troubleshoot a transducer?

I'm using a 7 year old Navman Trackfish 6600. It's a multifunction gps chartplotter , sounder and includes a fuel monitoring system. The sounder even when new has been a bit erratic in function but otherwise I like the unit. Sometimes the sounder worked great and sometimes shows no reading at all. It currently shows no reading. I'm planning my haulout and was assuming that I'd buy a new transducer. The original is a dual frequency thru-hull. My second thought is to check in with you folks and get your input.

 

Borrow a transducer from the dealer , hang it over the side in a suitable operational region and see if it performs better.

Many times its difficult to identify if a problem is with the transducer or downstream in the electronics.

 

How, and where is the transducer installed? Anything else installed/projecting into fluid flow near the td?

 

As stated, it is mounted through the hull - carvel plank with a fairing block, about midships, port side. This is a displacement hull without a lot of splash "noise".

I doubt that I can borrow a transducer here but I might get a result from putting the head unit in a shop for eval. OTOH, it's likely they will simply say the unit is bad in order to try to sell new. It's that kind of sales culture here. All marine electronics are priced double what they are in the western market so I usually buy online and pay shipping and import duty and save 40% off of local price.

 

You should be able to source a transducer. They are very common.