Hummingbird Transducer Clicking??

[Pops Fun]

Hi

I have a Hummingbird 787c2i and a through the hull transducer and have a clicking noise from the transducer... I had a slight clicking noise with the last transducer, but this is worse.... I cut the wire installing something else .

Anything I can do?? Hummingbird wasn't much help.... more or less said so it clicks!!!

Can I foam it with that insulation stuff

Thanks for the help, Steve

[Nice_Bass]

really that is just the way it is...I would not let it bother you and no real way to insulate it from shooting through the hull, only to insulate it from you hearing it.

[J Francho]

Turn on the radio.

[Hi Salenity]

Mine did that once and it would not read depth. I had to power it off and back on and it worked fine. It should not click! Were you in less than 2' of water?

BTW, my ducer is not the same as yours it's a DI unit.

[Traveler2586]

Hi

I have a Hummingbird 787c2i and a through the hull transducer and have a clicking noise from the transducer... I had a slight clicking noise with the last transducer, but this is worse.... I cut the wire installing something else .

Anything I can do?? Hummingbird wasn't much help.... more or less said so it clicks!!!

Can I foam it with that insulation stuff

Thanks for the help, Steve

Steve,

When you say you cut the cable, what do you mean - all the way through, or nicked it?? You can damage a coax cable just by bending it too sharply! And you can't correctly splice it back together like a DC circuit (power wire, or lamp connection). It takes a shielded splice connector sized to fit the cable to properly splice a Coax cable. And even then it would not operate at the same spec as original, every connection in a Coax add to the loss of the cable and a reduction in performance.

A transducer is basically a high frequency antenna with no moving parts that I know (with the exception of the Hummer 360) of that would produce a clicking noise. I have never experienced a transducer that clicked my self, and I have gone through a lot of them.

[J Francho]

It's an electronic click. There has to be something sent, or there's no way to get a return. Mine clicks. Doesn't really bother me, and I rarely hear it.

[Traveler2586]

It's an electronic click. There has to be something sent, or there's no way to get a return. Mine clicks. Doesn't really bother me, and I rarely hear it.

J,

The signal of the transducer operates between 200 through 800 KHz (that's like 200,000 clicks per second) IMHO, you can't be hearing that - - normally; have you had your teeth worked on recently, some people (Lucile Ball) claim they have received AM radio through a new tooth filling....

[J Francho]

Frequency is different than ping rate, buddy.

[Pops Fun]

Steve,

When you say you cut the cable, what do you mean - all the way through, or nicked it?? You can damage a coax cable just by bending it too sharply! And you can't correctly splice it back together like a DC circuit (power wire, or lamp connection). It takes a shielded splice connector sized to fit the cable to properly splice a Coax cable. And even then it would not operate at the same spec as original, every connection in a Coax add to the loss of the cable and a reduction in performance.

A transducer is basically a high frequency antenna with no moving parts that I know (with the exception of the Hummer 360) of that would produce a clicking noise. I have never experienced a transducer that clicked my self, and I have gone through a lot of them.

I cut it clean in half... bought a new one.

[Traveler2586]

LOL, Ya I know, that was really a bad joke in ref to turn up the radio; if you did hear the cable signal it would sound like white noise not a click.

Really though, the only thing I can think of is maybe the piezoelectric encapsulation has somehow failed and the trans case/shell and encapsulation resin around the piezoelectric cristal on the bottom of the trans have separated. I don't know how that would affect the transfer of mechanical energy, in the form of a energy wave, from the piezo to the water column and back. I think you know that if the separation gets any air in it the Trans will be affected.

Correction: I mis-spoke above. Recalling my solid state electronics class (many years ago) and material physics, the Piezo crystal can be called an electro-mechanical device in that it expands/contracts (vibrates) in response to an electrical signal.

OMG, you made me think, now I've got to go lay down.

[Traveler2586]

I cut it clean in half... bought a new one.

OUCH !! That wasn't cheap

[Pops Fun]

Hi

I have a recording... http://popsfun.com/boat%20click.amr unfortunately you have to down load it to hear it!!

Actually here is a video I made from my phone.. It clicks real fast when you start the depth finder then settles out!!

[Pops Fun]

Thinking I might buy another transducer and see if that helps??

[Traveler2586]

On 3/22/2012 at 2:55 PM, Pops Fun said:

Hi

I have a recording... http://popsfun.com/boat%20click.amr unfortunately you have to down load it to hear it!!

Actually here is a video I made from my phone.. It clicks real fast when you start the depth finder then settles out!!

OMG - This has to be the DualBeam PLUS sonar in action!!!! Your unit has one sonar beam is 83 kHz at 60-degrees, and a second sonar beam is 200 kHz at 20-degrees; this may be the sound of the Trans switching between the two. This Trans is new technology to me, I have no hands on experience with it.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and these two recordings are!

I would not buy a new Trans until you have a clear understanding of the source of the sound. At my technology level, even if there are two Trans (narrow & Wide angle) in one case they still should not make an audible sound, unless it's some type of case separation issue.

I had an after thought, just a guess, but still..... If HB has two Trans sharing one Coax it could be the sound of a coax relay switching between the two (but I don't know why the would do it that way??)

Great recordings, but the cell phone image was breaking up on my computer; but that's OK because there's nothing to see.

