tranducer mounting

hankster

New member
first I need to say I have an old boat....90 angler...and shes been good to me.... however the electronics have been needin an upgrade.....so I went out and bought the New Lowrance HDS GEN2 Touch....with the two diffrent transducers. reg/2D/3D. Basicly I went all out!!! just nervous about drilling in the hull!!!!! any tips i should know about. I'm a metal guy not so much fiberglass..... with metal you just weld it back up!!! so with glass how do i remove the old one without it leaking?(into the hull) and tips for installing the new ones please.

thanks
 
I just went through same. Well not really, I paid a installer to do it. Placement of your transducers is important, esp the LSS-2 unit. It shoots 3 beams - left, right, and down. The consideration is the angled side beams being ubstructrd by something like motor shaft. Thtaway or Sunbeam will likely answer your fiberglass question. So far, I am really enjoying the HDS - 9 setup
 
The best thing you can do to mount the transducers is to mount pieces of starboard (or other plastic "wood") to the transom and then mount the transducers to those. The starboard will allow you to adjust the transducers or put a new one on in the future without drilling new (additional) holes in the transom.

As for how to mount the starboard, there's a number of threads on that but in brief, cut the starboard to size and drill mounting holes in it. Do a test mount of the starboard and mark where the mounting holes meet the transom. Slightly over drill the holes into the transom. You only need to go through the outer layer of glass and part way into the core. If your transom is in good shape, the core should be clean and dry. If it's not or if water runs out when you drill that first hole, re-post here.

Assuming the core is good, use a dremel tool to under cut the core - e.g. you want to remove the core between the two layers of fiberglass. You can do this with a small grinding stone or even a bent nail mounted in a dremel or drill. I've usually drilled about a 1/2" hole and then I use a half in diameter grinding bit in a dremel tool. That lets me remove almost 1/4" of core under the glass. Make sure the holes are deep enough to accomodate the screw you plan on using. Clean everything up with a little alcohol or other solven and fill the holes with thickened epoxy. Then put the board up and re-drill holes that are appropriate for the screws you will use. I also like to undercut the starboard on the back side where the screws go through. Then when I attach the board, I can fill that undercut void with 3M4200 or silkaflex and it creates a little o-ring around the screw. This probably isn't necessary with the thickened epoxy behind it, but it doesn't hurt anything.
 
Excellent descriptions above--and congratulations on buying a great instrument! I am jealous!

In this case, I would first remove the old transducer. Take a piece of light cardboard or heavy paper, and mark where these old holes are, and also the bottom of the transom. If possible I would like to use the old holes to help to hold the Starboard in place. After you make the Template, then do the drill out and under cut--of these old holes. Get any wet core out in this area of the transom (if present).

With the two transducers and as Chromer notes the possible obstruction by motor, trim tabs etc, you may even have to put on a very wide piece of Starboard or even two pieces. The advantage of the external mounting board is that you can move the transducers easily to get the perfect picture.
 
lss2_001.jpg


This is a photo taken by Fishton and posted on THT.

lss2_002.jpg

lss2_003.jpg


And some images from the LSS1 & LSS2 Again by Fishton and posted on THT. There is also some discussion about the mounts an scans.
 
I used a SternSaver (available at West Marine, I think -- I ordered mine directly -- and glued it to the transom where the transducer had previously -- and improperly -- been installed. It worked fine, although the pin that holds the Stern
Saver while the glue is curing didn't stay stuck to the boat, so I had to rig a solution. I screwed the transducer mount into the SternSaver. It worked fine - Raymarine transducer on a 25' Cruiser.
 
so what made or prompted you to install the lss 2 closest to the center? how close is it to the motor? are you able to get the ful picture?
 
Hankster, as I noted below the photos these were posted by Fishton on The Hull Truth. I would suggest that you to the THT, and ask Fishton about his installation. I put these up so people who were not familiar with the transducer's size and complexity of installation could view this issue.
 
Check out a product called Stern Savers, they are designed to be epoxyed to the stern and the transducers mounted to them rather than having to tap into the transom.
 
hankster":3sodfd24 said:
so what made or prompted you to install the lss 2 closest to the center? how close is it to the motor? are you able to get the ful picture?

I don't know what transducer you have (or will have), but I'm just in the process of installing an Airmar P-66 to my transom. The Airmar instructions give a good idea as to placement limitations/recommendations. For example, they recommend the stbd. side of the transom because the prop is (typically) turning "down" instead of "up" on that side. The also recommend it be at least 3" outside of the circle of the spinning prop, but also reasonably close to centerline so it does not get air in turns. In my case I also have turbulence from the trim tabs to consider (etc.) They go into some detail about how to adjust the transducer angle depending on your boat speed range and transom angle as well.

