Depth sounder

[sv.islandgirl]

I have a 1977 E-27. The boat presently has a Data Marine depth sounder with a thru-hull transducer. The transducer is a cylinder approximately 2” in diameter and 6 inches long. The transducer, and thus the depth sounder has failed.

Data Marine is no longer in business and thus purchasing a replacement transducer from the manufacturer is not an option. I really don’t want to put another hole in my boat so I’m looking for options.

1. Will a puck type in-the-hull transducer work? I have heard that they will not work through balsa and I have been told that the E-27 has a balsa core.

2. I also heard that some manufacturers leave a place in the aft section of the hull without the balsa core just for such installations. Has any one heard of this? Particularly on a 1977 boat.

3. Does anyone know where I can get the Data Marine transducer used?

4. Does anyone know of another manufacture with similar sized tranducers?

 

[Loren Beach]

Transducer woes.....

I was trying to "cargo shift" my old DataMarine transducer over a year ago, after replacing all the old instruments with a set of new Raynav ST-60's.
My original DM instruments were from 1988.
I passed on all the other old parts to other Ericson owners and still have the transducer. If you do not find a better answer, contact me off-List for this.
Note that you would have to haul the boat to install it...


What with the co$t of a haulout, it might be cheaper to source a matching-impedance transducer that you could glue to the inside of the hull. Note that your E-27 should have a solid-layup hull -- only coring is in the deck.

You might contact DMI (http://www.sea-dmi.com/datmar/index.htm) for help on this.
Note that there may be a better URL -- I found this with a short Google search.

Best,
Loren in PDX
<sailaway10@comcast.net>

 

[Bill Sanborn]

My 1979 E29 has a balsa core deck but a not a balsa core hull.

 

[Geoff Johnson]

If you want to get your Datamarine instruments working again try these guys:

http://www.dmimarine.com/


They are the former DMI East Coast repair shop and have replacement transducers. In the past I have sent in all my DM instruments for recalibration and refurbishing and they are now as good as new.

 

[SteveS]

DataMarine Depth Replacement

You might try http://www.airmar.com . They build and supply transducers for a variety of manufacturers. I've email'd them in the past and they have been very helpful.

I had a 4" hole from a failed DataMarine instrument in my E27. I replaced it with a Standard Horizon DS45 depth, which fits the 4" cutout, and a Standard TH transducer. I believe they make a 2" dia. nylon TH called the DST 50. They also make in-hull puck transducers. http://www.standardhorizon.com/

The hull is solid on my '74 E27 and you can glue a puck type transducer in. You have to make sure there are no bubbles in the epoxy. Also if there happens to be a void in the hull at the location you pick, it can degrade performance. I've used slow set in the past and heated it to get rid of the bubbles. An angled puck will ease installation since it needs to point straiht down. This said the thru-hulls, IMHO, perform better. Most manufacturers have detailed in-hull installation procedures. Good luck.