Faria Transducer, again!

wlavista

Gauge keeps reading 4  and 198 ft. and sounds the alarm. Called Faria who said transducer is likely culprit and buy a new unit.  Read previous post on replacement but looking for steps to do it.  

Do you have to replace the unit with the cable by snaking it to the gauge (p.i.a.) or just a splice with the new one?

Pulling the boat out to swap out a Lenco actuator so I might as well tackle this issue while its out.

Any comments absolutely appreciated but please don't tell me to dump the matching instruments!

MarkB

You should not splice the transducer cable.  There may be a connector that the transducer cable plugs into below the helm, if not you need to pull it through. 

To be honest, I don't ever pay attention to my faria gauge anymore. It is a weak system. I put on a fishfinder and ran a transducer on my transom.  It is way more accurate. Those transducers need to be replaced every 5 or so years, so it's WAY easier to replace on my fishfinder.  Why don't you consider that?

Michael T

I'm with Mark. A transducer is really an Oh Sh*t gauge anyway because by the time it displays a problem you are usually on it. They aren't really effective for fishing. They are maybe useful when going into new harbour or boat slip SLOWLY. I have always used paper charts and GPS for my depths. Just my opinion.

wlavista

Thanks for the suggestions!  I guess its the OCD in me to leave a non-functioning gauge in my dash.  

You suggest good reasons to go that way and even the Faria tech suggested to me to substitute a shoot threw the hull transducer and leave it alone rather than replace it.

Just gets me to do it but I may have to!

Michael T

I'm with you on having a non functioning gauge but I too am ocd about those issues. BTW is there any way for you to test the Faria gauge. I've had a couple of depth gauges (and tachs) fail but never a transducer that hadn't been clearly damaged  by something.  

MarkB

Guys, I'm just as OCD as you are. My kids and wife say "The OCD is kicking in again" about once or twice a day to me.

But you can't let OCD make you do something, well ... dumb.  The Faria transducer/depth technology SUCKS.  Put in a better head unit, that seconds as a fishfinder and/or GPS.  Put in a much better transducer. You will be able to track bottom much better at 30 mph than that Faria gauge will ever allow you to do.

If you don't want to see a non-functioning gauge there, then figure out something else to use that space for - put in a media station (auxillary in, USB in, 12V charger, etc).

Don't waste money on a poor solution.

Michael T

I agree Mark I was just saying if wlavista could pick-up a used faria gauge ( for 10 bucks) just to have an operational gauge it would "look" cleaner. I'm 100% with you that the oem gauge is useless as a primary device.

wlavista

I have no idea how to test the gauge.  It seems to be functioning with power giving readings although wrong and the alarms work. Faria said it is the transducer so I thought changing it is the way to go.  

I found one for $41 with 26 ft of cable and thought it would be a simple swap out except for fishing the cable and that was based on a previous post I read here.

Thanks for the feedback! You've got me re-thinking what to do.  

howardrams

I might be an exception but my previous Rinker with the Faria worked fine for 20 years.  So far so good with my new boat.  The Faria generally reads within a few tenths the same as my Lowrance.  I'd still replace a bad one just because I like everything to work, and they are pretty cheap.  Don't splice it though.

JoeStang

Same here, my boat is newer but the depth gauge, and everything else, seems to be very very reliable and accurate. Maybe I got a Monday set of gauages ?

howardrams

wlavista, on my 260 rinker put an extension cable with a plug on it from the gauge back to the engine compartment, and then there's a plug from the tranducer's cable so you don't have fish the entire length through the boat.  The gauges do have some logic circuitry and I would usually suspect the gauge rather than transducer, given the symptoms you described, and it's the easier swap.

wlavista

Sounds like a plan!  I'll try it ASAP.  The gauge alarm keeps going off so I've been just turning it off but I'll check it out. BTW, FYI to be careful, my virus software detected a Trojan.Gen2 when I opened the Faria Depth Gauge Instruction Sheet!

wlavista

Well, after talking to the Faria rep, he suggested to buy the gauge set and replace one component at a time!  Found it for $130.  Still contemplating!