Depth in hull transducer

[commanderpete]

I've got my depth transducer mounted under the starboard bunk. Sometimes it will read erratically when the boat is heeled over around 25 degrees the other way and the water is choppy. I think the water is too turbulent under the transducer to get good readings.

I'm looking for a new location. How close to the boat's centerline can you mount the transducer?

My original installation wasn't great either. I was going to try the mineral oil tube. Or else I was going to make a wedge of epoxy by filling a greased plastic cup as it sat on an angle and then popping the wedge out. Epoxy the wedge to the hull and the transducer to the wedge

Instead I just mushed the transducer into a blob of silicone. That "temporary" installation has been working for years, sorta  

I'm not sure a proper installation will solve the problem. There's still going to be rough water under the transducer where it is.

[Mike Goodwin]

Put the transducer in a plastic bag(s) filled with fluid , turn the gain way up and slide it around in the hull untill you find the 'sweet spot' where you get the strongest reading .
Works for me.

Mine is under stbd bunk just aft of hanging locker and as close to centerline as possible.

[willie]

You're gonna love this one...
About 2 yrs. ago i stuck mine in some wax from a toilet ring....(new of course!) Was gonna be temporary to see how it worked. It's still there, never has quit reading! Under the port berth, close to centerline. Just sand off some paint, use a putty knife for a gob of wax, and that's it. The sanding off the paint might even be optional.   :rolleyes:

[Tony G]

Willie,

I greatly appreciate your approach to some of these things.  Keep it simple.  I'm forever overengineering things that take too much time to build and then they don't work well enough in the end that I'm forced to deep six the piece and start all over with a much simpler plan that ends up being more like I wanted in the first place anyway.  Well-that, and writing lanky sentences

Is your transducer a puck style or insert?  It would be nice to get by without putting another hole in the hull and mineral oil or water.

[willie]

Hey Tony,
It shoots through the hull, no hole. I like that. It's a fish finder, kids love it. We're spending more time fishing than sailing lately....
I like seeing what the bottom looks like, pretty kewl.

I wish i had more patience, to tackle projects like you!! The dinghy i started 6 months ago is still 1/2 done in the garage.

Anyone here do any scuba? I just signed up for a class. Thought i'd try to recover some lost objects from under the boat.... lol

[ebb]

Roamed the web for years, thirsty for information on all matters classic plastic.  Been all over the english speaking world and some not.  There are other wealth sites like this one,  but often revolve around single personalities.  There are some that purport to be more complete but seem to be harsh and opinionated.

There are a lot of moves to commissioning a boat and my library contains many books on the subject - a couple great, some pretty good.  But if I had the persuasion and ability I think the best of them all could be generated from this Pearson A/C site.  This thread is a perfect example of the repartee, humour, info and friendliness that could be warped into its pages.

These pages all slip into the past and stay there - some regenerating.  But for me its knowing that a lot of this is temporary and passing, you know, like your kids growing up.    Or fixing and then selling your Ariel.   Better be on right now or miss something important.  Somehow, I think, a gifted editor could capture as much of this as possible  in hard form.  Can't imagine a book preserving this online improvisational/jazzy style not selling well.

Open an expert's book you are going to get somebody's 'best' way on installing a sounder.  This thread gives you a method of finding the 'sweet spot' and a number of ways to mount the sounder without a hole.  Including ring wax!  Love it!  Photos and diagrams for the DIY and Cpete a contributing editor for laffing out loud!   anyway, just an idea....

[c_amos]

Might have located THE perfect place for the tranducer 'puck'.
 
  I cut an access hole in the sole under the head today, I had wanted to explore this area and after seeing Kurt's I went in for a look today.  
 
  Mine is neither as deep, or as nicely painted as Katie's but the finish level that was found in the rest of the bilge (#226 has the shallow bilge as you may remember).  THis leads me to believe that it IS a factory job (more on that in the other thread once I get pictures).
 
  Anyways, I placed the puck for my new hummingbird matrix 12 depth sounder / critter finder in the apex of the hull, on centerline, angled slightly forward.  THe bilge was turned down slightly, and there was a couple of inches of standing water there, so I did not need to add oil.
 
  I did not expect to get a read through there, knowing the glass must be pretty thick... but it did read!  I went out for a short sail, and found that the sensor kept a fix cicnsitantly, and agreed with the old depth sounder (although a foot or so less deep, as the other puck is mounted just fwd the base of the sink).
 
  I plan to mount the puck where it is now, and epoxy in a small 'dam' that will protect it from the spare chain I had originally planned to stow in that space.
 
  I will keep you posted, but as far as I can see this should be the perfect place.  It is low, directly on centerline, and canbe angled to 'look forward' slightly.......

[c_amos]

Update and a question.

Might have located THE perfect place for the tranducer 'puck'.....
 ........I will keep you posted, but as far as I can see this should be the perfect place. It is low, directly on centerline, and canbe angled to 'look forward' slightly.......

Did not work out.  I think the problem is that the hull is just too thick there.  I would get readings that seemed right about 25% of the time.  I decided that the fishfinder was not a piece of gear that earned it's keep and it is not on the pile of nearly - new things removed from the boat.  :rolleyes:

  The recent demise of my long time hand held GPS has me looking at the new GPS many of which include the bottom finder function.  (Like Garmin 440s).

  I am  also removing my head.  Faith is getting a Nature Way composting head (I just got a new camera, will post pictures).  The discharge seacock is mounted in a 1 1/2" hole adjacent to the head.  It is pretty much centered in the port cutout below the V-berth bunk.

  Anyone used this spot before?  I wonder if the angle of the hull is too steep for a transducer to work here.

[bill@ariel231]

"Anyone used this spot before? I wonder if the angle of the hull is too steep for a transducer to work here. "

A-231's 'ducer is mounted on the stbd side about 16" aft of the sea water intake for the head (right where the originial was mounted). The slope is steep. I ended up pre-fabricating a fiberglass tube to match the OD of the transducer and glassed that in place. once the tube hardened in place, I fairded the inside and outside with a lot of matt and cloth. A lot of measuring and head scratching went into that project before i committed to the angle grinder.

good luck. with your old thru hull removed, measuring should be a snap.