I'm mounting mine on a piece of starboard that I cut to match the deadrise at the transom, and also angled on the bottom edge to match the angle of the transom. I don't know how important that is, but it was not hard to do and I figured it couldn't hurt to make the piece of Starboard™ "look" just like an extension of the hull to the transducer (so no extra turbulence from coming off the end of the transom and "up" to a non-matched board). Again, not sure if this helps but I don't see how it could hurt.

I plant to mount the Starboard to the transom with four Weld Mount studs, then screw the transducer into the Starboard. That way I don't have to worry about the adhesive/Starboard issue. I haven't done it yet, so can't report on how it will work (although I have used Weld Mounts elsewhere on the boat).

Sunbeam
 
There are some of the fishing forums, including THT where you can get some good answers. My understanding is that you want to be 15" outside of the motor. To the Starboard side, because of the right hand prop, you have less turbulance on the right side. You may have to raise the enngine when trolling and looking at structure. Remember that these are limited depths for the side scan elements.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-electronics-forum/422004-lss-2-mounting-location.html

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...elp-transducer-placement-tideline-19-cat.html

http://www.thehulltruth.com/marine-...s-lss1-83-200-existing-garmin-transducer.html


These are three links--but if go to THT and do a search for "Lowrance Structure scan transducer location".
 
I plant to mount the Starboard to the transom with four Weld Mount studs, then screw the transducer into the Starboard. That way I don't have to worry about the adhesive/Starboard issue. I haven't done it yet, so can't report on how it will work (although I have used Weld Mounts elsewhere on the boat).

Sunbeam


what are weld mounts?
 
hankster":2isx00ed said:
what are weld mounts?

Weld Mounts are various fasteners that use a methacrylate glue for adhesion. There are male and female studs, footman loops, zip-tie holders, and a few other things. I first encountered them in semi-custom new boat building.

Here is a link to their website (I have bought their products through Fisheries Supply and Jamestown Distributors).

http://www.weldmountsystem.com/
 
while in the process of cleaning up the transome (removing the bottom paint ) i encounterd three holes from a prior transducer mount that I had not known was there. the bottom paint was hiding them. Anyhow in the process of using a steam cleaner to clean up the hull I blasted out some of the silicone that was sealing the old holes. Upon further inspection i noticed that they were not sealed that well in the first place because the silicone pulled right out. So i used a slightly larger than than the hole drill bit to remove the remainder of the silicone and found a bit of blackish wet wood fibers as well. so I just incresed drill bit size untill I jot to what I thought was good wood in all the holes. AM I doing right here? Now I want to fill in the holes with Marine tex but am complexed on how to make sure I fill the hole completelly with the putty. Any tricks to this? or just keep jaming it in there untill I think their filled. Or should I be going a diffrent route?
 
Unfortunately, no surprise there. One should NEVER use silicone to fill holes in the transom, some PO did not do you a favor. You have a wet core. Next take a Dremel tool, or you can put a bent coat hanger in your drill and undercut the fiberglass. (see the posts on how to prepare holes in the transom). You want to be down to completely dry wood. You want to have the undercut fiberglass for strength to keep epoxy in place. You want to went out the dry wood with thin epoxy before you put in thickened epoxy. If the holes are small, Marine Tex should be OK, but be sure that the holes are completely filled. I would also use a counter sink, and flare the outside of the hole to give a bit more surface for the MarineTex to adhere to.

You might consider drilling pilot holes for the Starboard into these epoxy plugs you will now have in place. Check around for any other areas filled with silicone.
 
I just re-did my transducer mounting. I had to re-fill in some old holes and make some new mounting locations.

I did the "hollow-out-the-core" thing and back filled with epoxy.

The problem with filling is getting it all in there and filled with no voids. I had a thought and tried it out - it seemed to work really well. I drilled ANOTHER hole :shock: :shock: , albeit a small one, to allow filling the void.

I drew up a picture of what I did:

holefill.gif


As I said, it worked well for me.

Ray
 
I can see your using some kind of liquid epoxy that you can shoot thru a syringe to fill the void. That wont be the case using the marine tex putty. Any paticular brand or type. I'm not that familiar with epoxy or fiberglass for that matter.
 
Epoxy is not hard to work with at all - it's not rocket science to use well. (although there is plenty of technical stuff available to turn it into rocket science, if you like that sort of thing!)

Might make sense to buy some and experiment with mixing and some plastic cups. Good skill to get good at. You'll learn a lot.

Lots of internet how-to's around including Gougeon Brothers web site(s) http://www.epoxyworks.com/
 
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