Losing depth during lightning storm

Wdeertz

Wdeertz

Member
I recently rode out a signifcant squall with 48 knot winds and lightning. During the storm I’d lose depth periodically on both transducers (525STIDMSD7 connected to DFF1 and STD800). The depth would go blank for maybe 30-60 seconds and then come back online. This happened several times during the course of the 30 minute squall. I never lost signal on my SCX20. I’m estimating the closest lightning strike was 2-3nm away. In all my years of cruising I’ve never experienced this situation. I didn’t turn off all my electronics as I was in a tight anchorage and wanted to maintain situational awareness during the squall. After the squall both transducers are working fine.

Are the transducers affected by electrical energy nearby or in the water? Are there methods to eliminate or reduce this occurrence?
 
All bets are off when dealing with lightning and inducted energy. It might have been just circumstantial. If rough, the primary depth source might have experienced some temporary turbulence. When the depth (primary source) is lost the system can take a few minutes to automatically switch over to another good working depth source. If the "Preferred" primary sources comes back online the system switches back to chosen source. Unless you saw other indications of a power spike, I don't think I would be concerned.
 
Johnny, thanks for the reply. Being I didn’t suffer a direct lightning strike I’m confident all equipment is still in good working order. I’ve been in other storms and never experienced this outcome before. I guess this was a particularly staticy storm. With the winds the boat was bouncing around quite a bit but I’ve been in worse conditions and never lost depths. Are they any actions that can be taken to reduce the risks of losing depth short of avoiding electrical storms?
 
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