Fault isolation of depth acquisition problem associated with a depth sounding product

[Chuck - Raymarine - Moderator]

Fault isolation of depth acquisition problem associated with a depth sounding product

Should a depth sounding product fail to report depth, one should first ensure that the vessel is located in the water and that the water depth below the transducer is at least three feet. Additionally, should the transducer be interfaced to an iTC-5 or Depth Pod, and should the iTC-5 or Depth Pod not detect a bottom return from which it will determine a depth value, then the Depth option within Transducers Set-up menu of the i70/i70S will be grayed out to denote that it cannot be selected. Should the vessel feature an in-hull transducer, then it should additionally be verified that the transducer's reservoir is full. Raymarine's depth sounding products should not be expected to report depth when the vessel is out of the water or when the vessel is operating in water having a depth of less than three feet below the transducer. In the absence of Airmar's TDT1000 Transducer Tester or an EDI transducer tester (relatively few marine electronics installers are so equipped), fault isolation of problems associated with a depth sounding product are typically accomplished by testing the depth sounding product with another compatible transducer which was known to be operational. Raymarine offers a variety of compatible depth transducers for its products, some of which are relatively inexpensive. In many cases, it more cost effective and more convenient for the customer to perform such fault isolation, as the cost of another compatible transducer may be close to or less than the cost of having a Certified Raymarine Installer visit the vessel to perform such fault isolation.

Transducers used for such testing are either suspended over the side of the hull or, in the case of non-cored fiberglass hulls less than one inch thick, placed on the inside of the hull atop a zipper locking plastic bag which has been completely filled with water. As indicated above, when performing such testing, the vessel must be located in water which is at least three feet in depth below the transducer, but not in a depth exceeding the maximum depth capability of the depth sounding product. Should the depth sounding product fitted with the test transducer be capable of reliably reporting depth using each of its supported frequency settings, then the currently installed transducer would be deemed to have been the cause of the depth related failure. However, should the depth sounding product fitted with the test transducer not be capable of reliably reporting depth using each of its supported frequency settings, then the fault may be rooted in both the transducer and/or the depth sounding product. Some EDI transducer testers are also capable simulating the output of a transducer to permit the depth sounding product to be tested. In the case of the latter, it would be recommended that the depth sounding product (if still supported) be sent to Raymarine’s Product Repair Center to be bench checked / serviced.


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