Depth Finder / Sounder

[henryb]

I was driving a friends boat this weekend... it had a depth finder/sounder gauge on the dash... providing an instantaneous readout of the water depth, even at speed.

Not sure how valuable it will be to warn you of an upcoming shoal if your going 30+ mph...

But it certainly was valuable to figure out the deepest path through a fairly shallow creek.

Anyways, looked into reviews of those type gauges (not fish finders). And the Hawkeye D10D seems like the best one to read while at speed.

But then I read the install manual and it requires a 2" hole drilled through the hull.... yikes! Does anybody have experience with these are they a problem with leaks?

Any advise?
Thanks.

 

[Dr Honda]

I know it sounds scary... but there are a lot of boats with an in hull type of transducer. (not a big deal)

BUT... I was also in that position a bout 3 years ago... and I found that some of the fish finders had a ton of features for the same $$$. I wound up with a Lorance 4i. Not only does it give me clean depth... but it also has a GPS. That has been very useful when going to a strange lake, and I want to remember where the dock is.

 

[Joseph9936]

Love mine. I take my ski off shore so it's nice to see the path back when your 21 miles out

 

[AirSniper]

I put a Lorance Elite 4 with a normal "in water" transducer INSIDE the hull and it works perfectly. I used RTV and "glued" it on the starboard side of the engine. Need to ensure it is outside of the metal housings of the pump.

No holes, no issues....and an AMEN to Doc's recommendation on the GPS chartplotter.

 

[Joseph9936]

How fast can you go and still read depth? I have to be still and wondering if maybe I need to remount it

 

[AirSniper]

any speed...i have zero issues with it. My record is 49.4 mph with gps, no loss of depth.

They say that a good test is to put the transducer in a ziploc full of water and sit on the inside hull to see if your transducer will work. I skipped that and just rtv'd it; figured rtv is removable if i had to.

 

[Joseph9936]

I got rtv but the 2nd time I tried it. Bolting it down may an option. Never knew you could do that. That's great information!!

 

[henryb]

So are you saying to mount the "thru-hull" sensor on the inside of the hull? It would be surprising if it would work as well as it would if it was exposed to the water? But maybe you have something worth trying?

 

[AirSniper]

to be clear - they sell "thru-hull" transducers...min is not...it is the standard bullet shaped transducer designed to be on the transom in the water. my temperature reading from it is not direct water temperature of course, but i get good depth readings and mark fish.

 

[Dr Honda]

RTV works... but it's not recommended. It's soft, and it will suck up some of the echo's. BUT... it works with normal lake depths. I personally like using an epoxy. You get a little better resolution.

I also can go as fast as I like, and still get good readings. The issue is when you get air under the hull. When that happens... it doesn't mater what kind of transducer you have. BUT... the transom mount is normally the worst, as it will cause bubbles.

FYI... I also have a glue-in style. BUT, if you have the new down scanning plotter, they don't like to be glued in. (with any kind of glue)

 

[davidwjacob]

can you post some pics of your setup guys?

 

[Joseph9936]

Mine is why in the back of the jet ski. Next time I take it apart I'll take some

 

[biffdotorg]

I have a thread on here of the install too. Used the transducer "on" a bag of water to test location as well. 2-part epoxy and away you go. Mine works up to about 45mph, then it's hit or miss. But I graph the bottom and fish quite well below that.

The hawkeye was the depth finder of choice for those that wanted one in dash that matched the other gauges. But as others have said, seeing the bottom, and the option of GPS is gold. As you said, on a new lake, depth finder can only help you so much going above 30mph. A GPS map, will give you more warning at speed.

Good luck!

 

[AirSniper]

Sorry took so long. Looking into engine down is forward, left is starboard.

 

[Joseph9936]

Do you apply the glue all over the bottom to stick it on or just the edges

 

[Dr Honda]

Do you apply the glue all over the bottom to stick it on or just the edges

All over, and make sure ALL the air bubble are out. SO, if you mix epoxy, stir it easy. Basically... for full resolution, you need to make it as solid as possible.