Installing Dragonfly 4.3 on Kawasaki 310X

[terryc]

My son Aaron purchased the new Dragonfly 4.3 from Whitworths on Saturday for $369.00 including C-Map. The salesman told us how the new transducer was designed so it could be installed inside the hull. So The Dragonfly has now been fitted to the Kawasaki Ultra 310X with the transducer sikaflexed to the inside of the hull right at the front of the motor. Aaron took it out for 1.5 Hrs this morning and it worked like a charm. Was still reading the depth at full speed. I will try & include relevant photos of how aaron installed the unit.

[terryc]

photos no particular order

[terryc]

more photos

[terryc]

even more pics

[terryc]

more pics sorry about the upside down one will try to correct.
With the C-map it included one free zone upgrade to 4D we chose Tweed to Mackay, a further upgrade is 40% of retail to the top standard which aaron hasn't yet utilised.
On my dragonfly mounted to my Yamaha FXSHO i have the Navionics gold, when we get the skis together we will compare features of C-Map Vs Navionics. As per my earlier post i have mounted my transducer on the transom and i find i lose the depth at over 30knots, so aaron's mounting inside is definitely better. Also he had the Transducer strength as medium.
The new Dragonfly looks much better sealed than the earlier one which I have, at the moment i have had to return mine to Raymarine for attention as the Navionics card got corrosion on it which stopped it working, I am sure the guys at Raymarine will fix my problem as i have found them excellent to deal with.

[terryc]

I forgot to mention that aaron had wired his unit up to the Ski battery

[madmaskbass]

I recently chose the biggest brother to this little guy the a78 and with nearly all the same features and transducer as it that is a cool little unit for 350! Perfect for the application

[macca721]

I've put the Dragonfly 4 on my fxsho with the internal transducer and works fine speed (still holds the bottom at 120kph not that your looking at that speed ha). I do lose the downscan bottom locking every now and then, and needs to be reset by putting the sounder and downscan in split screen. No good about yours taking water in through the card cover... do you think a little Lanox spray in there would hurt the card? I thought this might be the weak area when installing mine. cheers and thanks for the pics..

[terryc]

Raymarine replaced the Dragonfly with a new one, what i have done this time is to place silver tape over the door to stop any entry of moisture, i guess it is a wait & see. I thought about the Lanox but decided i didn't want to chance it.

[The-easyrider]

I made a sock out of the leg of one of the kids old wet suits that covers all the unit bar the face.

[terryc]

Thanks for the tip easyrider sounds like a great idea

[macca721]

I imagine it's only under pressure and speed that water may get in... is it worth removing the card and leaving the flap open between fishing trips... although in saying that I'll probably lose the card doing this..or leave it at home and not realise till underway.. what about a smear of vasoline on the seal... mmm I might give that a go.. cheers and thanks for the ideas...I don't have an old wetsuit but might be able to butcher a stubbie cooler...

[Hop234]

Hi Terry
Are you able to shed some light on this please
the transducer sikaflexed to the inside of the hull . I went looking for combo units and called into Whitworths at Southport and he told me you can't install the transducer inside. I contacted Raymarine and they have said the same. I loved the quality of the screen image of the Dragonfly over the others, so if they do work, thats the way I'll go.
Cheers
Col

[Hop234]

Ok, I phone the guy from Dragonfly today, he said his email was the 'official' answer. But has heard of it being done successfully, however with a substantial lose in the DownVu.
Otherwise should be OK, just no warranty.
Cheers

[macca721]

Ok, I phone the guy from Dragonfly today, he said his email was the 'official' answer. But has heard of it being done successfully, however with a substantial lose in the DownVu.
Otherwise should be OK, just no warranty.
Cheers

I siliconed the transducer inside my hull and it seems to work pretty well... I made a wall around the transducer about 2cm high out of foam core board (so it could be cut away when finished) found a place inside the hull that contacts water all the time (ie down the back near the pump unit) on a single skin part of the hull. I filled the little rectangular dam with underwater silicone (get the expensive one) then pushed the transducer into the wet silicone and applied a weight to hold it till it dried making sure to keep it pointing in an upright position. I get great bottom sounding but as I said in a previous post I do lose the downscan imaging every now and again at speed though...

[Hop234]

Thanks Macca,
I think what you and Terry have done would be fine, just being a new ski, and my first, I'm getting the dealer to install it so there are now warranty issues. He has requested I get one with the correct In Hull transducer. Since Dragonfly don't make one, it looks like it might Garmin for me this time.
Cheers
Col

[terryc]

Ive got the bigger Original Dragonfly and sikaflexed a new old style transducer inside my boat, it works well but on a long trip out & back past tip of Moreton I noticed on the return that the depth was way low not accurate so turned off the transducer, have used it since without problem but only short bursts, on the boat i use it mainly for the Chartplotter. Maybe the old style transducer doesn't handle being used too long out of water. The image when working is really good. Aaron's newer transducer has not shown the same traits.

[Transtaff]

I forgot to mention that aaron had wired his unit up to the Ski battery
Do you think that it will drain your battery to much.
Wayne.