Kayak Thru Hull Transducer

[peguinpower]

Originally Posted by Jason

Sea trial on Sunday.

I would really be interested in your review. Good luck!

/bing

[Jason]

Originally Posted by peguinpower

I would really be interested in your review. Good luck!

/bing

I'll report back...

I know one thing is for sure, I'll never use Goop to install an in-hull again. Too many air bubbles, just like the ones previously posted in this thread.

[peguinpower]

Originally Posted by Jason

I'll report back...

I know one thing is for sure, I'll never use Goop to install an in-hull again. Too many air bubbles, just like the ones previously posted in this thread.

Can you also please confirm these two observations.

1) I can now tune down sensitivity. On my old gooped installation, it didnt matter whether I have it on 5 or maxed at 20. Now, by tweaking the FF between 12 and 20, I can control the amount of extra specks on the screen.

2) I can now induce a double bottom echo in the shallows, something I couldnt do before.

/bing

[wiseguy]

Is there a thru-hull ducer for the Lowrance x50ds?

[cjthomas]

I know Lowrance makes a shoot thru hull transducer that mounts on the inside.

http://www.lei-extras.com/store/sear...t&Unit=X-50+DS

I traded my transom mount in for an exchange of a shoot thru and they sent me quick drying epoxy for it. Has anybody used this before with success?

[dsafety]

It would sure be interesting to see a study of the performance of the same model FF using the three common transducer installation methods, (goop, wet and through hull). I upgraded my FF before I went with the wet mount. The performance is much better but I am not sure how much of that can be attributed to the transducer installation versus the performance of the better head unit.

I have the Humminbird Matrix 12 and while it works quite well, I cannot say that I have ever been able to see or track a lure in the water.

Bob

[peguinpower]

Originally Posted by cjthomas

I know Lowrance makes a shoot thru hull transducer that mounts on the inside.

http://www.lei-extras.com/store/sear...t&Unit=X-50+DS

I traded my transom mount in for an exchange of a shoot thru and they sent me quick drying epoxy for it. Has anybody used this before with success?

Dont use that epoxy!

First, check if its polyethylene plastic compatible. If it isn't, the transducer will pop off the hull with permanently bonded epoxy attached to it.

If you want to epoxy the tx, use the right epoxy.

This is one of them, requires heat treatment.

-Product: Marine-Tex FlexSet I recommend Marinetex Flexset. It is rated for PE and starboard and is recommended for PE transducer installations.

http://www.marinetex.com/marinetexflexset.html



Flexset has special instructions for kayaks -


-Materials: Solvent for cleaning transducer's bonding surface, 80-100 grit sandpaper, propane torch with spreader

-Conditions: Minimum 65˚F temperature, 48 hours to fully cure

-Read instructions on packaging. Prep bonding surface of transducer with solvent and sanding. Prep polyethylene by using the 'flame-treatment' method. There is a one hour window to bond the materials after flame treating the polyethylene. Apply epoxy to the surface of the transducer's bonding surface and attach to hull. Use mechanical means to support contact between the transducer and the hull while the epoxy cures. Let the application sit for the full cure time.


I can see you



sent down a scout.....



Gotcha!

[ronbo613]

First of all; I would say it takes some good sized balls to drill a big hole in a perfectly good boat.

If there is any conclusion to be had at this point, GOOPED transducers are short changing the user. There is more performance to be had with alternative installations.

I don't know if that's true. I have a transducer in my kayak that shoots through the hull that saw to 3K'(that's as far out as I've ever gone in the ocean); no problems, perfect imaging on a cheap Eagle fishfinder. I also had a much more expensive finder on a 23' Skipjack with an external transducer.
The external transducer was not much more accurate than the one in my kayak; readings were affected by bubbles in the water. Looking at the photos of the transducers removed from the kayak hulls in this thread; there is no doubt the bubbles in the Goop; or whatever it is that was used to mount the transducer to the hull; affected your readings. The key is to apply the Goop; or whatever, slowly and bubble-free; then push the transducer down slowly so no bubbles are created. The end result should be a "thin as skin" layer of Goop between the transducer and the hull. Any air bubbles in the Goop should appear on the perimeter of the transducer as the bubbles are forced out from under the transducer body.
But hey; if an external mount works better; that's great. If you fish in a more remote area; where your kayak is dragged across rocks and logs and non-urban launch sites; anything sticking out of your kayak is not going to fare well.
Depends on what you do.