Dff3d issues

[alec]

Hello,
I am having issues with my dff3d. As you can see it’s barely making out the bottom and it looks all funny to me. Like interference or something. I have re routed the wires and check all connections including inside the black box. This is very frustrating as I use this for mapping the bottom when I’m commercial fishing. It worked for a time but never as well as what I have seen on our other boats. Anyone ran into this issue? I have also messed with the gain and pretty much every setting in the options menu.
TIA!

 

[jp498]

Start with the easier things first.

Go back to the default settings in Timezero. Once you get it looking good on screen, then fine tune things like angle, SC settings, motion sensor settings, etc.. The auto settings should work pretty well, though in use I like to use manual range rather than auto range.

The Transducer cable going into the blackbox as it comes I think is not stripped back far enough. Peel back about 2 inches more of the black insulation, wrap the drain wire around the cable shield foil and around the screw that tightens the cable down. Be sure the foil is contacting the metal clamp. Redo (release and re-insert) the orange connections at the ends of the cable just in case they were too tight and got loose by pulling. On the left side of the blackbox, make sure a ground cable is hooked up.

I've probably put in 30 DFF3D setups. Bad transducer has not happened out of the box, only after a customer ran the boat aground. It was kind of a weak but working signal; their crash probably broke the ceramics inside. I've had one blackbox that didn't behave, so I swapped it out to correct it and sent the misbehaving one to Furuno where it worked perfectly for them. So as long as it's installed OK, it's good equipment. Lots of little things to fine tune it's function but I think you have a major malfunction going on your screen. I keep a spare transducer and blackbox which I have not needed the transducer. But I have lowered my spare transducer overboard in a nylon bait bag to test a system before to verify that their installed transducer worked the same and is not a problem. If your dealer has an Airmar transducer tester, that can be used to test the transducer; dealer may have spare blackbox or transducer for troubleshooting too.