Garmin Echo 150

martynwhiteley

martynwhiteley

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I've just bought on of these to fit to the P286 as the OEM depth log doesn't seem to be reliable.

It is supplied only with a transom mount transducer, but I am intending to try mounting this inside the hull using a blob of silcone sealant.

Since the use it purely for depth purposes, I'm not too concered if the odd brown trout swims by undetected.

Any one done this recently with a Garmin transom mount transducer, and how were the results?
 
martynwhiteley said:
I've just bought on of these to fit to the P286 as the OEM depth log doesn't seem to be reliable.

It is supplied only with a transom mount transducer, but I am intending to try mounting this inside the hull using a blob of silcone sealant.

Since the use it purely for depth purposes, I'm not too concered if the odd brown trout swims by undetected.

Any one done this recently with a Garmin transom mount transducer, and how were the results?
Click to expand...

Interesting to see what others think, I'm never keen drilling holes in hulls so quite understand your wish. I think (others I am sure will know better!) you will need to make a "well" to put the transducer in filled with liquid. Perhaps a pipe glued to the hull and transducer just set in the well plus you will need the transducer to point straight down...(pretty obvious!, sorry...). the only other issue is if your hull has a core... not sure if it will work?

Here's an idea...
to determine the best place to mount the depth transducer you can do a simple test with the help of a plastic bag filled with some water.
Connect the depth transducer to the instrument as described in the manual. Put the
transducer inside the bag with water and push the transducer against the hull to see
if you get accurate readings on the instrument.
 
Last edited:
I have just done exactly that with a Garmin 140 fish finder that came with a transom mount transducer. I had various advice from epoxy fixing the unit or oil bath mounting in a container. I tried a version of firefly's idea to find the best placement using a temporary fixing but rather than a bag of water I used a big blob of old fashioned plasticene softened by squeezing in warm hands. Formed it into a wedge shaped slab (to level out the hull shape) about 1/4 inch thick and pressed the plasticene and transducer into the hull (having thoroughly cleaned it first).
Worked a treat (even finds brown trout) so I have left as is and still working fine 3 weeks later. I figured I would wait and see if it moves and then do something permanent, if not I'll just leave it.
 
bean said:
I have just done exactly that with a Garmin 140 fish finder that came with a transom mount transducer. I had various advice from epoxy fixing the unit or oil bath mounting in a container. I tried a version of firefly's idea to find the best placement using a temporary fixing but rather than a bag of water I used a big blob of old fashioned plasticene softened by squeezing in warm hands. Formed it into a wedge shaped slab (to level out the hull shape) about 1/4 inch thick and pressed the plasticene and transducer into the hull (having thoroughly cleaned it first).
Worked a treat (even finds brown trout) so I have left as is and still working fine 3 weeks later. I figured I would wait and see if it moves and then do something permanent, if not I'll just leave it.
Click to expand...

excellent idea!
 
Update

Thanks for the help and views on this.

Well I fitted the unit yesterday afternoon, but wasted most of the time trying to route the cable from the bilge to the panel.

I gave up in the end trying to come up with a totally concealed route as time and patience were fast running out as I struggled to find a way of getting the cable behind the wardrobe in the mid-cabin, but hopefully I can tidy this up later.

Unfortunately I had little success with mounting the transducer and getting a relaible signal with the tools I had at my disposal.

I wasn't able to clean/sand and area of hull, and tried both the plastic bag technique, and simple filling an area of bilge with water, but never achieved a relaible reading. I then tried some sealant, but even this option failed.

I tested the transducer directly in the water, and it worked fine, so at least I know the unit is ok.

The next time I will try preparing a couple of potential locating positions in the bilge to get a clean/smooth surface, and take a couple of options regarding sealant/blu-tack etc.

I'm pretty sure the P286 doesn't have a sanwiched hull, but I guess I may have picked a position that wasn't best suited to the transducer.
 
Do NOT use silicone sealant. Stick it to the hull with epoxy. Anything soft between the transducer face and the hull will absorb some/all of the sonar and give incorrect readings.

Find a suitable spot, make a dam with some plasticine. Fill the dam with epoxy so it flows level to remove any deadrise and air pockets. Allow the epoxy to almost dry. Tip in another thin layer of epoxy and squeeze the transducer into it, with a twisting motion to remove any air bubbles.
 
Just for info I mounted mine midships and about 12-15 inches from the keel line, so it is ahead of the engines / shafts etc.
This in a Freeman 30 of 69 vintage so a pretty thick solid hull to work through. I checked the accuracy while moored with sea searcher on a rope as the tide went in and out and it seems to read fine - even does temperature
good luck finding a spot
 
bean said:
Just for info I mounted mine midships and about 12-15 inches from the keel line, so it is ahead of the engines / shafts etc.
This in a Freeman 30 of 69 vintage so a pretty thick solid hull to work through. I checked the accuracy while moored with sea searcher on a rope as the tide went in and out and it seems to read fine - even does temperature
good luck finding a spot
Click to expand...

LOL!
How does it do temperature?

Paul's method of fixing is spot on as is the alternative of creating some sort of bowl / tube which then has vegatable oil or similar in it to float the transducer in. The crux is to illiminate any bubbles and make sure the sounder sits horizontal to give a true reading.

On a faster planing hull it would be important to mount the transducer further aft than bean has or it will be riding clear of the water. Typically, 1/4 to 1/3 of the way forward from the transom on a sub 30' boat, considerably less will be fine on a big boat. It can be mounted off centre from the keel line assuming that this is taken into account when the unit is powered up and calibrated.
 
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