner insulation and wrap a piece of aluminum foil around it to cover the area between the two outer braids/cover. Now you will tin each end of the braided shield, lay them together and solder them. Wrap the whole repaired section with tape for a good seal.

Now, after all that, if it has built in temp sensor, those wires usually only have a couple of strands of wire and can be difficult. Also, the small diameter coaxil cable can be a challange if you're not good with an iron. They also make mini male/female connectors that can be used to splice them but finding the right size be a challange if you don't have a way to match the size to the coax.

However, if you try and repair it and it doesn't work, what are you out of. You were going to have to buy a new Xducer anyway.

[BigBassGuy]

Hopefully the fuse blew or you didn't turn the unit on after the wire got cut. I've cut 2 'ducer cables in the past, one was able to be repaired because the fuse blew and protected the head unit, the other didn't have a fuse for some reason and it blew out the head unit and was beyond repair.

I don't think you need to worry too much about the shielding, as long as the cut isn't right next to other electronics or wiring you should be just fine. The one I was able to repair I just twisted the braided wire together and soldered all the small wires. That was two years ago and haven't had any problems doing it this way. Just make sure its a couple feet away from anything that has electicity in it.

Like W2S said it won't cost you anything to try fixing it yourself just make sure you have the proper size fuse before turning everything back on.