Depth Finder Installation
 

I am having trouble with placement of my in-hull transducer. Livorsi supplies epoxy to secure the trans. but I have yet to find a suitable location that will work. I am assuming that I will have to go through the coring for the best placement. Has anyone done this? I am a little concerned about cutting into the hull. I am thinking about using a dremel tool to cut through the top layer and then "scraping" through the coring and filling the hole with epoxy and then setting the transducer in epoxy level with the floor. Any other ideas or suggestions?

Thanks, Todd

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

I am in the same boat...yuk, yuk! I ordered my new 29 without a depthfinder and when I decided I would like one, faced the same challenge of where to place the transducer. Also, if you read some other Fountain posts on the subject you will find that even the factory installed units have their problems of intermittent operation, etc. I am now considering a transom mount unit (much as it kills me!). I have a twin and can route the pickup right to the center of the keel on the transom. These mounts are supposed to be very accurate if unsightly. Let's hear from some of you out there with experience.

GF

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

We have the factory Livorsi install. This unit reads dead on... We are lake boaters and I know the depths of areas we hit frequently and at idle/cruise/wot I am getting good readings.

I agree, not a fan of the transom mounts. Had one on our first boat. This really seems to read through the hull pretty darn nice.

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

I posted this question a couple of years ago but I cant seem to come up with it in a search........I installed a small Eagle fishfinder for use as a depthfinder........At the advice of some OSOers I mounted and hooked the unit all up, put the the boat in the water, put the transducer in a plastic bag full of water and moved the bag all around the floor of the boat (with the trans against the floor) in the engine compartment until I found a spot where I got a good reading.....said 6ft, I was in about 6ft of water.......then mark the spot with a magic marker and mount the trans with the epoxy.......Mine happens to be mounted just ahead of the starboard engine inline with the crankshaft......I sanded the spot clean and smooth, put lots of epoxy on and tried to level the trans to make up for the vee in the hull being careful not to have any air bubbles in the epoxy.........It only works off plane........but in my world if your worried about depth you shouldnt be on plane anyway.........it is amazingly accurate according to charts and the picture it generates of the bottom kind of gives you the "trend'' of the bottom........I really only use it when I am pulling up somewhere to dock or drop the hook but thats all I wanted........Im quite happy with it............doug :cool:

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

I have a 04 29 fever and i mounted the transducer my self. I called foutian and they said to mount it in the foward bilge under the step on the oppise side of the bilge pump. I scuffed the hull and epoxyed it to the hull. There was no cutting or removing and it works great even going down the river on plane.


Terry

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Todd, I just went through this about a month ago. I had a motor out for other reasons, so I removed my old transducer puck (which wasn't working) and cut into the hull to mount a new one. The old one was fairly new, but it was glued right to the inner liner, and never worked.

I mounted mine on the inside of the "pad" area, as close to the keel as I could get it. I figured this was an area with the least amount of deadrise, and would be able to get it mounted as vertical as possible. I used a dremel tool with a depth guard, and set the depth to about 1/2". This got me through the inner liner and into the coring about a 1/4". Then I took a SHARP wood chisel and whittled away by hand at the balsa coring until I found the outer fiberglass shell.

Once I found the actual depth to the outer hull, I reset the depth of the dremel tool and made one more pass around outside of the inner liner hole. That allowed me to scrape the rest of the balsa coring out, right up to the edge of the hole, and sanded the inside smooth with 100 grit.

I glued the puck flat against the outer hull with the epoxy that Lowrance supplied with the puck, and weighted down it until dry - overnight.

The next day, I mixed up some fiberglass resin, and let it set up until it was a thick paste. I gooped it around the puck, and worked it up to build a "fillet" around the puck, and tapered it out to completely cover the hole in the inner liner. This way, when water collects in the bilge, it won't soak into the balsa coring.

This thing will NEVER come back out, so I hope it doesn't fail. It works very well at idle speed, but I sometimes get intermittent readings while on plane. This may be partially due to the mucky/weedy bottom composition of Lake Erie and surrounding channels. I'll give it a real test in Lake Cumberland in a couple of weeks. Like twinn29 says, if you're not sure of depth, you shouldn't be on plane anyway.

Good luck,
Brian

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

I would go for the forward bilge mount also. Mine is there and works most of the time. I have the flat bottom transducer so what I did was cut a piece of 3" PVC pipe to match the angle of the bottom of the boat. I then caulked it in place and filled it with epoxy until it made the bottom level. Let it harden. Then epoxy the transducer in place. I probably should have a drawing but I hope you get the idea. The thing works up to about 40mph most of the time. If you dont have steps, you can mount it in the engine compartment using the same method.

