Transducer Install in my Hobie Outback

I have my mounts in and wires ran through now I have decided to do a water bath install for my transducer. I cut out 2 square piece of pipe foam insulation (closed cell) and also cut out the shape of my tranducer. I glued the 2 pieces of foam together using clear marine polyeurathane adhesive and later today I am going to glue it infront of the sail mast. Then I plan on putting the 12v battery inside of a tupperware, drill holes for the wires and sealing the lid and holes with more sealant to make it waterproof. thinking maybe i will bungee cord it to the sail mast so it doesn't move around? Not sure how well this setup will work for me, but glad I pretty much have everything set to go.

Any tips or advice that can make this project run smoother? Thanks!


ps in addition i saw this neat blog on how this guy rigs his kayak with an electrical bilge pump, and wires his fish finder to a box that has all the switches for each mechanism. Lots of work but thought it was a pretty cool setup.

http://overloadedkayak.blogspot.com/

Waterbath - transducer inside a ziplock is a good way to start. I would consider caulk to anchor your insulation versus glue as it's easier to remove. I used a swim kickboard for my transducer surround Two piece like yours a little caulk to hold it together and a couple nails with glue on them pushed down through the two foam sections to help keep it together. Surround should be high enough so water doesn't slop out of the bag.

Waterbath - transducer inside a ziplock is a good way to start. I would consider caulk to anchor your insulation versus glue as it's easier to remove. I used a swim kickboard for my transducer surround Two piece like yours a little caulk to hold it together and a couple nails with glue on them pushed down through the two foam sections to help keep it together. Surround should be high enough so water doesn't slop out of the bag.

Thanks LilRiverMan. Do you put water in the ziplock bag or just the transducer? I like that idea and will try it that way, I was going to glue down the foam but i dont like how it will leave residue so I will grab some caulking instead.

 

  Silicon will bond to your hull and remove with little or no trace.  How is the ziplok bag used again?  There can't be any air below the transducer in order for it operate,  Placing the transducer in a bag filled with water then placing that bag into the transducer "Cup" won't work.

Ziplock in the foam surround - tap water in ziplock - insert transducer - seal ziplock except where cord enters -  you could use the piece you cut out for the transducer - over the transducer with a side cut and hole for the cord to help hold the transducer in place. If the transducer is too loose in the surround you may occasionally lose lock, but normally not a problem in light to moderate seas. Foam surrounds typically leak and you end up with an air gap, so the plastice bag prevents that - Less spillage to clean up too

Perfect! Less spillage the better. Just googled and apparently this method has good results

I found the easiest way to make a well to hold water for my HB 597 transducer was to use duct seal. It is a putty like substance that does not dry out. You find it in the electrical dept of most hardware stores. You can easily work the putty to match the outline of the transducer. It sticks great to the hull. I then take another blob to make a "strap" to hold it down. Then each time out I splash a little water in the well and I am good to go.

If you search on google or youtube you can find some videos of folks showing how its done. I had been using the foam puck method, but the new transducer is so long I could not find a good piece of foam to fit it. The duct seal is great because you always have the right shape

   Your saying a ziplok bag filled with water,with a transducer placed in the bag of water, sitting on the hull, transducer shooting through the ziplok then (not in solid contact with hull ) outside of ziplok resting on hull, this works?  Airgap between bag & hull?   if this truely works, I can't imagin the FF is working very well.

Yep Troy, its an easy way to test or use your transducer as a portable setup.  I've tried it and it works great!  However I have to +1 to the Duct Seal, which I used as a temporary setup on my yak when I got my new Lowrance Elite DSI combo.  But I've still not felt the need to replace it, so 2+ months going stron on my AI with the Duct Seal 

The flexibility of the bag molds it to the hull - no air gap
The bag doesn't need to be "full". Half full or less works fine.
Once again -the high density foam in swimming kickboards works great for a surround
I have my current transducer attached using flexible silicon caulk. I still use a surround to keep it from getting knocked loose when I put paddles, rods etc inside the hull

For my battery, I use on old motorcycle inner tube that is cut to secure the connections to the battery.  They have never come out.  Then I place the battery in a small dry bag.   When I clip the dry bag shut, I clip it around my sail mast.  I never had a problem. 

  Without having tried this, and without Al's endorsment I would still Not believe this method to work.  I'm still having a little issue beliving it does, There will allways be an airgap between a bag of water and the hull.   I'm picturing that the US pulses will exit the bag of water fine but hit the hull and stop instead of passing through.  As I mentioned I haven't disproved this method, and will accept what Al said.