Lost bottom in rain storm

[Anonymous]

I have been out five times with my new FCV627 (plastic transducer) and it has worked great! Got caught in a thunder storm Saturday, managed to get close to the beach to minimize wind and waves, but lost the machine lost bottom during the downpour just when I needed it the most. I was only in 7 to 10 feet of water and could not see 25 yards. I only kept the motor in gear just to keep the bow pointed into the wind. The machine found bottom for the rest of the day after the heavy rain. Is this normal?

 

[Melville]

If the pounding rains caused turbulence just below the transducer then what you describe is possible. Most transom mounts sit very close to the surface and the driving rain might have created bubbles beneath the transducer face.

 

[Snips]

Whitediamond,
I wouldn't have believed that could happen if I hadn't seen it myself. I was down in Southern California doing a sonar sea trial when the skies opened up. After a couple of minutes both frequencies on the sounder were useless but even more surprising it affected the sonar also. Thinking back on it I wish I had taken some pictures of what the sounder and sonar displays looked like but I didn't.

Snips