Navman 4500 Sounder....

[KeithB]

anyone got one

[Tadpoleman]

Thats the one !

[KeithB]

Anyone got a boat with a Navman Duel Freq. transducer we could plug a sounder into to test??

It's a Fish 4500, can't decide whether to send the unit off to be tested /serviced with the risk of it being the transducer that's faulty, or buy a new tranduscer with the risk the unit is faulty. Decisions decisions lol.

[boblydon]

chuck it in the bin and buy a complete new unit that would be my advice....i know that sounds a bit harsh, but by the time you have it checked or repaired that money would be better put towards the cost of a new unit, if your happy with model then buy one exactly the same, fit the new transducer to the new unit, check it's working correctly the try the old one, ok you may end up with 2 fully working units but ones a spare......just my view on it

[mark]

might do! well sort off, we've an airmar transducer, and the 4500 is on the compatibility list

if it is a transducer fault, spend the money on a decent transducer rather than a new unit IMHO

a decent transducer will make a 300 quid sounder perform like a 900 quid one

[KeithB]

You're probably right Bob, but funds are limited.

Just spotted the same sounder on fleabay selling for £400+ so from a paupers point of view it's worth trying to suss out which bit is knackered

Mark,

I'll remove the power lead from the boat at the weekend, if we could try the unit on your transducer sometime that would be great, as long as there's no risk of damage to your gear.

Been searching for info about the sounder and found a load of sites slagging off Navman / Plastimo especially their customer service.

I contacted them a while back about a possible repair, the only reply I got was a geet big colour brochure through the post lol.



Cheers!

[mark]

can't imagine the tx could get damaged, its just a geet big crystal

the plastimo support is appaling, often wondered why if thats whay they 'rebranded' as northstar to sell through a different chain

I've got the email address of navmans technical guru, I'll pm it to ya, might be worth dropping him a line see what he thinks??

[Charlie_Thompson]

as long as there's no risk of damage to your gear.

Everything else is banjaxed, you'd be doing us a favour m8

[boblydon]

Kieth,
Been having a look around a few different websites and forums regarding your navman, the common fault which seems to get mentioned a lot is the first batches of units came with a differnt transducer which many owners have had problems with after a few years......a new transducer ( standard replacment ) is about £45.00, but you can upgrade to a bronze through hull ( upgrade ) for about £120.00.
Hope this is of some help to you

[KeithB]

Cheers Bob, much appreciated,

Pretty sure it is the TX as it works fine in simulate mode. Only thing putting us off going straight for a new one is I found a site (fixya.com) where someone had asked the same question and one of the replies said they had tried a new tx and that wasn't the fault.

[KeithB]

Well it wasn't the TX, so now got a spare.

Good news though, Bert sent it to The Service Centre, Marine Electronic Service, repair and service of equipment who have tested, repaired, updated software and returned for £66