Depth in hull transducer

[reids]

:confused:
I just bought the Norcross hawkeye depth sounder and installed everything but the transducer. It is an in hull/transom mount. I tried to get a reponse in hull with vaseline by putting in the forward most bilge, near the bow and starboard amidships, but without luck. anyone with experience with this ?

[Bill]

According to a Sail mag article I saw, you use mineral oil and put the transducer in a tube against the hull.

[Dan Maliszewski]

Cap,

Hope your transducer is the one cut on an angle, to allow for a near vertical beam. If so, try the location under the starboard main bunk, where the hull has a more flattish flare. Submerge the puck in a 1 qt. "baggie" of baby oil and hold it firmly against the hull interior face (find a smooth spot) oriented so that the "beam" is near vertical, and let 'er rip. I used this method on my Ariel, it worked, and I then smoothened the area with a small disc grinder and set the puck into place in a bed of epoxy, carefully so no air bubbles get into the bed. No hull penetration and it works like a champ.

If you locate the puck too far forward, the beam is not able to bounce off the bottom back to the puck, due to the sharper hull flare toward the bow. The ideal orientation would have the puck aimed straight at Davy Jones. But don't give up - In Hull does work. The test location trials are tricky because the echo will not pass through air, bubbles, voids, or anything not solid.

Carry on..

[drm901]

The previous owner created a small well below the floor access panel aft of the head by glassing in a small triangle piece of plexiglass. Has a stopper for refilling with mineral oil. The puck is screwed to the plexiglass piece that was glassed in. It has worked well for years. Also easy to access, repair if necessary.

[ebb]

Got any photos you can post? Be great to see it next time you have to 'service.' Is it on the centerline, off to one side, what is the reservoir made from, what keeps the oil in place, how does the wire exit, and what kind of readout is it that has given you no problems??:cool:

[Mike Goodwin]

I have the same setup on #45 and it works fine , located under stbd bunk , about 1' aft hanging locker.

[S.Airing]

I mounted Siroccos depth transducer inside the hull using a 3 inch piece of pvc filled with mineral oil.It has worked with out fail since 1993 or so.

[S.Airing]

Another angle

[S.Airing]

The end result,it actually works.

[commanderpete]

The skipper of this boat failed to properly monitor his depthsounder for some reason.

http://www.synabu.com/images/priceless_france_AFP.jpg

[walberts]

I have read the posts about submerging the transducer in mineral oil and I see the picture of the pvc pipe that's epoxied to the hull. How is the transducer secured in the pipe? Is it just sitting on the hull, surrounded by mineral oil? Or do you have to affix it in the oil bath in some way to keep the beam direction consistant?

[Bill]

According to the article in the May 2002 Sail Mag, the transducer is slightly above the hull and surrounded by the mineral oil. They show a short length of 2" diameter PVC pipe (length depends on the length of the transducer) and a 2" to 1-1/2 " PVC reducing coupling for the top. The inside of the coupling may need to be filed down to accept the trasducer body. Cut tiny groves in the flang on the bottom of the transducer so the oil can circulate. (See page 103 of the 5/02 Sail mag for a complete explination.)

[walberts]

I'm not clear on what holds the transducer in place. Does it just sit on the hull, with the mineral oil around it, or is it epoxied down, or is it suspended in the oil, using some method to keep it oriented properly?

[Bill]

Epoxy the pipe into place and cut the bottom at an angle to match the curvature of the hull. The transducer is held in the tube by the reducing coupling.

[walberts]

Thanks Bill,

I will give it a try.

[commanderpete]

I've got my depth transducer mounted under the starboard bunk. Sometimes it will read erratically when the boat is heeled over around 25 degrees the other way and the water is choppy. I think the water is too turbulent under the transducer to get good readings.

I'm looking for a new location. How close to the boat's centerline can you mount the transducer?

My original installation wasn't great either. I was going to try the mineral oil tube. Or else I was going to make a wedge of epoxy by filling a greased plastic cup as it sat on an angle and then popping the wedge out. Epoxy the wedge to the hull and the transducer to the wedge

Instead I just mushed the transducer into a blob of silicone. That "temporary" installation has been working for years, sorta :o

I'm not sure a proper installation will solve the problem. There's still going to be rough water under the transducer where it is.

[Mike Goodwin]

Put the transducer in a plastic bag(s) filled with fluid , turn the gain way up and slide it around in the hull untill you find the 'sweet spot' where you get the strongest reading .
Works for me.

Mine is under stbd bunk just aft of hanging locker and as close to centerline as possible.

