Hummingbird 300tx "Transducer not connected"

[bluefin80]

Recently purchased a boat that came with an old Hummingbird 300tx depth finder. When I power it up I get the initial logo screen, and then a "transducer not connected" message. I have checked all of the connections and they appear fine. The only thing I have came across was that hummingbird uses the water temperature pin from the transducer to detect if the transducer is connected. To remedy this you hit the menu button right when you power on the unit and from there you take it out of simulation mode. I had tried that with my unit and hitting menu right at start-up did not do anything. However, mine does not jump straight into the simulation. I have menu options and it appears to not go straight into simulation mode but I could be wrong.

The guy I purchased the boat from had never used the depth finder (He bought it at an auction, fixed it up and flipped it). Does any body have any potential fixes/advice?
It is possible that the transducer is shot, I just dont know how to tell.

Thanks

 

[Barnacle_Bill]

Yes it sounds like a bad transducer. That is an old unit and not worth putting any money in it. A new transducer runs about $100 but maybe you can find a used one.
It takes a XNT QB 9 20 T #7101991

 

[GA_Boater]

I have a Bird portable and it says xducer not connected when I forget to plug it in. I don't think the water temp pin is used to detect the presence of a xducer because mine doesn't have water temp, but it knows if it's plugged in.

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I'm with Bill, buy a new one and put the xducer money against it.

 

[bluefin80]

I was just going off of what I had found on the hummingbird website. I was able to get into the menu and I switched it from a side wide (or something of that sort) to the tri-beam option. Now when I power it on I do not get any warning messages. However, when I click start up it starts treading from the transducer but it isnt giving me any data. (it just says "ft" as opposed to 33ft or what have you).
Could that just be because it is not moving and sitting on the trailer in my driveway?

Either way I am getting a new(ish) depth finder in august when I go up to the Lake of the Woods. Would be nice to get this one working though.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[GA_Boater]

Xducers need to be in water to work. Drop it in a deep bucket., it should show some depth. If you see fish, grad a rod. :smile:

 

[bluefin80]

That is exactly what I was just out back doing ha.
With the way it is mounted to the hull I couldnt get it to actually submerge into the bucket. It was about 2 inches off the water and the readout stayed the same. (Didnt show anything). The wife and I both have thursday off so were gonna take the boat out again then, hopefully some fiddling will get to work.

If not, a topo of the lake and some guesswork should hopefully find the fish

 

[GA_Boater]

You should be able to undo the single bolt through the xducer and the transom mount. Then raise the bucket to the dangling xducer.

 

[NYBo]

Putting the transducer in water won't fix the problem. Either the transducer is bad, there is a break in the cable, or the unit itself is bad. Start at the connector. Are the pins intact, straight, and clean? How does the socket look?

 

[GA_Boater]

True, NYBo, But he said he doesn't have the warnings anymore. So the bucket is to simulate water, shallow for sure.

 

[NYBo]

He was able to clear the error message but that doesn't necessarily mean the transducer is being detected. Bluefin80, does the error message return each time you power up the unit?