In-Hull Fishfinder Transducer Mounting

Rye Gewalt (ryeg@vais.net)
Wed, 04 Aug 1999 06:06:48 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Scott:

A bunch of us here on the list have epoxied the transducer inside of the
hulls of our potters. I have one mounted inside of my '19 and used
regular clear epoxy to glue it solidly to the inside of the hull. The
fiberglass has to be solid with no plywood core or air space between
the fiberglass and the water -- i.e. don't epoxy it to the liner. Use
plenty of clear hardware store grade epoxy and make sure that there are
no air bubbles inside of the transducer to hull bond. Coat both the
transducer and the hull with plenty of fluid epoxy (don't use the paste
like stuff) and twist the unit around in a puddle of epoxy to drive any
bubbles out. Somewhere in the manual they even mention mounting the
unit inside the hull like this.

Obviously, the transducer should be pointing pretty much straight down
for accurate measurements -- I think that there is something in the
manual about that too. I have mine under the porta-potty and there is
the natural sideways slope of the hull, but it doesn't seem to make much
difference and, I think, is within the Humminbird spec for slope. it
probably messes up the depth accuracy, but then all we want to know is
when the bottom is close to the boat!

Some people have even glued little boxes to the inside bottom of their
hull, filled 'em with water or mineral oil, and placed the transducer
into the oil, but it has been pretty much agreed that the epoxy method
is quicker and easier.

Humminbird has a comment on their web site about "shooting thru
fiberglass"

From: http://www.humminbird.com/services/forum/

Will the standard transducer shoot through fiberglass? Through aluminum?
- 3/19/98

Humminbird: It will shoot through fiberglass as long as it is a single
hull less than one inch thick. It will not shoot through aluminum
because the material is too dense; with an aluminum hull, simply
mount the transducer on the bottom of the hull or trolling motor.

You can buy transducer "pucks" designed for inside mounting on their web
site for about fifteen bucks.

In a nutshell: Yes, use lots of epoxy, make sure the fiberglass is not
cored, point the unit pretty much straight down, read the manual

Regards
Rye Gewalt

PS: As somebody has mentioned, the fishfinder capability makes the unit
very entertaining as you occasionally see lot's of fish just calling
your name.

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Scott:

A bunch of us here on the list have epoxied the transducer inside of the hulls of our potters.   I have one mounted inside of my '19 and used regular clear epoxy to glue it solidly to the inside of the hull.  The fiberglass has to be solid  with no plywood core or air space between the fiberglass and the water -- i.e. don't epoxy it to the liner.  Use plenty of clear hardware store grade epoxy  and make sure that there are no air bubbles inside of the transducer to hull bond.   Coat both the transducer and the hull with plenty of fluid epoxy (don't use the paste like stuff) and twist the unit around in a puddle of epoxy to drive any bubbles out.  Somewhere in the manual they even mention mounting the unit inside the hull like this.

Obviously, the transducer should be pointing pretty much straight down for accurate measurements -- I think that there is something in the manual about that too.  I have mine under the porta-potty and there is the natural sideways slope of the hull, but it doesn't seem to make much difference and, I think, is within the Humminbird spec for slope. it probably messes up the depth accuracy, but then all we want to know is when the bottom is close to the boat!

Some people have even glued  little boxes to the inside bottom of their hull, filled 'em with water or mineral oil, and placed the transducer into the oil, but it has been pretty much agreed that the epoxy method is quicker and easier.

Humminbird has a comment on their web site about "shooting thru fiberglass"

From:  http://www.humminbird.com/services/forum/

Will the standard transducer shoot through fiberglass? Through aluminum? - 3/19/98

Humminbird: It will shoot through fiberglass as long as it is a single hull less than one inch  thick. It will not shoot through aluminum because the material is too dense; with an     aluminum hull, simply mount the transducer on the bottom of the hull or trolling motor.

You can buy transducer "pucks" designed for inside mounting on their web site for about fifteen bucks.

In a nutshell:  Yes, use lots of epoxy, make sure the fiberglass is not cored, point the unit pretty much straight down, read the manual

Regards
Rye Gewalt

PS:  As somebody has mentioned, the fishfinder capability makes the unit very entertaining as you occasionally see lot's of fish just calling your name. --------------891C7FEF748C3B667F7A684A--