[willie]

You're gonna love this one...
About 2 yrs. ago i stuck mine in some wax from a toilet ring....(new of course!) Was gonna be temporary to see how it worked. It's still there, never has quit reading! Under the port berth, close to centerline. Just sand off some paint, use a putty knife for a gob of wax, and that's it. The sanding off the paint might even be optional. :rolleyes:

[Tony G]

Willie,

I greatly appreciate your approach to some of these things. Keep it simple. I'm forever overengineering things that take too much time to build and then they don't work well enough in the end that I'm forced to deep six the piece and start all over with a much simpler plan that ends up being more like I wanted in the first place anyway. Well-that, and writing lanky sentences :o

Is your transducer a puck style or insert? It would be nice to get by without putting another hole in the hull and mineral oil or water.

[willie]

Hey Tony,
It shoots through the hull, no hole. I like that. It's a fish finder, kids love it. We're spending more time fishing than sailing lately....
I like seeing what the bottom looks like, pretty kewl.

I wish i had more patience, to tackle projects like you!! The dinghy i started 6 months ago is still 1/2 done in the garage.

Anyone here do any scuba? I just signed up for a class. Thought i'd try to recover some lost objects from under the boat.... lol :D

[ebb]

Roamed the web for years, thirsty for information on all matters classic plastic. Been all over the english speaking world and some not. There are other wealth sites like this one, but often revolve around single personalities. There are some that purport to be more complete but seem to be harsh and opinionated.

There are a lot of moves to commissioning a boat and my library contains many books on the subject - a couple great, some pretty good. But if I had the persuasion and ability I think the best of them all could be generated from this Pearson A/C site. This thread is a perfect example of the repartee, humour, info and friendliness that could be warped into its pages.

These pages all slip into the past and stay there - some regenerating. But for me its knowing that a lot of this is temporary and passing, you know, like your kids growing up. Or fixing and then selling your Ariel. Better be on right now or miss something important. Somehow, I think, a gifted editor could capture as much of this as possible in hard form. Can't imagine a book preserving this online improvisational/jazzy style not selling well.

Open an expert's book you are going to get somebody's 'best' way on installing a sounder. This thread gives you a method of finding the 'sweet spot' and a number of ways to mount the sounder without a hole. Including ring wax! Love it! Photos and diagrams for the DIY and Cpete a contributing editor for laffing out loud! ;) anyway, just an idea....

[c_amos]

Might have located THE perfect place for the tranducer 'puck'.

I cut an access hole in the sole under the head today, I had wanted to explore this area and after seeing Kurt's I went in for a look today.

Mine is neither as deep, or as nicely painted as Katie's but the finish level that was found in the rest of the bilge (#226 has the shallow bilge as you may remember). THis leads me to believe that it IS a factory job (more on that in the other thread once I get pictures).

Anyways, I placed the puck for my new hummingbird matrix 12 depth sounder / critter finder in the apex of the hull, on centerline, angled slightly forward. THe bilge was turned down slightly, and there was a couple of inches of standing water there, so I did not need to add oil.

I did not expect to get a read through there, knowing the glass must be pretty thick... but it did read! I went out for a short sail, and found that the sensor kept a fix cicnsitantly, and agreed with the old depth sounder (although a foot or so less deep, as the other puck is mounted just fwd the base of the sink).

I plan to mount the puck where it is now, and epoxy in a small 'dam' that will protect it from the spare chain I had originally planned to stow in that space.

I will keep you posted, but as far as I can see this should be the perfect place. It is low, directly on centerline, and canbe angled to 'look forward' slightly.......

[c_amos]

Update and a question.


Might have located THE perfect place for the tranducer 'puck'.....
........I will keep you posted, but as far as I can see this should be the perfect place. It is low, directly on centerline, and canbe angled to 'look forward' slightly.......

Did not work out. I think the problem is that the hull is just too thick there. I would get readings that seemed right about 25% of the time. I decided that the fishfinder was not a piece of gear that earned it's keep and it is not on the pile of nearly - new things removed from the boat. :rolleyes:

The recent demise of my long time hand held GPS has me looking at the new GPS many of which include the bottom finder function. (Like Garmin 440s).

I am also removing my head. Faith is getting a Nature Way composting head (I just got a new camera, will post pictures). The discharge seacock is mounted in a 1 1/2" hole adjacent to the head. It is pretty much centered in the port cutout below the V-berth bunk.

Anyone used this spot before? I wonder if the angle of the hull is too steep for a transducer to work here.

[bill@ariel231]

"Anyone used this spot before? I wonder if the angle of the hull is too steep for a transducer to work here. "

A-231's 'ducer is mounted on the stbd side about 16" aft of the sea water intake for the head (right where the originial was mounted). The slope is steep. I ended up pre-fabricating a fiberglass tube to match the OD of the transducer and glassed that in place. once the tube hardened in place, I fairded the inside and outside with a lot of matt and cloth. A lot of measuring and head scratching went into that project before i committed to the angle grinder.

good luck. with your old thru hull removed, measuring should be a snap. ;)