Installing a non-thru hull transducer

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

I have a new-to-me depth sounder and don't want to have to cut another hole in the boat for the transducer. I know several folks who have installed their transducers by simply adhering them to the hull. Considering how relatively thin Catalina hulls are, I don't really foresee a problem but am curious to what others suggest to bond it to the hull. Suggestions/experience?LaDonna

 

[Dave McCarthy]

Thru-Hull transducer

LaDonna,I had a fishfinder transducer that I didnt want to mount thru-hull and the manufacturers instructions said to clean an appropriate place and embed the transducer in resin and glass making sure that there are NO BUBBLES!! I didnt want to make a permanant installation so I used silicone to embed the transducer, making sure there were NO BUBBLES!! It has worked great for the past year !!! Check with the manufacturer of your unit to see if it can be mounted inside without any signal loss or distortion.Good luck !!!Dave

 

[Jon]

Thin?

Hey! I always considered Catalina hulls to be fairly thick (but low tech). Anyway, on my previous boat, a C25, I used the squish it into a large puddle of silicone method. Worked fine for rock finding and anchoring, up to about 60' with the old unit I had. I think the no thru hole method reduces the ability to read the bottom by about 50% of the depth you can read otherwise.

 

[Bob Camarena]

You won't believe this one!

A friend of mine told me that you can use toilet bowl wax (the beeswax-like substance from the rings used to seal toilets to the drain). I tried it and it works. Actually the idea is to use it for temporary mounting while you try different locations, but his and mine are both still working after 3 years!

 

[patrick e boole]

old one

if you have an old one all ready there use it. i used my old one when i put in a new raytheon st60 and it works great. check the signal . most transducers are made by the same company.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

Thanks for the tips!

And I'm definitely trying the toilet bowl was, Bob! LaDonna