Re: Afraid to install transducer on aluminum boat.
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 7:36 am
The previous posts work well (thru hull / transom mount). One other consideration beyond the fish finder part of this thread is the depth finder section.
Our boats, being longer than, and with more draft than smaller, lighter boats, benefit from having the transducer mounted as a thru hull somewhere amidships. Approaching a shoreline where the bottom creeps up gradually (think river banks / mucky bottom) is a perfect instance where it's good to know how much water is under the bottom amidships. This gives you the chance of possibly rethinking beaching in one area where the props could chew up a lot of ooze that would be pulled into the engine thru hulls when backing out.
This also affords the use of the supplied cable without the need of an extension.
Sunset Seeker only had the 1 upper station depth gauge when we bought her. I always wanted another unit at the lower station for peace of mind (and being an IT guy "knowing anything, using somethings" is second nature. ) so I installed another unit with a thru hull. As the advice given notes, measure, measure, measure and then cut/saw. I installed the thruhull on our 32' just aft of the access panel in the galley area. The thru hull's plastic so I didn't have to worry about dissimilar metal contact (brass to aluminum). I bedded the transducer's flange with 5200 sealant, as well as around the threads AND the rubber backing gasket. When the backing nut was tightened down, there was a minor amount of sealant that oozed out. This is good, guaranteed that all areas were coated (not leaks, no sink! ). I check periodically just to make sure it stays leak free.
Bill
Our boats, being longer than, and with more draft than smaller, lighter boats, benefit from having the transducer mounted as a thru hull somewhere amidships. Approaching a shoreline where the bottom creeps up gradually (think river banks / mucky bottom) is a perfect instance where it's good to know how much water is under the bottom amidships. This gives you the chance of possibly rethinking beaching in one area where the props could chew up a lot of ooze that would be pulled into the engine thru hulls when backing out.
This also affords the use of the supplied cable without the need of an extension.
Sunset Seeker only had the 1 upper station depth gauge when we bought her. I always wanted another unit at the lower station for peace of mind (and being an IT guy "knowing anything, using somethings" is second nature. ) so I installed another unit with a thru hull. As the advice given notes, measure, measure, measure and then cut/saw. I installed the thruhull on our 32' just aft of the access panel in the galley area. The thru hull's plastic so I didn't have to worry about dissimilar metal contact (brass to aluminum). I bedded the transducer's flange with 5200 sealant, as well as around the threads AND the rubber backing gasket. When the backing nut was tightened down, there was a minor amount of sealant that oozed out. This is good, guaranteed that all areas were coated (not leaks, no sink! ). I check periodically just to make sure it stays leak free.
Bill