Jet boat transducer?

[Ducky]

My inboard jet boat transom mounted P66 transducer is supposedly mounted at the point it needs to be to read corrctly, per the shop that hooked it up for me, but it never stays on its mount and bounces around hanging by the cable. It broke off last fall so now I need a new one. I hate to drill a hole in my boat for a through hull installation and I'm wondering if I move the mount up an inch or so whether or not the transom mount will still get kicked off due to the speed I travel etc. or maybe then not read correctly. My trim tabs are so large it ends up the only place to mount it is next to the exhaust near the center of the boat, and lowest point, or I'd try moving it to the side a little. I'm mostly concerned about depth as I run down a river and setting up a depth alarm. I'll need to wait until next week to take any pics of the transom. I have seen on the web a picture of a little aluminum bracket added on the back of a boat where a through hull is mounted that looked cool, so that may be an option.

I also called Vixelar about their Alumaducer but they said it'll only read through .15 thickness aluminum, so that's out, and the standard in hull won't read through aluminum at all.

Any ideas? The GPS is a Garmin 740s.

 

[Akgramps]

Transom mount transducers and trim tabs on a jet boat have a short life expectancy.....How thick is the hull....?

In hulls work great, I shoot through a 1/8" and suspect you could go up to a 1/4", just like real estate, its all about location, location.

They are handy but will not keep you off the bottom, watching a GPS and depthfinder simultaneously is sure fired way to find the bottom quickly...

By the time you see it on the screen its tooo late, it needs to be out front about 100'..........

If you have lightning like reflex's, maybe 25'

 

[Ducky]

Thanks Gramps. I agree and I'm finding that out the hard way. I didn't mention the trim tabs but that's another sore point. I'll look at the in hull closer. My boat is a little heavy so I'd hate to get it stuck.

 

[Akgramps]

I would use the P66 you have and affix it to the bottom using some epoxy from Vexilar, see what happens, you might be suprised.

 

[Ducky]

It's suppose its worth a try. Cheaper than some of the in hull transducers too.

 

[Jimw]

I have had no problems with my transducer. It has a thumb screw that holds it position for sending and recieving the signal and it will pivot to 90 degrees when needed

 

[Ducky]

I doubt I'd have issues either with it in that spot either but my 18 inch wide trim tabs are in the way.

 

[Jimw]

now thats a problem..... my buddie North river has a through the floor transducer. I might be smoking dope but i think it just pings through the hull with out a whole

 

[Music Man]

Sonar signals will work through anything except air. I'm shooting through .250 aluminum with no problems.

 

[Ducky]

Thanks. I'm going to glue in either a basic P66 or the in hull style. Not sure if the in hull is worth the extra $

 

[Music Man]

Thanks. I'm going to glue in either a basic P66 or the in hull style. Not sure if the in hull is worth the extra $

Make it temporary with plastic pipe and water first to check the location before you epoxy it down.

 

[Ducky]

Do you mean position a piece of PVC under the boat vertically, in a pail of water, to funnel the waves down through the water?

 

[Music Man]

Do you mean position a piece of PVC under the boat vertically, in a pail of water, to funnel the waves down through the water?

No! Take a 4" pvc coupler and cut it in half, silicone it to the bottom where you think you wnt the transducer, fill it with enough water to keep the bottom of the transducer under. Put sand or gravel in a Ziploc bag and place over the transducer to keep it submerged. Run the boat and make sure it reads correctly at all speeds. If it doesn't, change locations until it does. When satisfied with the location THEN use the epoxy.

 

[Ducky]

Okay....got it...Thanks much