In hull transducer and Cig construction
 

In updating my 2002 Playboy I am putting a new chart plotter in. With all the capabilities of new generation garmin units it seems silly not to put a transducer in also. Through research I have identified the best location it be just forward of the first step.

My question, is the bottom of the hull forward with of the first step near the keel cored or solid?

You may want to rethink the type of transducer you install. A transducer should not be placed where air bubbles can get to it, also whatever type you place can redirect water across the hull interfering with engine pickups. Placing it to forward and bouncing will change the reading if that part of the hull comes out of the water. You may want to re-think it and not put another hole in the hull that might leak or damage if you run aground. They have a high speed transducer that mounts on the transom that you can run with and still get readings mount it about two inches to the side of the drain hole and it will be save from all conditions and will lift up if you hit something. Just a thought hope it helps.

No hole for an in hull transducer (not to be confused with a through hull) and the placement ahead of the first step is to allow undisturbed water.

The reason for the question is I don't want to remove any material (like inner glass and core) just to get the in hull transducer to work properly. If it is shooting through solid glass they work, through core, not so much.

I was wondering the same thing, I was looking at the GT-15 transducer that mounts internally....keep us updated on how it works for you

Will do. Luckily my future daughter in law is an engineer for Garmin and all of her bridesmaids are too (a couple even in the marine division and one in avaition) and they are all lake rats. Great resource for cool toys.

I just installed the 741 xs and wasn't looking to add the sonar transducer until I talked to a guy that knew a lot about Garmin and told me about the inside mount model...I will be interested how it works

Are any of the bridesmaid's single & attractive?? i was wanting to get a 741 & would be willing to pick up in person. ;) Could you mount the transducer where Cigarette installed the original depth gauge transducer? My assumption was if i had the Garmin, i could do away with the original unit & use the same cutout.

To answer your first question, no they are all married but they are cute for engineers;)

The factory sounder is in the engine compartment under the starboard engine behind a glued in a false floor so it's going to take some work to get to it. I am pretty sure that location is not best anyway.

My 35 has a great spot just in front of the first step and accessible through the inspection ports in the floor of the cabin. should be a real easy wire run too. Just need to know if I have solid glass or core right nest to the keel.
I am going to try the bag-o-water trick to test the location as soon as the transducer gets here.

Should be solid glass no core

Thanks, fingers crossed that it works.

just order one also. got a 53vd and the shoot through transducer. no step so its going under a motor. if a step in front of the step.

It would be easier to call the factory and ask. I'm sure you could learn other things about the boat while talking with them.

Okay the results are in. The new in hull transducer mounted in the bilge access port of the cabin in front of the first step worked FANTASTIC.:D It maintains bottom lock all the way to 70MPH, can hold it higher in smooth water but starts to cut in and out with any waves but reaquires as soon and the hull settles back down. About 75 it pretty much drops off all the time
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Sorry I am rotationally challenged.
First photo is of a quart Ziploc filled with water and the transducer in the water basically oriented facing down, this it to test the location for suitability, display should read actual depth, if so start mounting.

second and third are the cup and then the cup with transducer on top. The kit comes with 4 cups ranging from 0* to 20* the 20* cup is suitable up to 25*. even with that I still shimmed the cup with sealant to level it more.

Third is the cup gluing up to the hull bottom. I spread 5200 on the hull bottom to create a smooth surface to bond to then used 4200 to attach the cup to the bottom.

Once all the gluing is done, I filled the cup with water to test again and make sure there were no leaks. After all was good I dried the cup out and refilled with mineral oil, inserted the o ring on the cup and screwed the transducer on tight.

Oh yea, my set up is a Garmin GPSMAP 7608xsv with a GT15M in hull transducer. Also using the XM gps antenna and fusion stereo so everything pipes through the GPS screen. If I had smartcraft it would too.