Transducer/sounder advice

[Lewy]

Hi I just bought a used Garmin Echomap chirp 53DV with a GT22 hw transducer. Seller said it was working on his boat last season and he just upgraded. When I hooked it up I got a "transducer disconnected" error message and I'm thinking about either returning the unit or maybe getting and installing another transducer, thinking GT20 ...I'm into this unit for quite a bit as I also invested in a map card and because the mount he sent with it was incomplete, had to buy one of those too.
Really disappointed when I launched yesterday and got the error message repeatedly. Maps/gps work but no sounder depth. Thought it might be the connector 8 to 4 pin adapter so bought one of those today, no difference so will return tomorrow.

Looks like if I have to buy another transducer I may as well have bought a new unit as additional $$$ are adding up fast.

Seller says to return it and he'll refund me, but I'll still end up with a $50 mount and a map card that kinda ties me to Garmin.... plus the transducer install was a sikaflex job and that's gonna take some de-installation.

any ideas or do I just eat it

 

[SpringFever552]

Send it back, you thinking of new transducer so thats a wash with deinstall, get a new garmin with no chip
mount is 50$ thats nothing to be complaining about when dealing with boats lol
Sell it recouping some beer $$

 

[kaelc]

Send it back, you thinking of new transducer so thats a wash with deinstall, get a new garmin with no chip
mount is 50$ thats nothing to be complaining about when dealing with boats lol
Sell it recouping some beer $$

Yeah, see if you can find a new one for under $500 that works with the transducer. It hurts but having a good gps and transducer is essential and it is a boat nickel compared to what most boat things cost. Don’t ask me what I paid for my setup, it hurts my head to know how good a setup you can get on sale at Harbour Chandlers or bass pro.

 

[Lewy]

Just an old retired guy here with an old boat trying to save a few shekels. If I was still working I'd spend more freely. I'll take the head unit in today to get it checked out but I'm pretty sure the transducer is the problem.

 

[Redfisher]

Hi I just bought a used Garmin Echomap chirp 53DV with a GT22 hw transducer. Seller said it was working on his boat last season and he just upgraded. When I hooked it up I got a "transducer disconnected" error message and I'm thinking about either returning the unit or maybe getting and installing another transducer, thinking GT20 ...I'm into this unit for quite a bit as I also invested in a map card and because the mount he sent with it was incomplete, had to buy one of those too.
Really disappointed when I launched yesterday and got the error message repeatedly. Maps/gps work but no sounder depth. Thought it might be the connector 8 to 4 pin adapter so bought one of those today, no difference so will return tomorrow.

Looks like if I have to buy another transducer I may as well have bought a new unit as additional $$$ are adding up fast.

Seller says to return it and he'll refund me, but I'll still end up with a $50 mount and a map card that kinda ties me to Garmin.... plus the transducer install was a sikaflex job and that's gonna take some de-installation.

any ideas or do I just eat it

Maybe a dumb question but did you have to re setup your unit so it knows what transducer it is attached to?

I know with my older Lowrance unit I had to go through the list and select the correct transducer and then it worked fine.

 

[Fisher_dude]

Maybe a dumb question but did you have to re setup your unit so it knows what transducer it is attached to?

I know with my older Lowrance unit I had to go through the list and select the correct transducer and then it worked fine.

What he said. Double check to see if it’s using the right transducer in the settings

 

[Lewy]

Maybe a dumb question but did you have to re setup your unit so it knows what transducer it is attached to?

I know with my older Lowrance unit I had to go through the list and select the correct transducer and then it worked fine.

Yes all well and good but on the Garmin Echomap chirp series you select "sonar" and THEN the menu options for selecting transducers appear. When I select "Sonar" during setup I get the "transducer disconnected power down the unit and re-connect transducer" error message straight away so never get to that menu. Plus this is the transducer default type for this unit.

 

[Redfisher]

Interesting. I have also redone different ends for transducers both on my commercial boat and also on sport boats when I have changed sounders. I have never had a transducer fail. I would suspect a problem with the head unit before the transducer. Not an expert on these but have used sounders for 50 years.

 

[Lewy]

Interesting. I have also redone different ends for transducers both on my commercial boat and also on sport boats when I have changed sounders. I have never had a transducer fail. I would suspect a problem with the head unit before the transducer. Not an expert on these but have used sounders for 50 years.

Thanks for that. I'm taking the head unit in to Anchor Marine Electric, the Garmin dealer here in Victoria on Monday to be tested. Apparently these fancy transducers like the GT22HW I have, have a temperature sensor that can burn fast up if the sucker is powered up for any length of time out of the water. If the temperature sensor has failed you can get this error. There's a way to test the temperature sensor with an ohm meter and I'll be doing that Sunday. Support for even fancier units at Garmin suggest that if the temp sensor fries, you can strip back the wire remove the temperature circuits and the sounder will recognize the 'ducer again. I don't really give a $hit what the water temperature is, I know its cold!

I thought about doing that wire cutting thing as a last resort but if I do that and it doesn't work I might not be able to return for a refund to the guy who sold it.

 

[Redfisher]

That would make sense. Hopefully it’s something they can find and fix. Good luck.

 

[Lewy]

Tested the xducr according to Garmin's instructions, got the temperature/resistance chart and the pinouts:

https://support.garmin.com/en-CA/?faq=IOZ482w2cOAOpkvZ9ZvYg7

It was about 6° at the transducer this morning which should have given me a reading at the 4-pin bracket connector of 24.22 KΩ but connector showed open circuit (zero Ω). Checked the 8 pin cable connector directly with same result, so looks like temp sensor inside the xducr is fried.

As I'm not too bothered with water temperature, my guess is that I could open up the cable carefully and identify the temperature wires, cut them and insert a 25kΩ resistor into the line which in theory would fool the head unit into thinking it was 6° all the time and that the temp sensor was working. ...sound like a plan?

 

[Flashman]

Tested the xducr according to Garmin's instructions, got the temperature/resistance chart and the pinouts:

https://support.garmin.com/en-CA/?faq=IOZ482w2cOAOpkvZ9ZvYg7

It was about 6° at the transducer this morning which should have given me a reading at the 4-pin bracket connector of 24.22 KΩ but connector showed open circuit (zero Ω). Checked the 8 pin cable connector directly with same result, so looks like temp sensor inside the xducr is fried.

As I'm not too bothered with water temperature, my guess is that I could open up the cable carefully and identify the temperature wires, cut them and insert a 25kΩ resistor into the line which in theory would fool the head unit into thinking it was 6° all the time and that the temp sensor was working. ...sound like a plan?

Seems like a solid plan.

 

[Lewy]

Looked at this guy's solution, going to pick up a resistor at Queale's tomorrow morning and splice it into the cable, see what happens.

https://www.thehulltruth.com/marine...-fix-garmin-transducer-disconnected-gt51.html

 

[Lewy]

Opened up the short 8 to 4pin cable adapter and extracted the white wire. Cut the white wire (temperature sensor) and soldered a 15k Ω resistor between it and the ground braid.
Fired up the head unit and the "transducer disconnected" error message disappeared. Selected the transducer from the list and head unit recognized it and all sonar functions worked, chirp, depth etc (everything except temperature LOL).

So that's how you fix Garmin transducers that can't get connected.

If a person really needs to get the temperature function working again, replace the resistor with a waterproof 10KΩ thermistor (Amazon) and run the thing out to the water. You could even glue it beside the transducer.