F/F splash guard for AI

Well after taking the AI out on some good windy days, it becomes real obvious that you should have some sort of splashguard for your fishfinder to protect the salt water from getting to the wire contacts on the unit. I mounted mine temporaily first and test rode it several times before I got the drill out. Wanted to make sure I wasn't going to want to move it after the permanent mounting. I chose the spot just left of the mast (it stays out of the way of the sail there)to put the mount base I made from 1" starboard. I then searched for the appropriate bottle to cut up and make a splash shield out of. I settled on the 3 quart Arrowhead mountain spring water bottle. (I use it upside down)It has a nice big mouth opening to thread the wires through and the back has a perfect contour that fits the back of my Humminbird well. I cut the bottle bottom off on an angle that left the controls exposed, but shields the rest of the unit. Most of the water splashing up and over the hull comes from underneath and really blasts the underside of the unit where the wires come in. I don't care how much dielectric grease you put on, your gonna get corrosion sooner or later if you don't protect it. I had some big waves go completely over the the unit, but the water doesn't get to the wiring connections. The rest of the unit is sealed, so I'm not worried about it, but the wire connections are the downfall of many units. I use the same unit on my revo, so I needed to be able to swap the units easily, and yet have them secure when mounted. I opted to use a pipe that I put double pushpins in. Like the ones you use on your paddle ferrels. The upper one matches the pipe I made for my revo, and the bottom one matches the base mount I made for the AI. I needed to be able to disconnect it at the base unit, so I could thread the wires up through the bottle mouth and plug them in. Then slide it into the base unit. I run the wires through the hatch instead of using a grometed permanent connection. (So I can swap the unit around) I took the AI out in some pretty heavy wind/wave action with the wires through the hatch, to see how much water would leak through. I was so pleasently surprized to find hardly any water seepage. Certainly no more than the hatch closed with no wires running through. For ease of swapping and mounting a F/F. Don't worry about running the wires through the hatch. Works like a charm. I ran a permanent wire connection inside the hull for the battery to ride in the rear hatch. It stays out of the way there, and reduces weight up front. Here's a couple pics of the set up.

Nice Jonesz I was thinking about using a shower cap on mine, but I know what you mean about its going to get wet with theses AIs I have had a couple of waves flatten my FF witch is mounted with a Ram mount on the fount cross bar. By looking at your pics it would seem your sail would hit your FF not so ??.

PatR

would a heavy slather of dielectric grease work? I assume you are concerned about the actually power/transducer connection not the unit itself?

I mounted my Eagle 350 in the mesh compartment on a RAM mount and the exposure to spray is much less than the Aka bar and easier to read and reach. The Eagle 350 has a single plug in connection which is sealed in dielectric grease. 

Pat, when I took mine out and sailed it in pretty much all the conditions I figure I could encounter. It never got in the way of the sail. I've never had my sail that sideways to reach it. The units do a pretty good job of protecting from splashes that come over the unit, but not coming up from undernieth which is what happens on a regular basis while under a swift sail. They have a shield like a hood, but the bottom's wide open. I also thought of just wrapping it with some cling suran wrap each time, but I opted for a more permanent solution.