Time for new depth sounder?

N

nordicstallion

New member
Hi kids. I have a lowrance x105c df that the former owner installed in 05. It seems to read the bottom ok up to about 100 ft then loses it & it doesn't come back until I'm shallower water. Occasionally it all of a sudden starts flashing 0 & shallow alarm goes off. Sometimes it looses bottom in shallow at higher speeds but usually not. I also think its fish finding ability leaves much to be desired. I've never seen what I think a bait ball should look like. Could it be time for a newer sounder? Vern
 
Do you have the same problems in both high and low frequency?

I'm not that familiar with Lowrance products (I'm a Furuno guy), but it sounds to me like the transducer is toast. I'd try a new transducer, first.
 
maybe
check the transducer lens for cracks
check wiring and connections, maybe a bad ground
has the firmware been updated?
Has it been reset to factory defaults? maybe setting have changed

best
 
There are a lot of good, cheap depth sounders for under $100. Installed a Humminbird PiranhaMAX as a backup and it works as good as the expensive one. Small screen, good data, just right for a small boat.

Boris
 
This thing has given me intermittent grief for years. I've taken off the transducer & given it a god hard look. I've cleaned it numerous times. I have retired it with dedicated wireing & switch. I've tried resetting to factory defaults. I wouldn't know a firmware if I met one in my soup.the book sez 50 kHz for water 300-500ft. I've never changed it from 200 to 50khz. Journey on, who are you calling "small boat"? :)Vern
 
I'm calling all C-Dorys small boats. Once I get on the water, we're a small boat, and you better never forget it. That's why you need a good depth sounder.

Towing is another matter.

Boris
 
Vern, go get a new transducer. They go bad some times on the inside and there is no way to tell. No test no signs. Does it give water temp? if the water temp is reading really high, say 120, the transducer is going bad or is bad and heating up. You can get one on amazon or ebay fairly cheap.

one you have it , learn to use it. set it on dual frec, 50/200 that way it will show you good fish returns and depth.

One of the fastest ways to ruin your transducer is to leave it on when you take the boat out of the water. You for get and dont notice until you get home or a week later when you put it back in the water. Not good on the transducer.
 
Starcrafttom, yes my sounder gives me temp & all the other overlays. It just seems kinda tempermental sometimes. That alarm and flashing zero really freaks me! I really don't like zero depth! :shock: Ill have to go back to the book on that dual frequency thing. I thought it was just one or the other. Thanks for the response. Ill Check out getting a new transducer as I have left the sounder on out of the water & always wondered if that was bad. Vern
 
Vern

Restoring to Factory Defaults is very useful feature and re-sets the unit to the original factory settings

Firmware updates the unit to latest operating system, new features, corrections and updates. Very useful feature again to enhance the usefulness of the device
 
I just replaced the transducer and speed sensor on our boat because of the same symptoms you described above. Ours is a lowrance lms 337df. They eventually get struck by enough debris to make them not work even though they look fine. In our case our unit works like new again.

Happy boating,

Karl
 
Thank you kids, I just ordered a new transducer. Hope that does it. I'm looking forward to a problem free fishing season after all the work & bucks I put into her this winter. I'm off to the valley to meet my new grandson that I've been waiting on for the last week and a half. Vern
 
One thing to consider Vern especially with intermittent issues is the wiring run. My rule of thumb is if the equipment has an on/off switch, I dont wire it to another switch. The pos/neg wires go direct to the buss bars. This avoids another unnecessary spilce. Wiring can look ok and still drop off on you. On engine starts, the electronics stay off till engine start to avoid voltage spikes thru the equipment. That series Lowrance has had issues over the years. Electronics mfg in the install manual usually want power sent directly to the unit, protected by a fuse of course but no extra swich. Hope it works for you. If needing a new unit the Humminbirds have proven bombproof. I use a $100 model 160. It's been out for many years and is a great basic machine. George
 
My sounder is as I thought. It's one frequency or the other, 200khz for shallow water down to 300 ft but I lose the bottom at 100 ft. My machine won't do 50 & 200 at the same time & I've never tried the deep water setting for shallow water. Maybe switching to 50 kHz at 100 ft would make a difference but I've been trusting lowrance to know what they are talking about. As for wiring, for years I used it as it was wired by the previous owner, which was to the buss. The book suggested dedicated wiring to the battery with a dedicated power switch, so I tried that for awhile. It acted the same so I'm baffled & thinking its just old & been marinated in salt water too long. If a new transducer doesn't fix it ill just replace The whole ball of wax.As I've said before, I don't understand electricity & multiply that by 10 for electronics. I'd rather fish! Thank you boys for your time & input. Vern/C-Dog
 
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