[J Francho]

I have two Lowrance, an HB, two Garnins, and an Eagle unit. They are all dual beam (83/200) and all make some click. Some of these units are more than 10 years old. They've always clicked. Can't say about the new Lowrance Structure Scan (SI/DI) or HD 2D since I haven't installed it yet.

[Traveler2586]

Interesting, it's not hard to fall out of date with electronic technology, and I know I have. I would love to see some design spec's/drawings to see what their doing. I'll go see what I can find on Bing.

I just don't understand why they would utilize a design that produced an audible noise that gives away your location. If I were a bass and heard/felt that noise getting closer I would spook and go deep.

[Traveler2586]

I stand corrected,

I did a Bing search on "Transducer clicking" and found several hits.

Evidently the newer high power transducers are addable, where as the older lower power Trans were not. I can't at this point explain the difference in the mechanics between the power ratings.......

Pops, here is just one of the responses I found.... Search Bing or Google using "Transducer clicking" to learn more

No need to buy another Trans....

"I bet when it clicks loud enough to hear the auto gain has switched the power level up due to mud or deep water absorbing the signal - or you have a dual frequency transducer and it auto switches from 200KHz to 50KHz to get enough of a return echo in deeper water. Either way the energy of the signal has increased enough for you to hear the pulses. When you change back to a hard surface with a good signal to noise ratio the sounder will auto decrease energy level and all of a sudden you don't hear it anymore. "

[J Francho]

I just don't understand why they would utilize a design that produced an audible noise that gives away your location. If I were a bass and heard/felt that noise getting closer I would spook and go deep.

Many anglers, myself included, turn the unit OFF before entering shallow water to fish. It's just one of the many negative cues we give off.

Back to the OP. I'm not sure that unit has an "auto gain" setting, but Sensitivity should be to a point where the clutter on the screen just disappears, can be as low as 3 on some places, and almost max in others. All waters are different, and suspended particles do make a difference. Here's a few other things you can do to your HB to make it "tell the truth" a little better. Anything with Fish ID+ on it, turn off. turn Bottom Lock on. Max your Chart Speed out. Make sure the Real Time Scanner (RTS Window) is set to Wide. Learn how to watch this. You'll learn to see fish arches before they're completed on the screen. If you fish vertically, you'll even be able to see your bait and the fish take it. Beam Select, go with 200 if you are looking for structure, and 83 if you are shallow (4-10') and looking for fish. For whatever reason, Mixed Mode works well in general fishing depths from 5-20' in brown or green algae colored water. Set your Surface Clutter to eliminate the red at the top of the graph. Leave your depth lines on. Depending on the suspended junk in the water, leave your Noise Filter on Low, but turn it up if weird fuzz shows up.

My last bit of advice, put the unit in demo mode, and sit with the manual, going through each setting to see what it does. Takes an hour or two, but well worth your time.

[Pops Fun]

Hi

Problem fixed... Thanks for the help..

Took out the old transducer that I had cut........ quite a bit of hammer action, while doing that... wiggled the new transducer and the vibration must of loosened it and it came out easily.. was not completely bonded I guess!! User error!!

Now it clicks quietly. Thanks for all the replies.

Steve

[scrutch]

That old TD doesn't even look like a thru hull TD.

[Traveler2586]

The light areas in the epoxy appear to be trapped air under the Trans which may have caused the problem, and you can see how the Trans shifted after it was put in place.

Here's a tip for a solid Trans install:

1. take 80 grit sandpaper to rough up the installation location, and the bottom of the new trans. Carefully clean off all dust from both locations.

2. build a dam around the Trans at the installation site, using plumbers putty, roll the putty into a long snake, loosely form around the Trans and press the putty onto the hull. This dam will hold the epoxy in place.

3. mix an adequate amount of epoxy to fill the dam about 1/8 - 1/4 in deep.

4. Spread a small amount of epoxy over the base of the Trans.

5. Set the new Trans into the epoxy dam, and wiggle it around to remove any trapped air bubbles.

6. Place a weight on top of the Trans to hold it in place while the epoxy sets.

7. Remove the putty when you're sure the epoxy has setup.

Glad to hear everything is working

[J Francho]

That old TD doesn't even look like a thru hull TD.

It isn't. Kayakers have been installing them with Lexcell or Marine Goop like this with no issues for years, but I'm not sure if it works on a glass hull. Temp sensor definitely won't work.

[retiredbosn]

A question, but don't all transducers transmit sounds, that's how they work? Its sonar right? I think I remember reading somewhere that the frequency is audible to fish and that there is some data that supports a higher catch rate with the depth finder off. I typically find the structures and cover that I want to fish and then turn the fish finder off, under the assumption that the fish may actually become atuned to my presence by the sonar.

[Way2slow]

Any transducer will shoot through the hull as long as there are no airgaps or air pockets in the bonding. You can stick it in a pool of water in the bottom of the boat and it will work just fine. The temp sensor will work but it's not going to be an instant read like it would if in contact with water. It's only going to read the hull temp, and it takes a while for it to change to the waters temp.

I've been kinda laughing at this post about the Xducer clicking. If it's not clicking, it's not working. I had my first depth finder in 1968, it click and everyone since then has.

As previously mentioned, a lot of fishermen cut them off when fishing directly under the boat and fishing an area the boat is going to be passing over the cone area. I keep mine off anytime I'm fishing close to the boat in heavily fished areas.