Shoot through Transducer fitment

[2rods]

HELP....................

I have just been given a Transom mount Transducer to suit my Furuno FCV 600 L that has a smashed bracket...... What I want to do with it is use it as a shoot through hull set up on my Goodwin glass long boat...

I have been told it will work well (no deep water up here) but I have been told a number of ways to fix it to the hull... all different


So.... should I use F/Glass resin???..........Sikaflex????? or something else??


cheers

2rods

[finga]

Put a wet box in.
Saves all the hassles and works a treat as well.
Do a search for wetbox and some how to's should pop up.
Cheers Scott

[2rods]

Finga... I don't realy have the room for a wet box

I did the search as you suggested (thanks) and found an interesting thread that was starting to cover sika flex as an option then it just stopped.

So "GRAND MARLIN" can you please let me know how your fitment of a transducer went with sika flex at the bonding medium.....

cheers

2rods

[cormorant]

Epoxy resin - araldite is probably the cheapest most accessable type but can be gluggy.

Some tranducers come with a packet of epoxy glue mix so you might want to phone around the suppliers and ask. Some were like a "knead it product" as opposed to 2 liquids but a lot of knead it products would have metal dust in them so wouldn't be suitable.

Only ever done it on fibreglass boats.

Basically you need a good bond and no air between tranducer an dhull - ie no air in the epoxy.

Test the tranducer first by putting it in a pastic bag full of water and placing where you would like it in the hull on the flattest planing part at the back. Use a couple of little sand bags to hold it in place. You may need to try several spots to get one free of water turbulance, aerated water and air bubbles running down strakes.

Prepare the area where you want to mount by sanding back an getting a good clean mating surface and the same with the face of the tranducer.
Mix the expoy up as thin a paste as you can and vibrate/ tap it so all air bubbles come to the surface

Use a bit of wood and blue tack or plasticine to form up a pool of airless resin pastey liquid. In one movement place tranducer into the mix on a angle and squeeze into the resin with a turning motion to try and exclude all air bubbles. Then hold it motionless till it goes off (duck tape and dowel already taped on before you place it in). Don't use a "hot" resin mix as any tiny air bubbles will expand and create bigger air voids as it cures in your mix so you should use a slow cold mix of resin and hardner.

If you don't get it right and have used a brittle mix you can possibly chip it of the hull and off the tranducer surface prepare it and try again but it is hard to clean up the tranducer.

Acetones , strippers and turps can all affect the plastic tranducers rea made of so be carfull.

I try and mount them so the tranducer cable exit from the tranducer is not covered by bilge water in general use or storage as they tend to degrade at that point and get water ingress no matter how expensive or waterproof they are.

[tunaticer]

I fitted one in a friends glass boat a few years ago and I got hold of a short offcut of alloy pipe around 60mm long and cut it to the angle of the hull. Sprayed the inside of the pipe with crc and placed it in the right location and sealed around the outside of the pipe with plasticine.
The transducer was prepared with a dowel and tape and the pipe filled with liquid epoxy and let to settle after putting a orbital sander without sandpaper directly under the hull to vibrate bubbles out. The transducer was then placed into the epoxy in the right depth and location and let to set.
Next morning took the dowel tape and alloy pipe and plasticine off and gave it a test run in the river. Perfect.

Epoxy was araldite 24 hour.

Jack.

[2rods]

Apoxy would be good BUT I have sikaflex on hand and was going to try it tonight (going out in the morning)

Does anyone know if it will work?

PS thanks for the apoxy advise

[Spaniard_King]

Non Acetic silicon is way better than sika if ya just gunna stick it to the hull... no bubles is the key tho