Lowrance 3500 Replacement with Lowrance LST-3800 & Garmin Transducer

[Henry Boyd]

Hello all! I have a 1996 300 and I am needing to replace my Lowrance 3500 -- Can anyone tell me where to find the transducer?

Welcome to the group. Short version; You can’t. Lowrance used their own frequency for the transducer that nobody else used and then stopped using it. You can search the internet and possibly find a used set for sale. Depending on your need, one of the newer MFD (multi function display) that has maps, gps and depth built in might be a good choice as it gives something to build on if your needs change.

 

[Mike or Sonya]

Welcome to the group. Short version; You can’t. Lowrance used their own frequency for the transducer that nobody else used and then stopped using it. You can search the internet and possibly find a used set for sale. Depending on your need, one of the newer MFD (multi function display) that has maps, gps and depth built in might be a good choice as it gives something to build on if your needs change.

Thank you!!

 

[ColoSR]

What is not working, the transducer or the gauge?

 

[Mike or Sonya]

What is not working, the transducer or the gauge?

The guage seemed to work fine-- however it would go blank from time to time and we don't know if that was normal or not. Also the readings were wrong as far as depth and we could not seem to get it to work properly no matter how much we messed with it. So we decided to replace it.

 

[Tbone98]

Hello I have 1998 Searay BR210 , I also have the same Lowrance 3500 it is also inoperable. I am looking to update with an fish finder chart plotter . However I do not know what type of transducer I have . There is a “hockey puck “ circle underneath my boat about 18” from my transom wall. Would that be a thru the hull transducer? It looks like it would be a difficult task to remove . I am a novice at boating any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ed

 

[Henry Boyd]

Hello I have 1998 Searay BR210 , I also have the same Lowrance 3500 it is also inoperable. I am looking to update with an fish finder chart plotter . However I do not know what type of transducer I have . There is a “hockey puck “ circle underneath my boat about 18” from my transom wall. Would that be a thru the hull transducer? It looks like it would be a difficult task to remove . I am a novice at boating any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ed

The transducer for the Lowrance 3500 is incompatible with anything on the current market. So other than it plugging a pre-drilled hole in the hull (or being removed for a new transducer) there is no value to it.

 

[Bill Curtis]

I have one of those, too. Hits a wall at 30 feet and won't read any deeper. Just flashes (it's not a depth alarm). Under 30', it tracks with my Gamin chartplotter / sonar correctly.

 

[ColoSR]

Hello I have 1998 Searay BR210 , I also have the same Lowrance 3500 it is also inoperable. I am looking to update with an fish finder chart plotter . However I do not know what type of transducer I have . There is a “hockey puck “ circle underneath my boat about 18” from my transom wall. Would that be a thru the hull transducer? It looks like it would be a difficult task to remove . I am a novice at boating any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Ed

The Lowrance 3500 used an earlier version of the Airmar P19 which is a 2”diameter thru hull. If you are seeing a hockey puck the PO may have installed a shoot through hull transducer which does not require a hole. The signal goes through the fiberglass. The 2” thru hull transducers typically do depth and temp only. If you want fish finder capabilities you will want to look for the chirp type transducer. Cheapest way is the ones that mount on the back of the boat. Otherwise you can get a bigger thru hull or use an adapter to fit it in the 2” hole.

 

[Ellis Sharadin]

Hi All,

My Lowrance 3500 display went bad, and I could not find a used gauge or a new one that would work with the old 192kHz thru-hull transducer. My Sundeck 220 has a 2” thru-hull fitting at a 20-degree deadrise, and neither of the 2 1/8” gauges Lowrance (LST-3800), Hawkeye (D10D), nor Humminbird (HDR 650) had an off the shelf replacement.

I found out that most of the transducers are made by a company called Airmar, and found out that the depth signals would generally work between manufacturers so long as they were all 200kHz. I ended up making a pigtail to mate a Garmin (Airmar) P19/B619 transducer to a Lowrance 3800 gauge. This arrangement does NOT give an accurate water temperature reading because Lowrance uses 5,000K thermistors while Garmin (and the rest of the industry) uses 10,000K thermistors. I decided to get the bronze version of the transducer rather than plastic because I trailer my boat, you can save a few bucks with the plastic P19 version.

Parts List
** Lowrance LST-3800 with WSU-HST 200 kHz Transom Mount Transducer
** Garmin B619 20 Degree Tilt Bronze (200 kHz) Thru-Hull Transducer - 8-Pin – Garmin P/N 010-10217-22 (Note plastic P19 – P/N 010-10218-22 works too)
** Garmin 6-Pin Female to 8-Pin Male Adapter- Garmin P/N 010-11612-00
** Airmar Inline Cable Splice 6 Conductor IP67 Waterproof

I did not cut the connectors off of the B619 transducer nor the LST-3800. I made a pigtail out of the transom mount transducer that came with the 3800 and the garmin adapter wire so that I could sell the 3800 and B619 if my experiment did not work. The wire colors below may not be correct if you connect the 3800 and B619 directly.

To make the pigtail, cut the thicker Lowrance transducer wire approximately 8” from the uniplug connector. Make sure to leave the smaller wire intact as that is the power and ground (see manual). Next, cut the garmin adapter plug in half. From there, use the Airmar cable splice fitting to wire the garmin 8-pin end to the Lowrance uniplug end by connecting the Bare wire to Bare wire, White to Yellow, Blue to Blue, and Black to Black. My pin-out sketch is attached, no guarantees on quality. Then you can use the pigtail to connect the 3800 to the B619 to make a functioning system. Even though the temp is not correct, I think you need to hook it up because the 3800 is looking for the temp circuit.
I would recommend that you build the pigtail out of the boat so that you can put the transducer in a bucket of water for testing. The depth will not read without water, so I didn’t realize that I had some wires backwards until I was on the lake. Happy boating!

View attachment 59355

 

[Ellis Sharadin]

I know COLO SR's post is 6 years old now, but I thank him just the same for the information. I'm in contact with a rep at Lowrance about whether they have anything to offer to replace my now-defunct Lowrance 3500 depth finder. Interesting note: I tried contacting Tech Support at Sea Ray, and instead of advising me on a suitable substitute depth finder, they told me they wouldn't help me because my boat is over 10 years old! They even told me to contact Lynnhaven Marine in VA Beach, but the service dept there said they have no such expertise. What the hell kind of support is this from Sea Ray? They have a legion of devoted Sea Ray owners, yet want nothing to do with you if your boat is older than 10 years? If I ever buy another boat, it probably won't be Sea Ray!