On our way out of the marina to a new, unknown anchorage, my wife yelled from the helm, "the depth sounder isn't working!" My first reaction was, she must be on a different function, but sure enough, three dashes was all the meter showed. We changed locations to Gig Harbor (south Puget Sound), as it was a known harbor, and talked our rendezvousing friends into joining us with their C-34.
While waiting for Toma and Lynn, I went through the diagnosis steps in the manual, and "concuded" it must be the transducer. This conclusion was based on what the Raymarine manual said. When we got home, I ordered a new transducer (the retractable one), and a week later, there it was ($86.00).
During my research, I also found out you CAN splice the wires from the old to the new, if you use a "Splash Proof Junction Box." Essentially, it is a round box with a waterproof (?) cover and screw down wire blocks for executing your splices ($35).
As I waited to go haul the boat out, I thought, "why not check out the transducer and splice, by hanging it over the rail in the water?" Cut, splice, hang, power up, and...
THREE DASHES! The meter/instrument was bad after all! Good news, no haulout required (saved $400, but had to buy the instrument - $358). Incidentally, Raymarine would repair the old one for $200, flat rate, but shipping there and back added $30-40. I decided to go for a new one.
Good news - Re-spliced the original transducer back in, installed the St-60 (+), and everything is great.
Bad news - I now have an extra transducer, but can replace next time we haul out.
ST-60 Depth Problems
Moderator: KenKrawford