Depth finder for Christmas

Status
Not open for further replies.
Kermit

Kermit

.
Jul 31, 2010
5,722
AquaCat 12.5 17342 Wateree Lake, SC
Since I've been good this year, my First Mate has offered to get me a depth finder for our '99 H260. I really don't want to drill a hole in my hull so I've decided on a shoot-thru transducer. I've found these 2 on defender.com http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|2028690|2028818&id=1608216 http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|344|2028690|2028818&id=1238797 . The best I can tell, the sbo site seems to have only thru-hull models. What do y'all use and what do you suggest I get?

Thanks!
 
Delezynski

Delezynski

.
Jan 22, 2008
551
NorSea 27 Az., Doing the To-Do list
Kermit,

You might want to take a look at how we mounted our transducer in Guenevere. Full write up about it on our projects page at;
http://www.svguenevere.com/prep/proj/depth/

As long as the hull is not cored it works great. And it's easy to see how well it will work with a simple baggy with water in it.

Merry Christmas! :D
I was thinking about adding some sort of fish finer depth unit as a second source.

Greg
 
B

Barnacle Bill

.
Jun 9, 2008
1,850
- -- -Bayfield
Why don't you just drill a hole in your hull and be done with it. You know you won't have any problems with readings if you do that. Most transducer through hulls are of the mushroom type, so you don't need a special tool to bevel it in, like back a few decades ago and you don't have to worry about sinking your boat if your hole is a tight fit and you use a polysulfide caulk like Boat Life's Life Calk, which is designed for that application. If you have a cored hull, then you need to do a little more work to protect your core. All in all, not a big deal.
 
Delezynski

Delezynski

.
Jan 22, 2008
551
NorSea 27 Az., Doing the To-Do list
Barnacle Bill said:
Why don't you just drill a hole in your hull and be done with it. You know you won't have any problems with readings if you do that. Most transducer through hulls are of the mushroom type, so you don't need a special tool to bevel it in, like back a few decades ago and you don't have to worry about sinking your boat if your hole is a tight fit and you use a polysulfide caulk like Boat Life's Life Calk, which is designed for that application. If you have a cored hull, then you need to do a little more work to protect your core. All in all, not a big deal.
Click to expand
It's up to each owner to decide what to do. You are correct, it's easy to just drill the hole and mount it.

But for us, we have owned our boat for over 20 years. I don't modify my hull for any part that has a limited life, even if it's a long one. Each depth sounder uses a different transducer. So, if I need to replace the depth sounder I would need to chisel out the old one and make a hull repair. The way I have it, I just replace a small pice of plastic (without the need to get out of the water) and I am done.

Greg
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

.
Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
I fail to see the point in another hole, and as stated needs periodic maintenance or replacement. A few months ago, just to test an onboard installed unit, I took another transducer and stuck it to the hull floor with plumbers putty while the boat was underway. It was as accurate, or more so than the installed unit, (that is going thru the hull). It is still there, and has turned into the primary unit.
Installation time: 5 seconds.
 
All U Get

All U Get

.
Oct 2, 2008
3,811
Pearson/ 530 Strafford, NH
Here's a thought that might have little practical use for you, but if you ever plan to do the ICW mount it near the starboard beam. We traveled with a motor sailor last season that had one and the captain could detect the edge of the travel lane. We just went through the Rockpile and I was thinking "It would be nice to know if there was a rock coming up". We just stayed close to middle.

All U Get
 
Rick Webb

Rick Webb

.
Jun 2, 2004
3,650
Hunter 23.5 Fort Walton Yacht Club, Florida
Transom Mounted Transducer Through the Hull

Many of us have gone the cheap route this way. It may not work as well when reading the bottom at 50' but do you care if it is more than 6'?
 
justsomeguy

justsomeguy

.
Feb 20, 2011
8,062
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
I just installed a NorCross D10D with the supplied transducer in my Mac 25.

Details here.

The company wants you to use a 2 part epoxy, but the wax works just fine.
 
MrBill_FLL

MrBill_FLL

.
May 4, 2005
4,062
Macgregor 26d Ft Lauderdale, Fl
I used a (cheap) humming bird fish finder. -and prefer that to the digital numeric readout.

its mounted aft of the water ballast, and works fine.

unless space is an issue, why not go with the fish finder? seems cheaper and provides more info.

you can mount the puck with clay, or epoxy or silicone. As long as the hull is not cored or shooting thru the WB.
 
Roadking Larry

Roadking Larry

.
Mar 30, 2013
700
Allied Seawind MK II 32' Oologah Lake, Oklahoma
I put a Lowrance MK 4 combo fishfinder/GPS om my Macgregor 26S. I "mounted" the transducer in a blob ot toilet ring wax in the bottom of the lazerette locker. Works like a champ. I bought it from Bass Pro for $199 with a rebate that was either $30 or $40 bucks at the time.
 
D

dilligaf

.
Oct 18, 2008
45
Jeanneau 49DS Seattle
Depth Sounder

We use the depth sounder for a navigational instrument as we see on out charts the depth contours. We see our position on the charts then with the depth contours we know we have confirmed our position, of course we need the tide tables too.
Bill
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top Bottom