Hi all! New guy here, I'm supposed to be picking up my new 26M the end of May from BWY in Seattle and have a question on installing a shoot through (In-Hull) transducer for a depth sounder.
I've searched the boards but i'm still not clear on a mounting location for the transducer . If anyone has a good illustration of where they installed one in a 26M I'd appreciate it. I gather I should install it directly to the hull not the ballast tank.
I plan on installing a simple depth sounder only (I already have a Garmin GPSMAP 76Cx) and was thinking of something along the lines of a Hawkeye. Any information you guys have on these units would be great also.
I installed a hawkeye depth instrument in my 26m. I actually used a wax bowl seal ring to mount the transducer on the hull in the bilge pocket close to centerline just aft of the starboard dinette seat. My rationale was to use the wax seal for a temporary install and then epoxy the transducer after the first season. I just made a good clean bed of wax and pressed it in and built the remaining wax around the transducer. The insturment works fine. I have checked it with a marked weighted line for accuracy and its right on. It went thru south GA summer heat just fine last year and I haven't seen the need to epoxy it in place. The worst part was drilling the big hole in the pedestal, my first "big hole" in my new M.
Good question, stevekunz: I am thinking aout the same " problem", and I am getting my new boat today! That "wax bowl seal ring" sounds easy and great, but where do you get it? paj637 - could you please explain a bit more?
Hans
I also have a Hawkeye ($99). DO NOT drill a hole in the bottom of your boat!. I tried the wax inside the hull with mixed success. I now have the transducer installed off the back stern per the Hawkeye instructions. Works great. I put the LCD 2" hole on the vertical surface to the right of the hatchway with access from inside the 26X's head.
I wasn't prepared to drill holes in the bottom of my boat so have a transom-mounted Airmar P58 Triducer on my 26M. Its hooked up through a Seiwa BlackBox 50/200 FishFinder to my Seiwa Seahorse chart plotter. Works well for depth, fish, and water temp but the log speed circuitry interface is a bit precious, and I haven't got that working yet.
You can get a wax bowl seal at any hardware store or walmart in the plumbing section. It's the seal that goes between the bottom of a toilet and the waste fitting. I just picked a relatively smooth area on the bottom of the hull inboard and made a bed of wax about 1/4" to 1/2" thick then press the transducer into the wax. It's relatively sticky and I oriented the transducer to the proper angle. Just make sure the wax has no air pockets or bubbles. The remaining wax was used to build up around the transducer. Mine has stayed just fine. It's been installed for over a year.
paj637 wrote:I installed a hawkeye depth instrument in my 26m. I actually used a wax bowl seal ring to mount the transducer on the hull in the bilge pocket close to centerline just aft of the starboard dinette seat. My rationale was to use the wax seal for a temporary install and then epoxy the transducer after the first season. I just made a good clean bed of wax and pressed it in and built the remaining wax around the transducer. The insturment works fine. I have checked it with a marked weighted line for accuracy and its right on. It went thru south GA summer heat just fine last year and I haven't seen the need to epoxy it in place. The worst part was drilling the big hole in the pedestal, my first "big hole" in my new M.
Sounds like an easy way to get started. How was it running the wiring to the pedestal? I'm guessing you just use a hole saw to cut the insturment hole in pedestal dash?
Not too bad running the wires. I just cable tied them to the main bundle on the aft berth overhead. I used a hole saw as you said. I also put in a couple of 12 vdc receptacles while I had the pedestal open. Do youself a favor and install one on the forward side of the pedestal. I installed a dual outlet on the port side of the pedestal and it turns out that the plugs are in the way when moving around the cockpit. On the forward side of the pedestal, they are out of the way and useful to hook up to if your in the cabin with an extension cord.
The wax ring idea sound simple and easy. That's definately the way I'd try first.
Last time I mounted one, I cut the bottom out of a plastic container (like butter), put it where I wanted to mount the transducer and filled it with clear GE silicone. Then I pressed the transducer into the gue and let it set up. Worked like charm.
I have used both Hawkeye and Humminbird (both are almost same) I have always used the in hull transducer and the Humminbird comes with the epoxy for mounting. I located it Port side about 7 ft. forward of the stern next to the Hull rib. This is were the old one was and for the X.
Just be sure you put weight on top on the transducer (3 lbs) and do a 1/4 turn to get any airbubles out and you will be fine.
Both units do not register below 3 ft. so set the depth to min.
My Hawkeye failed to work after a lighting storm at Beer Cruise last yr. and tho I wasn't hit the elect. impulse around the area killed it. Why I went to Humminbird last 2 boats.
IMHO the depthfinder display should not be located in the helm post, but should be located on the boat near the hatchway.
Reasons:
1. While at anchor or eating or relaxing, as the anchor swings, you can glance at the depth. (You do not have to walk back to the helm.)
2. While underway, your mate or crew can help out, or feel useful, by monitoring the depth. In narrow channels I assign the mate to watch the depth and call out warnings if appropriate. Mates can not see the depth if mounted on the helm.
3. While sailing with your body in the sideways-reclining-mode it is easier to see the depth when the display is forward.
4. With a fishtape, it is simple to install the display wires forward. A 6 inch access hole in the head can be covered with a round lexan disk. The wiring is easy. My large compass is mounted there also, with the red-lamp wiring accessible from the head.
Oh! I do hope I am not too late for this one....
The wax idea is a good temporary measure, but there isd a better way then to epoxy the trans. to the hull...
build yourself a ' wetbox'
On any party of the hull facing downward ...port or stbd but not on top of the ballast section, mount a 9-12 inch long section of PVC pipe. About 6 inch diameter.Ex plumbing supply. Angle cut the end so that by rotating it, it will match the angle of the angle of the hull, with the other, top, end level. Seal it to the hull with rubbery silicone. when this is set, mount the transducer to the inside wall of the pipe facing forward. Allow a gap between the bottom of the sender unit and the hull. Lead the cable out through a small notch in the top lip of the pipe. seal with silicone. when all is 'glued' with the silicone properly set, seal off the top with a cap to suit. silicone or screw on, and drill a filler hole in the cap, that can also be plugged. Fill to the brim, no air left, with cheap vegetable oil and plug the hole...
then forget it.
The signal will leave the sender, go through the oil, then the hull, then the water, and not come back until it registers a fish's air sac or the bottom...Then, if later, you want to upgrade the sounder, it is just a matter of unsealing the silicone cap and changing transducers...no chipping off an old one, no hull holes, no probs.
I'm about to do this too, so I'm listening carefully to the advice this thread.
That's a pretty interesting idea Pugs. Do you think having the transducer level instead of angled makes a difference? Also, does vegetable oil go rancid after a while and stink? Perhaps motor oil would do the same?
FWIW - here's a handy picture for planning. I pieced it together from two frames of the mac video....
For me, the in the hull/ wax ring experiments were not very sucessful, so I looked elsewhere for solutions.
The water fill valve is good place to mount a transducer. I fabricated a new mounting interface made from nylon and drilled mounting holes in the short "pipe" that the fill valve uses. Routed the wire along with the engine controls to the pedestal.
No hull holes and I get the reliable results and performance only an in-the-water xducer can provide.
Perhaps a large stainless steel hose clamp around the valve can be the basis with this installation for those who are handy and creative.
. If anyone has a good illustration of where they installed one in a 26M I'd appreciate it. I gather I should install it directly to the hull not the ballast tank.
