Permanent Wet Transducer Installation

[dsafety]

Today's project was to come up with a way to permanently install a new Fish Finder Transducer using the wet method. I would like to take credit for this idea but truth be told, I found a post from a guy in Australia who came up with this idea a year or two ago. I have modified the original installation a bit.

You will need a 3" piece of drain pipe or a 3" adapter, some sort of cap that will screw or clamp to the top of the adapter, some goop, a few stainless screws and a fish finder with transducer. I used a rubber cap a threaded 3" adapter. You could also use a threaded cap but I thought the rubber cap would provide a better water seal.

The first step is to attach the "well" to the hull of the kayak. I shaved the bottom of the adapter a bit to make it fit the contour of the hull and gooped it to the plastic making sure there would be no leaks once the well was filled with water.

Well-with-water.jpg

Next came mounting the transducer to the cap. I sliced an X in the rubber that would expand large enough to allow the transducer plug to fit through. You could also drill a hole but that would mean a larger waterproof patch later. In the middle of the X I drilled a hole large enough for the cable to slide through without distorting the rubber.

Using the transom mount that came with the transducer, I attached the transducer to the inside of the cap making sure that everything would fit inside the well when the cap was installed. I marked the top of the cap to show the direction the front of the transducer was pointing and gooped the area where the cable passed through to make it water tight.

Transducer-Installed.jpg

After the goop cured, I filled the well with water, slid the cap with transducer over the top and tightened the hose clamp. The completed installation is below.

Completed-Install.jpg

If all goes according to plan, I should be able to fill the well with water once and forget about it. No more constantly checking the foam ring to make sure the water has not spilled, dried up or drained away. Since I store and transport my kayak upside down It is very important that this thing does not leak. We will see.

I have not yet tested this installation on the water but hope to go to La Jolla on New Years Day. If you see me out there, please feel free to paddle on over and check this installation out.

I have a couple concerns beyond whether this thing will remain water tight. Will the fact that there is about an inch of water between the transducer and the hull have any effect? Since the temperature sensor is inside the well, it will probably not give a very accurate reading. The water in the well will have to stabilize with the ocean water. That could take some time. It will almost certainly not be able to detect subtle changes in the water temperature as I peddle from one place to another. All things considered, this is not a very big deal.

See you out there.

Bob