B117 with Furuno 588 help

[robarrington]

I just had my dealer install the airmar B117 (B117-DT-10F). Upon picking up the boat I am bitterly disappointed with the performance of the transducer. It can't even read consistently at slow speeds and as soon as I plane off.....nope....nothing. First I want to make sure there isn't some setting or transducer selection that is causing the problem. Then I'll move on to addressing transducer placement (which will suck because this is obviously a thru hull). This is what my screen looks like going about 3 mph. Sometimes it looks like this, sometimes it clears up. Not sure what the bar across the screen is. Is there something I'm doing wrong? What transducer should I select in the 588 menu???

 

[Flatline]

Robarrington,
Thank you for your inquiry. Sorry to hear that you are having issues with the performance of the equipment. The Airmar numbering you provided refers to the housing style & plug configuration of the transducer. The corresponding Furuno part number would be the 520-BLD (w/o water temperature) or 520T-BLD (incl water temp). In the SYSTEM setting menu of the FCV588. Under the transducer setup, select 520-PLD, which is the exact same but just in the plastic housing instead of bronze.

The single screen shot you provided seems to indicate a resonate noise issue. A couple of things to look for & try to troubleshoot. First ensure that the installation instructions (attached) have been followed and that both the included washer & spacer were used during the installation. These help to isolate the transducer housing from the hull itself in order to prevent vibration/ringing (and that's possibly what the "bar" on the screen indicates). As a troubleshooting measure you could try this; with the vessel in the water (do not transmit while the transducer is not in the water) apply light pressure with you hand to the treaded stem of the transducer in the bilge. Did the the appearance of the bar or noise change? How is the appearance on the FCV588 while sitting still with the engines in NEUTRAL?

 

[robarrington]

Thank you! I have been travelling and now I'm sick. When I get better I'll head down to the boat and report my findings.