Removng plumbers putty

From a transducer.  I was given an old Elite 4 fish finder but there's plumbers putty smeared on the beam end of the transducer and it appears it's interfering with the signal.  Maybe that's why I got the unit for free?

Anyway, is there a way to get that putty off without further damaging the lens?

What I refer to as plumbers putty should never get that hard, but regardless of what it is, IF IT WAS MINE, I'd try Goo Gone. Start with just a couple drops on the deposit and see if it softens it over a few minutes time. The stuff is amazing, basically orange oil I think.  Cheap too, get a tiny bottle for like 4 bucks.

You're probably talking about Plumber's Goop - much different than plumber's putty which is a soft material designed for seating drain openings and such.

Dale gave good advice, and if that doesn't work I'd clean it off and start whittling with a sharp blade.

I don't know the full history of this unit.  It's definitely not plumber's Goop and looks like the material some folks use to form a water bath, and it's not rock hard, just stiff and close to having completely hardened.

I have some Goo Gone and I'll test it.  Thank you.

A blade ... brass or nylon cleaning brush...doesn’t hurt to repaint it I don’t think.

Sounds like duct putty

What color is it?

Maybe soak a rag with the solvent, wrap the transducer in it, plastic bag it and let it marinate a while?

What color is it?

White-ish.  A couple of shades off white.