Thru Hull, Transom Mount

[turbosl2]

What do you guys recommend for a depth gauge transducer. I am looking at the hawkeye D10DX or the Garmin Striker. I have the option of thru hull or transom mount. It appears the Garmin Striker 4 is external transom mount but the hawkeye can be purchased both ways. I hear there is alot of turbulance with a jet boat under the hull so looking to pick something that will work all the time. I dont mind drilling thru the hull if thats what it takes, but the garmin requires drilling small hole and an external bracket, not sure if it will read when on plane.

 

[Tim75]

What do you guys recommend for a depth gauge transducer. I am looking at the hawkeye D10DX or the Garmin Striker. I have the option of thru hull or transom mount. It appears the Garmin Striker 4 is external transom mount but the hawkeye can be purchased both ways. I hear there is alot of turbulance with a jet boat under the hull so looking to pick something that will work all the time. I dont mind drilling thru the hull if thats what it takes, but the garmin requires drilling small hole and an external bracket, not sure if it will read when on plane.

After having snapped off four different transducers (all were Airmar brand), I am not a fan of transom mount. They broke because I could not mount them where they would be 100% clear of the reverse jet blast. The blast took them off, not striking anything.
I have a special made mount that bolts to the ride plate. It does not do well above idle speed.

I have been thinking of a thru-hull mounted just left or right of the flat in front of the jet intake.

 

[turbosl2]

After having snapped off four different transducers (all were Airmar brand), I am not a fan of transom mount. They broke because I could not mount them where they would be 100% clear of the reverse jet blast. The blast took them off, not striking anything.
I have a special made mount that bolts to the ride plate. It does not do well above idle speed.

I have been thinking of a thru-hull mounted just left or right of the flat in front of the jet intake.

That’s good information. I have a transom Mount on my 32’ carver and anything above idle speed it doesn’t work. It is 25 yr old technology tho. I don’t mind drilling a hole if someone confirms a thru hull on the bottom of the boat, not stern, will work reliably

 

[rsatina2002]

I use a transom mount with Lowrance HD 7. I put it on the side of the speed sensor, created a hole to push through the transom and cut the wire for the transom so I don't need a big hole in the transom and solder it in the middle and properly connect the transom wires and ran it all the way to the side of cockpit and near the siderails and 7" screen just a perfect fit but it doesn't fit in the actual dashboard of challenger 2000 so I put it on the top of the right siderails and screw it on top with brackets so the 7" monitor will work even with the strong wind speed. The fishfinder works well upto 5-7 mph but more than that it is distorted but able to capture the depth properly and when running slower, it is very accurate reading with lowrance 7" HD.

 

[turbosl2]

I use a transom mount with Lowrance HD 7. I put it on the side of the speed sensor, created a hole to push through the transom and cut the wire for the transom so I don't need a big hole in the transom and solder it in the middle and properly connect the transom wires and ran it all the way to the side of cockpit and near the siderails and 7" screen just a perfect fit but it doesn't fit in the actual dashboard of challenger 2000 so I put it on the top of the right siderails and screw it on top with brackets so the 7" monitor will work even with the strong wind speed. The fishfinder works well upto 5-7 mph but more than that it is distorted but able to capture the depth properly and when running slower, it is very accurate reading with lowrance 7" HD.

Thanks for the info. I pulled the trigger on a Hawkeye Hull mount epoxy type transducer. no water temp just depth. figure i give it a try and keep it easy. Hopefully i get depth at speed.

 

[TheTripletDaddy]

I use a transom mount with Lowrance HD 7. I put it on the side of the speed sensor, created a hole to push through the transom and cut the wire for the transom so I don't need a big hole in the transom and solder it in the middle and properly connect the transom wires and ran it all the way to the side of cockpit and near the siderails and 7" screen just a perfect fit but it doesn't fit in the actual dashboard of challenger 2000 so I put it on the top of the right siderails and screw it on top with brackets so the 7" monitor will work even with the strong wind speed. The fishfinder works well upto 5-7 mph but more than that it is distorted but able to capture the depth properly and when running slower, it is very accurate reading with lowrance 7" HD.

Any chance you have a photo of your mount? Also, not sure I understand how you got your cable inside the hull. Can you take a picture of where they enter the hull? Lastly, did you screw the mount directly into the transom or did you use something like a Stern Pad?

 

[seaningt]

After having snapped off four different transducers (all were Airmar brand), I am not a fan of transom mount. They broke because I could not mount them where they would be 100% clear of the reverse jet blast. The blast took them off, not striking anything.
I have a special made mount that bolts to the ride plate. It does not do well above idle speed.

I have been thinking of a thru-hull mounted just left or right of the flat in front of the jet intake.

