Transducer oozing black goo from Hell!

joetheis

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2014
Messages
308
Once upon a time, oh, last spring.............
I had bought the boat the previous Aug. ('91 Grumman UH SF 184 with a 70 'Rude hanging off the back), ran it @ to finish the season, with the "comes with a fish finder", ( a Hummingbird Bass Pro Limited Addition finder, circa 1991)
Big feature is side and bottom sounding. Black n white screen, pics of fish. Basic but it works well.
Winter comes, I peel that finder off, add my 2 new ones, (Lowrance E-lite and Santa's gift to me- a Ray Marine Dragon fly).
"Hmmmm, lets mount this Hummingbird on my bow E-lectric trolling motor. All I REALLY need is to know where the bottom is when trolling on the E motor".
So I do..................
Flash forward this past summer.
Every now and again I find a drop er 2 of this BLACK sticky goo dripping from the transducer hole at the bottom.
I hook up the boat to the truck, peel the cover off the boat and find goo!
As summer went on, it got more and more, like a spoon full or more each week???
​One day I filled the hole with silcone thinking it'd cure the goo piles on my bow carpet.
The goo started to spew out where the wire goes into the "puck" plastic???
Makes me think there is psi building up in there?????
Now, keep in mind during all this the transducer worked like a charm!!!
Fall comes, I drag the boat home, I just removed that finder set up, ("OK, before I shelve this finder lettme see what a new transducer for this goes for", look on E bay for a new transducer, over $100!!!.
A Lowrance 3 color unit is $99, so I have a new one to install on the bow.
What is that black goo?
Reminds me of the old magnetic ballasts in fluorscent lights, the P.C.P. would be in them. When they went bad the black goo would boil and drip out all over!
That the stuff that causes cancer!!
It can't be the same "stuff" now, but..........
Ideas of what and more important HOW it started to ooze?
Joe
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
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14,585
joe, have you contacted the manufacturer? I would contact them and see what they have to say. JMHO!
 

WIMUSKY

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Maybe the 'ducer is shorting out and getting hot melting the plastic? Who knows. Sounds like you junked it anyway.....
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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my guess is encapsulating media breaking down. could be petroleum based.
 

joetheis

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2014
Messages
308
I thought about calling Hummingbird, but, then thought the unit is most likely circa 1991, so lets be real here, that was,ahhhhhhhhh,24 years ago!
It isn't hot to the touch when in use, nor does it ooze , say, after I troll @ and pull the trolling motor out of the water (the transducer is mounted on the bottom of the trolling motor).
Seems to ooze more under the boat cover, from cool spring, through a normal summer until cool fall in up state N.Y., almost steady.
I ALWAYS turn the power off to the motor (which turn the finder power off, (I have a battery switch at the bow to turn power off, this way the electric motor can't turn on by some weird thing).
It must be a "filler" inside the "puck" to hold the electronics in place or act as a dampner against shock, it does wash off with gas, but so did P.C.P. I wonder how much does it hold? I bet 4-5 oz have oozed out to date!
From May or June, I'd put a sandwich bag over the transducer to keep the boat bow carpet clean, and it's have a good chunk in it next week.
I have pulled the unit off, but was wondering if it stops oozing, can I force say silcone INTO the "puck" and use it ????
just wondering IF anyone else's finder was possessed and dribbled black goo
Joe
Weird things happen to me ALL the time!.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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47,296
I would pack it full of 2-part epoxy

silly-cone has no valid reason to be on a boat.
 

joetheis

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2014
Messages
308
hmmm, a thought hit me...........
Maybe I'll hang it somewhere where it REAL warm, let the "goo from Hell" dribble out all winter and fill it with epoxy!
Joe
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
joe, have you looked into how much a new transducer would cost. Maybe that is a better way to go. :noidea:
 

joetheis

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2014
Messages
308
Since it started oozing, I've been keeping a sharp eye out for a new transducer.
This is a 3 way transducer, both sides and bottom from what the manual states.
Cheapest I've found was $100 on E Bay.
That's the cost of a new Lowrance.
I have a spare transducer that was on port side of the boat when I purchased it, the plug is the same, but it must be just a bottom, as there is 2 pins less in the plug.
I tried it in a bucket of water in my shop, but got weird readings on my screen, (I had a 5 gallon bucket filled on a wooden floor, me thinks maybe it shot through the water, wood to the ground)?
I'll try it in the real world once the warm weather returns.
Mean while, I took and packed expoy into the holes, see what that does.
Joe
I'm a analog man, computer and computer type devices and I don't get along!
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
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joe, if you do decide to simply buy a whole new unit, make sure the transducer(s) come with it. Because is seems new fish finders/depth locators now come without transducers and such. So while you can purchase a new unit, you would still have to buy the transducers and optional accessories anyways. And you can't setup a barrel of water to see if it will work. You really have to be in a lot larger body of water to actually see. JMHO!
 

joetheis

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Apr 21, 2014
Messages
308
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this site.
They actually have me WORKING???!! here at work, also I bought a sailboat (Glen L 15' wooden sailboat), and a British Sea Gull 2.5 HP motor to push it @, as well as re doing my bathroom, (I got the, "wouldn't it be nice to re-tile the bathroom BEFORE X mas" speech)!
I got a Lowrance 3X on sale at Cablea's, complete for $99.
Not a GREAT one, but for what I use it for, (keep and eye on how much water under hull when trolling), it'll work perfect.
The boat came with another transducer that does plug in, but if the finder will work off it, well, time will tell (when I can get to real water)!
I was amazed that you cold buy a finder WITHOUT a transducer, kinda weird, but, I know a few guys with good? transducers and dead finders.
Joe
I have a OLD fish finder circa late 70's (the kind with the round ring that light up) that came on my first power boat.
This bad boy has been on 4-5 boats, kicked @, drop a few times, generally abused, and I KNOW if I wired it up, it'd work great!
Why can't the new ones be like that??
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
Yes joe, a lot of the manufactures have figured out that they can sell the head units, and then charge you for the transducer, power wires, transducer wires, and accessories and wires. It is a new game buying fish finders/depth locators now.
 

Jimmylegg

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Joined
Jul 21, 2021
Messages
2
I took my pontoon out of the lake yesterday noticed My hummingbird transducer leaking white goo. It works fine. I’m gonna fill it w
 
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