Antifouling paint on Transducer

[Jeff Kimbel]

I had some inexperienced crew helping me paint my hull today, and when I looked up, noticed they had painted over my transducer.  The paint was standard ablative paint.  I tried to remove as much as possible using water & towels, but there is clearly a fair amount left on the unit.  Is all lost?  Any recommendations on how to remove the paint?  I have read somewhere that you should not use any solvents on the face of the transducer.

Any help is appreciated.

Jeff

[Ron Hill]

Jeff : I don't think that some lacquer thinner on a cloth and a few quick swipes to take the paint off will hurt the transducer face. 
I use the outdrive anti fouling spray on mine with no problem.-

[pablosgirl]

Jeff,

If it is the depth transducer, don't worry about removing the paint.  I have always painted the transducer with no effect on the accuracy of the transducer.  The transducer face is just a plate to protect the vibration producing crystal inside.  This crystal produces waves at a certain frequency that are transmitted to the bottom and back and recorded by the transducer to determine depth from the round trip time (think sonar here).  In fact, you can mount the transducer to the inside of the hull as long as the hull is a solid glass and not foam cored.  The most IMPORTANT thing is to never strike the transducer because the blow could break the crystal inside and rendering the transducer useless.

[Stu Jackson]

Transducer sidelight:  I always paint my paddle-wheel knotmeter tranducer with antifouling paint.  I came back after a few months away and the knotmeter worked just fine.  The limit seems to be about4 months in my water.  I know from experience this past year! 

Results in your water may vary...

[Wayne]

Stu, exactly what parts of your knotmeter do you paint?  I'm guessing not the paddlewheels themselves?

[Stu Jackson]

Yes, ONLY the paddlewheels.  I should have said paddlewheel, not transducer in my last post.  Thanks for catching that mistake.  

They go on a shaft that goes through the body of the impeller section that slides into the through hull and connects to the wiring.  Only movin' part!

After the first operation in January 2009 I didn't get down to the boat for four months.  This time August 2009 maybe two and a half.  

Clogged with growth bad first time, ran free second time (when motoring out for the first time after each "layover"!).  

Could be the diver, who knows.  That's my story and I'm...