mounting transducer

[Jimmyz123]

Originally Posted by TJones

i have a revolution 13 with a hummingbird 898 si . to run the unit i needed a 18 amp battery which i concluded, with my body weight was more weight than the yak could handle . so i switched to what the other guys were using . a lowrance 5 . what is the best way to mount transducer? right now i have it mounted with a soft putty i bought from home depot that remains pliable and does not dry up . i was thinking about mounting doing a wet mount with plastic container . anyone have pictures or suggestions. in the past i have done a wet mount mount with this putty which is pretty good because everything is temporary . thanks for any help . also i will sell the 898 for any reasonable offer .

Why change the mount that you have? It works great and won't move? You'll get correct readings and you're good to go. I personally love the Electrical Putty install the best. I just purchased a DI/SI system and so I need to put the transducer in the water or I would keep using the putty installation.

[TJones]

will not degrade the signal much if at all ? that is my only concern . one other good method which might be better is using the putty to build a well around the transducer and putting water inside the well . have you figured out how you are going to mount the s/i transducer in the water ?

[captnblood34]

DUCT SEAL, its cheaper than a sabiki. Look under the share your innovations tab and you will see various versions of ducer mounts. Mine is the Tarpon 120 (mango) with the duct seal bowl mount as you suggested. Apparently the shaped bowl with water in it is not necessary. It was explained to me once but I forgot..... Good luck.



J

[TJones]

just leave it the way it is, dry mounted with duct seal?

[StinkyMatt]

I ran a goop install for 9 months.

A water well in the hull for almost two years.

A putty in the hull for for over6 months.




Same kayak and FF. The only variable was the install of the ducer.



Based my observation of all three intallations with fairly controlled variables over a period of three years I conclude that the water mount is superior in performance to the other two.

[steveooo]

My thoughts on the transducer, although this topic has been covered pretty extensively.

The best possible location for a transducer is in the water. That will give you the best readings.

If you can't do that, you will want it to shoot through the least amount of material as possible.

Transducers will not shoot through air. Any material that has bubbles in it, or has the chance of a bubble getting under it will degrade the signal to some extent. How much it degrades the signal is up for debate. IMO we make a bigger deal of it than it really is. Prior to my current install, I used Marine Goop on several kayaks. Every Gooped transducer I would pull up to transfer to another kayak, had little tiny bubbles. I also got great readings from those transducers, dispite all the bubbles. I was able to see small jig heads and track them to the bottom in 100 feet. I wasn't exactly using the best fishfinders on the market either.

If directly in the water isn't an option, I think you will have good results with whatever method you use (wet mount, goop, putty) unless you have a very large air bubble under the 'ducer.

I get good results in my current install, but if someone doesn't want to cut a big hole, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Goop install done properly, because I've seen how well it works.

[oneyedeer]

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...light=portable

sensible and portable

[bellcon]

Steve nailed it pretty good
I have a "gooped" install in my tandem, been in there for 7 years, no problems so far.
I have it thru the scupper in my Trident 15, yes it makes the water drain slower for sure. I drilled the retaining nut and put better gaskets and straps on the rod pod to deal with big surf issues. Great way to go.

On my PA I went with the simple version of a wet mount.
I love it, the image is as good as in the water. I have dropped the transducer over the side to check.

The main benefit of this install is that the cables never come off of the back of the head unit.
Battery goes in a dry bag right next to the transducer, cables are run under the PA hatch. Piece of cake and never exposes those cable or head connections to water.

I made this out of some dense packing foam, and gooped it down, only takes a sponge full of water to get a great signal:

[TJones]

with the default settings i am getting good signal . i can see jig underneath , but i was looking at a lot of surface clutter or junk in water column . is that normal ? plankton ? or is this due to the putty ? the arm has some very distinctive advantages . i ran the mad frog which probably is not as nice as the ram mount . using it with the 898 si transducer created way to much drag so i dumped it along with the 898 . 898 draws to much power to run 12 hrs. might not be an issue with a pro angler . . to much weight on my revo with me and a 12 pack.

[Jimmyz123]

Originally Posted by TJones

just leave it the way it is, dry mounted with duct seal?

You don't need water around it at all. I have used the Duct seal install on 5 different FF and it's worked perfectly on each one. I even dropped my Kayak off the top of my SUV 2 times and the ducer never moved, wasn't too good to do to the kayak or Ducer, but they both lived.

[Jimmyz123]

Originally Posted by TJones

will not degrade the signal much if at all ? that is my only concern . one other good method which might be better is using the putty to build a well around the transducer and putting water inside the well . have you figured out how you are going to mount the s/i transducer in the water ?

I built a temporary setup similar to what Andy is using until I can buy the Pelican box and the Ram mount setup. It works, it's not pretty right now, but it will work until I get the other setup.