Simrad GO XSE, Depth reading intermittent

cwrivera

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Hello,

Took delivery on Saturday and am trying to configure the Simrad that came with my 2019 23SSXP. Simrad doesn't show the depth consistently and only shows in the instruments panel. Is there a setting somewhere to make the reading consistent and where can you account for where the sonar is and where the bottom of the skeg is?

Thanks and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
 
Hello,

Took delivery on Saturday and am trying to configure the Simrad that came with my 2019 23SSXP. Simrad doesn't show the depth consistently and only shows in the instruments panel. Is there a setting somewhere to make the reading consistent and where can you account for where the sonar is and where the bottom of the skeg is?

Thanks and any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
I am having the same think on my Simrad on my new tri-toon Bennington that I special ordered, The dealer SMG boats in Conroe, TX. I carried it in to the dealer & they said they checked the sensor placement. A friend of mine ordered a new Bennington like mine from the same dealer, he is having the same problem with his Simrad depth finder. It just goes blank over about 20 mph. The unit is suppose to have a 10 year warranty & was like a 1,0000 dollar option, but that does not do any good if the dealer can not fix it. Anybody got any suggestions.
jlong@performancetruck.com
 
Hello to both of you and welcome to these forums. You’ve come to the right place. IF you do a search on this topic above, it is covered very regularly because it is a common pontoon boat/depth finder problem.

On the back of one of your two side pontoons, you will have a black item bolted on and sticking out the back: probably about 3-5” long. That is your transducer. It is the sensor for your depth finder, regardless of what brand depth finder you have. So...

1) your depth is being measured from that point down. That is important to know as your lower unit and prop are lower than that when trimmed down and under way.

2) Pontoon boats kick up a different kind of turbulence across the back of the pontoons. That interfers with the transducer getting a reading after about 15-22 mph unless it is mounted out of the way of this turbulent water. Most of the time they are mounted flush with the bottom of the pontoon, but that creates the interference. If you lower the mounting 1-2”or 2-3” lower, it will get the transducer out of the turbulence and give readings at speed.

3) Sometimes you need to adjust the angle of the transducer slightly too. It needs to be straight and parallel to lake bottom for better readings. When at speed and your bow lifts up, if your transducer is not angled too, that can mess up readings.

In the end, what you are experiencing is normal, and not an issue with the Simrad, but rather the transducer and nature of pontoons. On a positive note, it can be fixed/adjusted. Good Luck!
 
Hello to both of you and welcome to these forums. You’ve come to the right place. IF you do a search on this topic above, it is covered very regularly because it is a common pontoon boat/depth finder problem.

On the back of one of your two side pontoons, you will have a black item bolted on and sticking out the back: probably about 3-5” long. That is your transducer. It is the sensor for your depth finder, regardless of what brand depth finder you have. So...

1) your depth is being measured from that point down. That is important to know as your lower unit and prop are lower than that when trimmed down and under way.

2) Pontoon boats kick up a different kind of turbulence across the back of the pontoons. That interfers with the transducer getting a reading after about 15-22 mph unless it is mounted out of the way of this turbulent water. Most of the time they are mounted flush with the bottom of the pontoon, but that creates the interference. If you lower the mounting 1-2”or 2-3” lower, it will get the transducer out of the turbulence and give readings at speed.

3) Sometimes you need to adjust the angle of the transducer slightly too. It needs to be straight and parallel to lake bottom for better readings. When at speed and your bow lifts up, if your transducer is not angled too, that can mess up readings.

In the end, what you are experiencing is normal, and not an issue with the Simrad, but rather the transducer and nature of pontoons. On a positive note, it can be fixed/adjusted. Good Luck!
 
Thanks for the reply, My first thought was it would get knocked or dragged off but since it would only be 3" below the bottom of the toon , I guess that would be un-likely. I tried to go to the link that was listed http://club.benningtonmarine.com/threads/depth-reading.9808/#post-130220
& I can not get that to work, if anyone can help me get to the right place, I would appreciate it.
The boat is a 2018 27 ft. loaded up with a YAMAHA 250 SHO, love the boat but would like to get this little quirk worked out, then I have to figure out the GPS and other options available in SIMRAD
jlong@performancetruck.com is my e-mail
Jason
 
Thanks for the reply, My first thought was it would get knocked or dragged off but since it would only be 3" below the bottom of the toon

I hear you there! My dealer told me that dealers mount them were they do out of concerns with customers then damaging them on trailers, lifts or shore bottoms if they are beaching. They said, since they cannot predict customer use, but would be the ones the customer would come to upset if they broke a transducer in one of the above situations, they tend to play it safe rather than sorry.

