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depth transducer adapter

3K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  Faster 
#1 ·
Since my Lowrance X51 appears to have died (won't power up), does anyone know of a cable to connect this transducer plug:


to this input on my Northstar plotter?
 
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#2 ·
Short answer: Nope.. because there isn't one.

Long answer: To work properly or perhaps at all, the transducer (type/frequency) needs to match the plotter.

Your hand is covering the part number in the top pic. If you chase up the transducer part number on the Airmar site you might be able to determine exactly what you have and what it will and won't work with..

Hope that helps :)
 
#3 ·
google 7 pin to 5 pin sonar - you will be amazed, and may even find one.

If you do find one you might still have to cut and splice, just just a terminal block and make secure connections.

Of course you can aways just get a northstar sonar ?
 
#4 ·
Paul-I'm going through sort of the same search (older Furuno ducer to newer display, I don't want to haul out to change it). What I'm hearing so far is that they have to match exactly or they won't work properly. Have you priced a new transducer for the Northstar?
 
#5 · (Edited)
Paul-I'm going through sort of the same search (older Furuno ducer to newer display, I don't want to haul out to change it). What I'm hearing so far is that they have to match exactly or they won't work properly.
JRD, you've heard right. The "fishfinder" market world-wide is huge and each of the major manufacturers out there use different electronics to try to get the upper hand on their competition.

AFAIK, the only "generic" transducers out there are those speaking NMEA2000 (or a variant thereof) so if you have a choice and don't want to got through all this again in 10 years time, try to buy a transducer that is at least "NMEA2000 Compatible". Even within companies like Raymarine there are different varieties of the same transducer to suit different displays, none of which are compatible with anything else!

If you know the exact part number of the transducer you have, often, with a lot of effort, you can find a newer display that can be used with it, but you've a better chance of winning the lottery than to buy a new display on special at West Marine and expect it to work with the sensor installed in the hull since the boat was new..

OTOH, most people slip their boats yearly, so by the time you work out what you want and go buy it, changing out the transducer isn't really all that big of a deal.
 
#6 ·
I was under the impression that a vast majority of transducers are actually made by Airmar and that cross-functioning was quite common despite the manufacturers wanting you to buy their specific one with their specific plug. I'm not going to source a Northstar transducer since a) they no longer exist, and b) Raymarine who bought them are fabulously expensive.
I'll just avoid coming too close to something that looks like land. If I hear a scrape then I went too close. Future depth installation will not involve a hole in the hull since I really don't care how cold the water is, up here it is either freezing cold, extremely cold, or during the summer months in a protected cove, still to cold to comfortably spend more than 3 minutes in.
 
#9 ·
I was under the impression that a vast majority of transducers are actually made by Airmar and that cross-functioning was quite common despite the manufacturers wanting you to buy their specific one with their specific plug.
The first bit is true enough, but not the second - unfortunately. If you doubt me, have a look at the Airmar site, pick a common transducer (eg a DST800) and then look at the variety of different wiring diagrams available for the same animal. Truth is, it might look like the same beastie on their production line, but it's the different electronics that'll get get ya.

I'm not going to source a Northstar transducer since a) they no longer exist, and b) Raymarine who bought them are fabulously expensive.
Fair enough too. Having been in a similar position not all that long ago, I do sympathise with you..

... but would caution against a hack-job without knowing which wire to connect to which pin. There is usually no short-circuit protection on low-end plotters and you're likely to (a) stuff up the plotter, (b) stuff up your transducer or (c) find the entire exercise highly frustrating.

I'd be looking for a Northstar transducer on Ebay for a long time first. :)
 
#7 ·
I believe you are correct Paul. Most transducers sold are made by Airmar. If it is the tranducer that has died, then you can probably find a replacement by searching this site.

I went through this process when I replaced our transducer on an older (mid-90s) TackTick system. I had to get a long-stem so ended up buying a Furuno (or was it a Garmin) version. I just cut the plug head off, and spliced the leads into my sender. I assume you could do the same with your Lowrance plug.
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the advice mind, I have already located a number of suitable transducers, and they are all upwards of $150 which is more than the plotter cost me, and I don't have the inclination to install another transducer at the moment.
Worst case I blow it all up in which case I have an excuse for a whole new set of instruments and toys :)
 
#13 ·
So... I got round to spending a few minutes this afternoon, and as I expected, a simple bit of patching would let the existing transducer work with the chartplotter. Just need to find a connector now and solder it onto the cable.
Well, technically I already found a connector, but the company wants to charge me almost $27 to send a $17 1/2 ounce plastic connector to Canada.
 
#15 ·
Don't you have the connector from the broken transducer? Just cut it off, strip the wires, and reuse it.

Glad that you got it working. Leaving my previous now unhelpful post because the Airmar wiring diagrams aren't well known about but are extremely useful.
 
#17 ·
It's a 50/200 transducer (which the plotter is capable of driving), the transducer is fine, it's the X51 head that's busted. That uses a different connector to the plotter (which is a Northstar) as otherwise I would have simply plugged the transducer into it :)
 
#18 ·
Ah, I thought you had a busted Northstar transducer as well.

I bought the connector for my plotter from Blue Heron Marine (linked above), but then I was poking around the used boat parts store here and found a transom mount transducer for my plotter that they sold me for $15. That got me a nicely molded connector that is a lot better sealed than the solder-style. It seemed like a waste to cut off a working transducer, but the cable was worth more than $15 to me.

If you have a used boat parts store in the region and can easily remove your Northstar plotter I'd just bring it with you and see if you can find one that fits.

Conxall makes most of these plugs, you might also be able to find a Canadian distributor for them. You can look around in the catalog here:
Switchcraft : Harsh Environment Connectors
http://www.switchcraft.com/Documents/conxall_catalog.pdf

I think your plug is 6282-6SG-3XX

Where XX depends on the size of cable that you'll use. You can see this listed on page 12 of the second link above.

With a measurement of the connector on the plotter it'll be pretty easy to identify the part that you need.
 
#19 ·
FWIW we replaced a 25 yr old Signet DS display head with an RM ST40 head, played around with the wiring and connected the original Signet transducer - it works great.. In fact we have way more range now than the Signet ever gave us.

If you've got a frequency match it's just a matter of sorting out the connections.
 
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