I have the Faria Thru Hull Transducer installed in front of and slightly to the side of the intake grate. It works wonderfully.

Last summer we accidentally went over a sand bar at full throttle and damaged the hull, but the transducer escaped unscathed. I think this is the best option.

 

[jwinco]

I have the Faria Thru Hull Transducer installed in front of and slightly to the side of the intake grate. It works wonderfully.

Last summer we accidentally went over a sand bar at full throttle and damaged the hull, but the transducer escaped unscathed. I think this is the best option.

Did you install the thru hull transducer your self? I was just wondering if you had to do anything special after drilling the hole. After looking at the manufacturer page for that transducer it listed a bunch of extra steps for cored hulls, which I THINK these boats have. Did you happen to grab any pics of the install? Hows the hull holding up? Just want to make sure I dont screw anything up by drilling a 2" hole in the bottom!

 

[jwinco]

After having snapped off four different transducers (all were Airmar brand), I am not a fan of transom mount. They broke because I could not mount them where they would be 100% clear of the reverse jet blast. The blast took them off, not striking anything.
I have a special made mount that bolts to the ride plate. It does not do well above idle speed.

I have been thinking of a thru-hull mounted just left or right of the flat in front of the jet intake.

Hey - did you end up installing a thru hull? If so, any tips? I'm worried about the cored hull and if there are any extra steps needed to maintain strength/integrity

 

[AirSniper]

I've had good results with my Lowrance Elite x-ducer for ~8 years (the x-ducer finally died this year) RTV'd on the starboard side of engine, in the well where the "drain hose" lies.
I got a new Lowrance Hook, with Chirp & down/sidescan this year. That one I RTV'd just forward of the starboard drain plug.
Of course I lost features of temp, sidescan, but it seems to have good resolution even at speed.
You can test placement by putting the x-ducer inside of a ziploc bag of water & testing locations. When RTVing, make sure the hull is dry and be careful not to capture air bubbles in the RTV.
I simply made a puddle of regular bathroom silicone RTV, then pressed in the x-ducer.
There also seems to be room next to the bilge pump (i tested this with the ziploc & it looked fine too).

 

[turbosl2]

For what’s its worth I have a hawk eye depth sounder that’s epoxied to the hull right in front of the engine. It measures depth up to about 30mph. I am impressed and it’s accurate. No fish finding on this gauge just depth but works great

 

[turbosl2]

What do you guys recommend for a depth gauge transducer. I am looking at the hawkeye D10DX or the Garmin Striker. I have the option of thru hull or transom mount. It appears the Garmin Striker 4 is external transom mount but the hawkeye can be purchased both ways. I hear there is alot of turbulance with a jet boat under the hull so looking to pick something that will work all the time. I dont mind drilling thru the hull if thats what it takes, but the garmin requires drilling small hole and an external bracket, not sure if it will read when on plane.

I have the hawk eye DX10 as I mentioned above. You won’t regret it. The inside engine compartment epoxy mount works awesome

 

[jwinco]

I have the Faria Thru Hull Transducer installed in front of and slightly to the side of the intake grate. It works wonderfully.

Last summer we accidentally went over a sand bar at full throttle and damaged the hull, but the transducer escaped unscathed. I think this is the best option.

Can I get some more pictures of where exactly your transducer is installed in reference to the intake grate? Was it easy to get to the area on the inside? Also did you have to do anything to reinforce the hull? I was reading that foam-core hulls take some extra steps to reinforce. Any additional guidance on install would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[AirSniper]

this is my current setup. My hook xducer is just foward of the starboard drain plug - the speed sensor wires are a good reference.
I have an elite 4 xducer in the bilge pump area - recently move from the starboard side of the grate (i was hoping new placement helped, but the xducer failed, it worked next to the grate - i dont have pics).
notes are for starboard/port, forward/aft.
Again, silicone RTV & no bubbles is the way i went.

 

[beergut]

just fyi- just about every DG setup will cut out over 10 mph regardless where you mount the xducer.
I've probably installed well over a dozen of'em on all kinds of boats- through hull & transom mounted- the deeper the xducer sits in the water away from the transom (jet or prop), the better they work.

 

[turbosl2]

this is my current setup. My hook xducer is just foward of the starboard drain plug - the speed sensor wires are a good reference.
I have an elite 4 xducer in the bilge pump area - recently move from the starboard side of the grate (i was hoping new placement helped, but the xducer failed, it worked next to the grate - i dont have pics).
notes are for starboard/port, forward/aft.
Again, silicone RTV & no bubbles is the way i went.

My Hawkeye will not work with 5200. Manual says it won’t but I tried anyway. Didn’t work. Reapplied epoxy (slow cure marine) and it did the trick