I’d just pay attention to how you use the boat, and if you notice that you wont be damaging it if you lower it, then go for it. I haven’t lowered mine yet (going on year three), but I am now comfortable I can do so safely and wont damage it. I hope to lower mine this summer so it will read after I surface 15-18 mph (which is where ours cuts out).
 
I hear you there! My dealer told me that dealers mount them were they do out of concerns with customers then damaging them on trailers, lifts or shore bottoms if they are beaching. They said, since they cannot predict customer use, but would be the ones the customer would come to upset if they broke a transducer in one of the above situations, they tend to play it safe rather than sorry.

I’d just pay attention to how you use the boat, and if you notice that you wont be damaging it if you lower it, then go for it. I haven’t lowered mine yet (going on year three), but I am now comfortable I can do so safely and wont damage it. I hope to lower mine this summer so it will read after I surface 15-18 mph (which is where ours cuts out).
 
I am going to try it & see what happens.
Does anyone know where I can order a BENNINGTON license plate frame. i have a picture of the one I had that fell of the trailer but i do not know how to insert or attach picture to this reply.
 
I am going to try it & see what happens.
Does anyone know where I can order a BENNINGTON license plate frame. i have a picture of the one I had that fell of the trailer but i do not know how to insert or attach picture to this reply.

To insert pictures into a thread, look immediately below the text box when typing a post. You will see 3 green buttons. The middle one says “Upload a File”. Click on it and it will give you three options: the first two related to either taking a picture or inserting one from your photo album files. :)
 
Thanks, I learned something. This is what I am having a hard tine finding, left message with Bennington but have not heard any thing.
Jason
 
Thanks, I learned something. This is what I am having a hard tine finding, left message with Bennington but have not heard any thing.
Jason

Yeah, don’t think they have them anymore. Sure wish they did. I’d get a couple.
 
Back to original conversation, has anyone lowered the depth transducer 3 " below the tube, should I have enough slack in the cable to do so, if not how do you address that ?
It is end enclosed storage & is a pain to get in & out of the 12 ft. wide storage with the overall length of 34 ft , to get it out to work on.
Also how do you add picture to your profile data & location ?
Jason
 
I hear you there! My dealer told me that dealers mount them were they do out of concerns with customers then damaging them on trailers, lifts or shore bottoms if they are beaching. They said, since they cannot predict customer use, but would be the ones the customer would come to upset if they broke a transducer in one of the above situations, they tend to play it safe rather than sorry.

I’d just pay attention to how you use the boat, and if you notice that you wont be damaging it if you lower it, then go for it. I haven’t lowered mine yet (going on year three), but I am now comfortable I can do so safely and wont damage it. I hope to lower mine this summer so it will read after I surface 15-18 mph (which is where ours cuts out).
I just took delivery of a 25QSB, and when I contacted the dealer about this problem, they said it was just the nature of the beast. Nothing can be done about it. They said they've tried lowering, raising, and moving the transducer, but they still cut out after about 20 mph. I'll keep fiddling with it, but don't want to destroy it.
 
I just took delivery of a 25QSB, and when I contacted the dealer about this problem, they said it was just the nature of the beast. Nothing can be done about it. They said they've tried lowering, raising, and moving the transducer, but they still cut out after about 20 mph. I'll keep fiddling with it, but don't want to destroy it.
I suppose I just got lucky, but the transducer setup for my Simrad GO9 seems to be placed such that I rarely notice dropouts. I believe is is a bit lower than the toon and angled slightly downward. I can take a pic next time I'm at the lake house (in about a week).
 
Good info. I’ll try that when I pull it out of the water. Picture would be great. Thank You
 
I moved mine as low and as far to the outside as the mounting bracket would allow (see pic). The transducer needs clean water flow to function correctly. Can run 30+ without losing signal.
rear1.jpg
 
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