transducer making ticking sounds

[chiroken]

I'm in the process of mounting my transducer as a shoot thru hull setup. Was out on the water with the engine floor area flooded where I plan to mount the transducer.

I noticed a ticking sound coming from the transducer that varied based on how close it was to the fiberglass hull. I didn't seem to hear it when I held it over the edge in the water to get baseline depth readings. The ticking reminded me of the ticking that comes from an electric fence (thinking back to my kid days on the farm) so I'm concerned this is an electrical issue? Considering my hand was holding it in water it obviously wasn't major!

Is this the pinging bouncing back off the fiberglass?

The transducer seemed to work fine, depth seemed accurate at rest as well as at speeds or around 25-30mph.

Not sure if this is normal or if I need to be concerned.

Thanks,

Ken

 

[pole position]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

Some do tick.I have a Humminbird in my little boat and you can hear it when you are under water.

 

[chiroken]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

I should have been more specific...it is a Lowrance Elite 5, str8 out of the box. I believe is was @ 200hz and not 83hz, not 100% on that. Abit of research here on this forum tells me it's normal or it's impending doom for the transducer - hence my confusion!

 

[DaNinja]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

It's normal. One of my troubleshooting steps on my depth finder was to give the transducer direct power and see if I heard the faint click. When I didn't, I replaced the hockey puck of a tranducer. Depth guage works fine now sounding its faint clicks to read the bottom.

Another tip: It really paid off to vaseline the area that I was going to apply a transducer. That gave me a good test bed before I committed to the epoxy. Pain to clean the site back up, but I knew my site was good before I'd have to chisel the transducer off a bad site.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

yep, that's what they do... the more powerful the 'ducer, the louder the clicks

 

[chiroken]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

OK, the clicking was surprising loud, couldn't tell you if mine is powerful or not, don't know what to compare it to as this is my first purchase. The portable one that came with the boat mounted via suction cup and I never heard any sound from it.

I did notice`the clicking was more frequent (or was it louder?) as the transducer came closer to the actual fiberglass, submerged in water the whole time.

I will be mounting it within most likely a water filled pipe. Does it matter how close it is to the boat hull w.r.t. performance?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

honestly I'd epoxy it...... BTW make sure your hull is solid and not a wood or foam core

 

[cribber]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

I agree with smoke... epoxy it in there. I found a really flat spot in the bilge closest to the transom. I then sanded it smooth and epoxied it in with a 5 pound bag of sand on top of it overnight.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

I can actually FEEL mine, as well as hear it tick... It feels like the surface jumps a little bit every time I hear it...

 

[chiroken]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

The hull is solid, went thru the manufacturer to confirm. Liked the idea of a water well so that it isn't so permanent...not that I really plan on moving it around. Also don't have to worry about air bubbles or anything with the pipe. Might just change my mind afterall....

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

the air bubble thing is EASY..... don't use 5 minute epoxy... use slow cure.... mix it SLOWLY and you won't get bubbles..... If you do get bubbles, leave it in the mixing cup till they rise to the top and scrape em out...... If the spot you want to mount the 'ducer isn't flat, then after sanding it, make a dam out of modeling clay to hold a pool of epoxy and to stabilize the 'ducer

 

[KDAVID1]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

I agree with smoke... epoxy it in there. I found a really flat spot in the bilge closest to the transom. I then sanded it smooth and epoxied it in with a 5 pound bag of sand on top of it overnight.

+1--this is the best way. And the closer to the transom the better (if you run above 40mph especially)--that is my exp.

 

[dingbat]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

200 kHz or 50 kHz is outside the range of the human ear so you shouldn't hear anything at all. If you can hear the signal, the transducer is generating signal outside the intended range of the transducer which is a waste of power and a source ?noise? in the system.

Clicking is a problem with the piezoceramic, the design of the unit, or the circuit supplying the current. A worn out or damaged crystal, a bad ground, a water logged transducer, etc.

 

[ufm82]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

My Lowrance unit has clicked from day 1- and it works fine. Unit is 5 or 6 years old now (X96) and is a high-wattage unit (3,000 PtP). So IMHO the clicking is normal. As for "permanent" installation" with epoxy, I've not had a transducer yet that didn't come off with a sharp tap of a hammer. Not hard enough to damage the 'ducer but hard enough to pop the epoxy off. The only issue you have then is the epoxy on the 'ducer but if you're taking it out chances are you're replacing/changing out the thing anyway. I've never been a fan of the pipe deal- too much work for what is a pretty simple process.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

200 kHz or 50 kHz is outside the range of the human ear so you shouldn't hear anything at all. If you can hear the signal, the transducer is generating signal outside the intended range of the transducer which is a waste of power and a source ?noise? in the system.

Clicking is a problem with the piezoceramic, the design of the unit, or the circuit supplying the current. A worn out or damaged crystal, a bad ground, a water logged transducer, etc.

Mine has done it since it was new... I've installed 3 different models all using the same model transducer ('skimmer') and they ALL do it. What people hear isn't the frequency itself, its the result of a harmonic.

 

[dingbat]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

The ticking you hear is the result of a poorly designed/ cheap unit that lacks pulse-shaping or tuning of the output to the transducer. They simply turn on the transmitter and let the electrical transients do what they will which results in clicks you hear. Better units manipulate the output to smooth out the peaks and valley to eliminate the clciking you hear. Short of buy quality electronics, you could try one an inductive choke like they use on computer keyboards to minimize RF interference. Clip it on the transducer cable and see if it helps.

My Lowrance unit has clicked from day 1- and it works fine. Unit is 5 or 6 years old now (X96) and is a high-wattage unit (3,000 PtP).

By today?s standards, your 375 RMS (3,000 PtP) has far below the ?average? output. Most recreational units are in the 500-600 RMS (4000- 4800 PtP) range with 1000 RMS (8000 PtP) and up units being more and more common place.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

strange..... my airmar thru-hull makes audible clicks..... you think there is something wrong with it?
EDIT: well I did some research and it looks like it only takes about 60 seconds to damage a 'ducer by operating it out of the water..... and that can cause it to make noise..... UGH

 

[dingbat]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

strange..... my airmar thru-hull makes audible clicks..... you think there is something wrong with it?
EDIT: well I did some research and it looks like it only takes about 60 seconds to damage a 'ducer by operating it out of the water..... and that can cause it to make noise..... UGH

It?s possible that the transducer has been damaged, but more than likely it a problem in the head unit. Could be the cost cutting measures noted above or a component in the head failing.

 

[Lakes84]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

If you have ever ice fished, both Marcum and Vexilar fishfinders click fairly loud while in use...These are the top of the line units as well.
I use mine out of water while moving from hole to hole and it works just the same as it did day one. Granted it's for ice fishing, but the clicking is fairly normal in my experience.

See you on the lake

Joe

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: transducer making ticking sounds

my head unit is a lowrance lcx-15mt..... I have two of em tho so I'll check the spare to see if it is any different