moisture in depthfinder

I finally decided to do as some of you have done in the past and take my depthfinder apart to dry it out. That thing had about 6 or 8 screws holding it together, it seemed like a pretty watertight fit. I only had to release 2 screws to find out that they are not very water tight, when I did, there must have been almost half a cup of water in there as it just started pouring out. I'm surprised the thing didnt short out or something. Does anyone have an idea where the water might be getting in. Do you think its around the display or around the edge where the two sides screw together. Would it be beneficial to put some sealer around it to keep water out. My boat must have a wierd wiring or something because when I plugged it back in, it came on without hitting the power button. I shut it off but it wouldnt come back on. I unplugged it and plugged it back in again and it came back on. I shut it off but it wouldnt come back on until I unplugged it and plugged it back. I decided to turn the power key to the on position and then it worked fine after that. My lights do that sometimes also. I will turn the switch on and they will work fine sometimes and then other times I have to turn the power key to the on position to get them to come on and then turn the key back off. Does anybody know what might be causing this?

I Have Moisture In Mine Also,but Not Been Brave Enough To Open It.
Mine Is A Humming Bird 300tx,i Guess I'll Go Ahead And Oped It And
Dry That Bad Boy Out.
Spider Rig Man

I was the same way, was afraid to open it up since I know nothing about them. My dealer told me they would fix or replace it if I couldnt, so I figured what the heck. It looks to still be working fine, I will know for sure the next time I go out on the water. Just open it up and get the moisture out, its a simple thing.

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Originally Posted by crappieseeker

I finally decided to do as some of you have done in the past and take my depthfinder apart to dry it out. That thing had about 6 or 8 screws holding it together, it seemed like a pretty watertight fit. I only had to release 2 screws to find out that they are not very water tight, when I did, there must have been almost half a cup of water in there as it just started pouring out. I'm surprised the thing didnt short out or something. Does anyone have an idea where the water might be getting in. Do you think its around the display or around the edge where the two sides screw together. Would it be beneficial to put some sealer around it to keep water out. My boat must have a wierd wiring or something because when I plugged it back in, it came on without hitting the power button. I shut it off but it wouldnt come back on. I unplugged it and plugged it back in again and it came back on. I shut it off but it wouldnt come back on until I unplugged it and plugged it back. I decided to turn the power key to the on position and then it worked fine after that. My lights do that sometimes also. I will turn the switch on and they will work fine sometimes and then other times I have to turn the power key to the on position to get them to come on and then turn the key back off. Does anybody know what might be causing this?

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....sounds like voodoo to me... :eek: .....or at least some very shaky mojo....... :rolleyes: ....most likely a loose connection somewhere.... :cool:

i have taken them apart and dryed them out with a hair dryer. the last one i had had a crack in the case . i take min off . it sitting out in the sun and rain will let it swet inside..you might send it back to mfg. to do that . i sent one and they sent me a nother one for a small fee . it wasent that moch . can`t remember but it was a $250.00 finder less than $100.00. it was a hummingbird.

I had condensation develope on the screen. Sent it to Lowarance and had a new one within the week. No questions.

My Hummingbird is supposed to be waterproof and actually float in the water. I will say I have fished a number of rainy days with no leaks so far.

I Now Am Using 2 Garmins 240 And 250 ,but In Years Past I,ve Used Everyones Equipment And They All Show Moisture On The Screen,never Had Any Problems With Any Of Them ---they All Worked Until I Traded Boats

This is the price we all pay to be able to have "affordable" stuff. Determine how much your free (fishing) time is worth and then you can do the math yourself to determine if it is really affordable.
The current models are made just good enough to keep most of them waterproof for a while. Really, they are just cheap plastic crap.
Here are a few thoughts:
1) If you feel like fooling with stuff, and you have good technical aptitude, take it apart, dry it with a hairdryer, drill a couple 1/8" drain holes in the absolute bottom of the housing where water would collect, clean and reassemble it with some silicone grease on the o-rings or seals.
2) Keep sending it back to the manufacturer whenever that happens, paying the shipping company and the manufacturer sometimes and getting the resultant headaches, bills and lost fishing time.

There are some people who would prefer no1 and some who would prefer no 2.

I had an early Eagle that soon started to cloud the screen with moisture. No failures yet, but I opened it even though it was filled with dry nitrogen. I had all the dry nitrogen I wanted at work. I dried it and cleaned the seals and surfaces and installed waterproof fittings in it, to be able to purge and refill it with dry nitrogen when I was done. It was a waste of time because the original seals and surfaces were not worth a crap. It would fog every time it got rained on. I got rid of it for several reasons.

Next I got another Eagle (Ultima) and used it for three years, then FOG. I disassembled it and found water inside. Eagle claimed it was NOT filled with dry nitrogen. Yes, I fish or trailer in the rain sometimes. The plastic housing seemed to be a little better than the old one, but water is water, and it should never be inside your electronic housings. This time I used the proven technique of water drainholes. I dried the unit, cleaned the seals and surfaces, drilled holes in the bottom, reassembled it and WALLAH! Good for the last three years, so far.

Crappieseeker,
The failure you had with the 'power on circuit' is no doubt in the sonar unit. Water condensation on the circuit boards can cause that failure. I've seen it happen in other people's units. After running the unit for some time, you generate heat, which will cause the water to evaporate, temporarily, and the unit starts working again, and then recondense when it cools, and the problem will reappear. Other power problems can be caused by water intrusion into the power switching upstream in your boat's electrical system. The symptoms can be complicated when you have multiple point failures, and it is not at all uncommon for that to happen!

Do I have a concrete solution to any of this? Yes. PM me and I will tell you about my newest product. A waterproof electrical system for small boats. The individual appliances are still someone else's responsibility, unless you pay me. No ad here.

Hey Lowrance or Humminbird, if you feel something here, I can design a sonar housing for you that will not leak, period. But you have to be willing to pay me my rate for my time and spend an additional $0.35 of extra plastic on each unit. PM me.

I used to have a Humminbird that would fog up. I had access to little bags of desiccant, so I put a couple in the bottom and that solved that problem.