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Anyone one with a step hull must mount the transducer 6 inches forward of the forward most step. Aerated water means inaccurate readings. The forward bilge 6 inches off of center on either side is the best place. The foam core only runs about 6 inches wide down the center of the boat, which translates into 3 inces from center on either side. I have done a few of these with only one failure due to glue not being mixed right. 30 minute or longer epoxy with just a tad less hardner than is called for works best. Most important to remember is to be 6 inches forward of the step (because the step has a foam core) but not so far forward that the hull is out of the water when on plane. I have not seen many of them work above 50 MPH in a fountain ... you can also see that on a test sheet for a boat that has a factory installed transducer and depth finder.
Any questions please feel free to call me 631 728-0286 and ask for Vinnie in Service.

- Vinnie
MARINER'S COVE FOUNTAIN
Hampton Bays, NY

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

So the question for Todd is: step or no step? This isn't mentioned in his post.

Brian

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Todd,

Mount that transducer in the engine box. The flex point for a stepped 29 Fever is right at the step. If you have a non-stepped twin 29, then your probably stuck with the cabin step location. I couldn't keep the transducer from separating from the hull using different types of epoxy. Finally mounted it using the same set-up as the Factory...but in the engine box. Instead of using epoxy, I used silicone caulking after cleaning and lightly sanding the mounting location. Never had anymore trouble. If you haven't seen it, the factory uses a piece of 4" PVC to surround the puck and they fill it with epoxy. The 2" length of pvc allows you to sink the puck in epoxy so you get a bubble free layer of epoxy between the hull and puck, and it allows you to get the angle you need regardless of the deadrise.

Just do the same thing with silicone caulking. Its easier to work with and its white so it matches the hull. Its also more forgiving if you set the angle wrong and it fails to read at idle or on plane, you can re-mount it without having to chisel the puck and old epoxy off the hull.

If you're not sure of the angle you need, Gaffrig tells you to do the bag of water trick mentioned above. Tape it down at a slight forward angle and run the boat at idle and on plane. Move and repeat as necessary to get the angle you need. Then contour the bottom of the PVC pipe to the inner hull (at the mounting location) so it allows for your required angle. Glue the PVC down first, then sink to puck about 3/4 of the way in the silicone.

The Gaffrig puck comes with enough cable to easily run it down the STBD gunwale wire loom and into the engine box.

If you get a constant wrong reading of 1.6' or 1.7', the epoxy under the puck has cracked and you have an air gap which is causing the errant reading.

If yours is a 29 single, I would definitely move the transducer to the engine box.

Bill

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

I appreciate all the help :) I guess that I should give a little more info. I have an '89 36/38 Fever. I have tried the bag of water trick with no luck. I have even gone as far as filling the bilge with a few inches of water. I have tried all over the engine compartment and get no readings and this is while sitting in the water at the dock.

p4-33, thanks for the run-down on cutting through the coring. I think that I will find a spot and cut down to the outer hull and epoxy a piece of PVC in place and level the epoxy in the bottom of the PVC. Then place the puck in the PVC with mineral oil and cap the PVC (this came from a previous thread on another site).

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Hey Vinnie,

I am impressed with your expertise.... You can do it all...
My depthfinder was reading up to about 55mph..
Unfortunately, since our Greenport run all I get now are the prompts for the functions... It won't read at all... I found the transducer and it seems to be properly attached to the hull. I disconnected the power, hoping it would reset itself... NG,,
I don't have the instructions for the unit.. Maybe I can reset it, but the buttons just seem to set the alarms etc....


Duncan

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Bag of water trick doesnt work eh.......hmmm........Mine is an 89 also, although its a 29.........did you call Livorsi and see what they say???........doug

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Is the bottom muddy at your dock where your testing it.........if it is sometimes they wont work worth a damn...........doug

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

My '94 27 had the PVC in the engine compartment. Don't know if it was just FG to the floor or if it was set into the hull. INstall was top notch work I got readings all the way up to 80mph. Only time it would not work was while in a turn.

Now, my '99 32 won't register ANY depth as soon as it is put in gear. I highly doubt I'm getting any air while at idle speed. ;) Worthless! Puck is epoxied to floor in engine compartment. Any ideas?

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Duncan,

With the unit powered on put your ear next to the transducer. It should click about once every second ... If it does than it is fine, if it doesn;t then the transducer is no good or there is no power going to it.

- Vinnie

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Vinnie,

Thanks for the guidance... I'll try it on Friday.. And let you Know....

Again, I appreciate your expertise and professionalism....


Duncan

Re: Depth Finder Installation
 

Livorsi says may not shoot through coring....remove coring.

Since the transducer cable is as long as it is, I put it in a bag of water and placed it in the bilge of the Searay next to me and it worked.

So....I have my weekend project ready for me.