Topic: Depth display problems with my 535

[rainbow net]

I have been having sporadic problems with my Hummingbird 535 portable sonar for three years now. I make sure I mount the transducer on the boat properly but  I sometimes get a reading of 0.6 or 0.8 feet in deep water while moving slow or stopped... this happens for a short while then goes away. I noticed it is starting to happen more frequently and wondered if anyone experienced this problem and id there is a quick fix to the problem.

Thank You for the help

[sonar2000]

1st check to be sure the transducer is staying in the water and not bouncing out. Possibly new boat loading weight distribution or something to cause the ducer to break water..
Lets go from there..
Chuck,

[rainbow net]

Hi again

Thank You for the reply, I will keep an eye on that this weekend, I usually make sure the ducer is well under water (since I have a portable one) so I am not sure that is the problem although weight distribution might angle the ducer a bit to one side...

Thanks again

[sonar2000]

OK, great .......just a starting place.  let us know....
Chuck

[rainbow net]

Hi again

I used the sonar all of last weekend and had little problems in shallow water or deep water  ... It does show me 0.6 feet for about 25 secs or so if I turn it off while moving or not  in deep water  then back on....

I am wondering if its related to the bottom type  or a bad transduscer ... I read posts elsewhere about people having the same sporadic depth display problem so I am reluctant to spend 70$ on a new transducer if it is a unit problem....

It seems to come and go...

thanks for any input

[Humminbird_Greg]

Hard to say if it is the transducer or not.  Is there anyway that you can test it on someone else’s Humminbird sonar transducer?  It does not have to be the same model as most use the same 200kHz 2D sonar and will work for this test.

[Chad711]

Hello I have this problem as well. I have a 997. Never had the problem when my 997 was on my previous boat but now I have it on the new boat. First thing that comes to my mind just like every one else is air bubble or coming out of the water. That isn't the case. I can be sitting still in calm water and it just shows 1.5ft of water and then at some point it changes it's mind and shows me the correct depth. Haven't moved, water is calm, and ducer is mounted to the bottom of my jack plate.

I don't want to hi-jack the guys topic but wanted to post to state that this seems to be a problem that for the most part I have not seen any one report a fix. The post I find just seem to die off with out reports of fixes or that the problem was ever resolved.

If need be I will create a new topic with my information if more is needed.

Thank you

[Humminbird_Greg]

I would guess that if they find a solution that most do not post back what actually fixed it.  This is fairly typical of any sort of reported problem.

For your problem:
 - Make sure that there are no other sonar units on when it does this.
 - Make sure that all other electronics are off as well.
 - Try adjusting the Surface Clutter menu to see if this makes a difference or not.
 - If you have a two transducer system; plug in only one transducer at a time without the splitter cable (AS-Si-DB-Y or AS-Si-LR-Y) to make sure the problem is not an intermittent splitter cable.
 - If you are using a transducer or unit switch; try plugging a transducer directly into the unit to bypass a possible bad switch.
 - If you can; test your 997 unit on someone else’s boat to see if the problem is in the unit or the transducer.
 - Oh, make sure that this does not happen only in waves as your jackplate could be coming out of the water.

If none of these help or fix the problem than it may be that you have a transducer that is starting to go bad.

[Chad711]

Thanks Greg I will follow your steps

[sonar2000]

Just to echo what greg said.  Let us know of any new findings or changes that you make.
A lot of folks reference (search) within this forum and as you said. Fixes dont get reported all the time..
Chuck

[Chad711]

Hello again,

I wanted to report back with my fix. Someone else posted this on another forum. I tried it and sure enough no more depth reading problems.

Basically you set the depth offset setting to -x.x. So for example mine was reading depth of 1.6ft so I went to the depth offset setting and set it to -1.6. Now my depth reads fine. Not sure why this fixed it but it did!