Sounder Problems

[Crippledminnow]

Hi guys, new to posting. Been lurking here for a couple of years just never got around to posting. Member of NFGFC and know a few of you. I hail from the top of the hill in Wacissa. I have a Garmin 498 Sounder Combo and am having issues with the machine not reading correctly. I changed the transducer because one of the ears on the mount broke and seems like I've had problems since. According to Garmin the machine is too old to repair. The GPS side seems to work fine. Any suggestions?

[wevans]

Being that old, check the pins and for corrosion around the pins "maybe even a missing pin on the machine"

[Rhettley]

You say not reading correctly. What are you actually getting? Does it work part of the time, like when drifting but not when running or gets cluttered when the motor is running?
Wevans is most likely right. It could also just be that the transducer needs pointing a little more towards the bow or stern. It could also be a small nick in the transducer cable. Did you put it back in the same place as the old one or add anything else to the hull that would cause bubbles? If it's not in clean water when running it won't read correctly.

[Crippledminnow]

I put on a new transducer in the same bracket and carefully pulled the cable forward. went out and it would read sometimes aand not others. So i checked the plug, all seemed nice and clean, but sprayed with electronics cleaner. Then I bought a new powercord thinking something could be wrong with it. Went back out the other day and it started the same old thing. Work a few and quit. Kept messing around and got it working reguarly in some other mode but could barely see it. Seems to work on 200 htz one minute and work on 50htz the next. Thanks for the replies

[MarkM]

I don't like sounders for that reason. If Garmin says it's to old to repair, it may be too old to repair.

[Jumptrout51]

A 6 foot length of 3/4" pvc works great if marked in 1 foot increments.
Will even work at high speed if you are quick.

[Crippledminnow]

I remember the days when you put soap in the bottom of a peice of lead and counted the knots but trying to save what I have.Thanks

[filetandrelease]

Had the same problem as you, Garmin said the same thing. Ended up installing an additional cheap fish finder to use as depth finder.

[woopty]

My Garmin sounder starts going wacky when the battery is just starting to get low.
A full charge remedies it.

[tin can]

Check the Garmin web site for software updates for your unit.

[wevans]

Software
http://www8.garmin.com/support/collecti ... 68&pID=370

Is this the transducer you put on it?
https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=748

[charlie tuna]

I once bought a Hummingbird recorder that was supposed to read the bottom to 800 feet. All i needed it for was to tell me when i reached 400 feet. It would track the bottom out to about 220 feet and then stop??? I brought it back four times to have Hummingbird fix it. Finally their excuse was the water i was fishing in was too dirty --- now this was off the Florida Keys in the Gulfstream!!! I had a heck of a time getting my money back on a recorder that never worked !!

[MarkM]

What I meant to say was, that I don't like combo units for that reason.

[Jumptrout51]

I remember the days when you put soap in the bottom of a piece of lead and counted the knots but trying to save what I have.Thanks

You are right. People are trying to get too technical to catch a fish these days.
The soap in the lead pipe was all anyone used offshore.
You would run on time and course to get to a general area.
Then drop your bottom checker to see what stuck to the soap.
Shell and rocks would stick to the soap just like mud,sand and grass would.
I do believe more fish were caught that way than now.
No one could steal your hole.
But then you could not find it again either.

[Rhettley]

I spent many days growing up locating spots on a lake or the flats by lining up with two landmarks at 90 degree angles. GPS and a bottom machine sure do come in handy though!

The only fix on your machine that isn't electrical I know of is like I said, try moving the transducer in the bracket. It might be pointing a little too far forward or backward and the signal that it gets bounced back is from the very edge of the cone.
Imagine bouncing a tennis ball on the floor with a tennis racket . If the racket gets too much of an angle the tennis ball will bounce off away from the bracket.