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Bronze Thru Hull Transducer


TheHardWay

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I want to put a depth finder in my 03 23 XTI since it doesn't have one. I'm torn between a glue-on type transducer and this one...

http://store.humminbird.com/products/313980?product_id=302fe85b436baa4cea4c1adedec7b8d8

I was thinking if I went with this style, I might be able to use an existing plug hole that is located under the engine. Does anyone know the chances of the threads being the same type?

Perhaps the glue-on style would be better. The thing that concerns me is that it is stated in the Humminbird 610 instructions that it may not work correctly depending on hull thickness. Being that Malibu is a quality boat, I am assuming they have a thicker hull than other boats.

Thoughts?

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Red Rum I have had a couple of depth gauges installed over the years. I have always gone with the epoxied transducer housing. The only real problem is when hulls have honey comb construction instead of solid material. The power of the sensor cannot get through material like that because its not solid. Most brands will tell you what thickness they can handle. The last one I installed was a Faria gauge and transducer. I glued the hull fitting down to the inside of the hull where it appeared to be the lowest point. Filled her up with mineral oil and screwed in the guts. It worked great.

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Your hull should be solid. I installed the "puck" type on my old boat ('05 moomba) without any problems. I would recommend using silicone, so you can move it if it doesn't work. Lay out the silicone slowly to make sure you don't have air bubbles. Air voids make the transdoucer inaccurate or not working at all. For the same reason, you want to locate it where the other side of the hull is relatively free of turbulence. On mine (v-drive) the stock location is behind the gas tank and to the side (can't remember which one) of the ski-vee unit.

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If you use epoxy use the slow cure stuff. The fast drying will get too hot and fry the electronics in the transducer.

Your hull should be solid. I installed the "puck" type on my old boat ('05 moomba) without any problems. I would recommend using silicone, so you can move it if it doesn't work. Lay out the silicone slowly to make sure you don't have air bubbles. Air voids make the transdoucer inaccurate or not working at all. For the same reason, you want to locate it where the other side of the hull is relatively free of turbulence. On mine (v-drive) the stock location is behind the gas tank and to the side (can't remember which one) of the ski-vee unit.

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  • 2 months later...

Red Rum I have had a couple of depth gauges installed over the years. I have always gone with the epoxied transducer housing. The only real problem is when hulls have honey comb construction instead of solid material. The power of the sensor cannot get through material like that because its not solid. Most brands will tell you what thickness they can handle. The last one I installed was a Faria gauge and transducer. I glued the hull fitting down to the inside of the hull where it appeared to be the lowest point. Filled her up with mineral oil and screwed in the guts. It worked great.

What do you mean by filled it up with mineral oil?

OK, so I got my depthsounder, and going to install it. Being that it is the dead of winter and in Colorado, I am not able to put the boat in the water to test locations. I was wondering if someone could tell me where the factory mounted transducers are located on their boats. If I can get an idea, and keep it away from turbulent areas such as ballast ports on the bottom of the hull, I would be doing OK. I am going to try the silicone mounting method at first, just to be sure. Once I get it in the water this spring and test it, I will go with epoxy.

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Both the depth gauge transducers I have installed over the years are a two part setup. A cup that is epoxied to the hull and the transponder that sits in the cup. The transducer is designed in a way to rotate in the cup to send the radio waves straight down. If you were to glue the transponder right to the hull the radio waves go off in a sideways direction and not straight down. In order to not have the radio waves pass through air in the cup, you fill the cup up with mineral oil.

I have attached a picture of the transducer I have used.

post-15091-021708700 1296198509_thumb.jp

Edited by Smoke Eater
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RedRum,

Usually a brass thru-hull transducer is used on a large sport cruiser or motoryacht that has huge displacement and therefore a much thicker hull. They also have very long shafts so they can be used with a fairing block to compensate for the dead rise angle which would otherwise distort the depth reading as the floor becomes deeper. Not much of this applies to a towboat. You'll be fine with an in-hull version.

David

Earmark Marine

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RedRum,

A fisherman may need to know precisely how deep a school of fish are and we could be talking very deep waters off shore.

But if your main concern is safety in shallow waters the depth distortion may be too minimal for concern.

David

Earmark Marine

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If I am to mount the transducer on the flat spot along the centerline of my hull, should I be worried about distortion from the tracking fins? It doesn't seem like the fins would cause that much turbulence. Also, the spot I am looking at is about 5 feet back from the furthest back fin, so I may be OK.

????

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