New toys for Bizzy Bee - installation advice for thru hull transducer

oGaryo

oGaryo

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There's two things I want to fit to Bizzy Bee this year, a Fish finder and a Mente Marine auto trim tab unit.

I picked up a shiny new DSM 300 last week and have won this 1KW Transducer on fleabay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191082517787?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 installation entails making a hole in the bottom of the boat :eek: The DSM isn't a concern, it's interfaced to a Raymarine C70 that's been tested already in simulation mode.. ensuring I don't bugga up the transducer installation is the area I need guidance on please

Any advice welcome.
 
no need to put a hole in the boat, try this first, find a handy to get at space in the bilge about 2/3rds back from the bow, then place the transducer in a plastic bag with water in it, and lay it in the space, switch on fishfinder and note the return echo, then remove from bag and dip over the side and recheck return echo, make a mental note of this, as it will be the best return you can expect, then return to bag and bilge to see if you can get a similar return, when you do find the sweet spot then all you need do is sand flat that area and stick the tranny down with araldite or sikaflex, using a circular motion to expel any air, this relates to "solid" glass hulls not to sandwich types. do not worry too much about the dead rise of the hull it will not make much difference to the depth you read, and as far as finding fish forget it!! there is no such thing. You find the fish the finder will back you up!

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oGaryo said:
There's two things I want to fit to Bizzy Bee this year, a Fish finder and a Mente Marine auto trim tab unit.

I picked up a shiny new DSM 300 last week and have won this 1KW Transducer on fleabay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191082517787?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 installation entails making a hole in the bottom of the boat :eek: The DSM isn't a concern, it's interfaced to a Raymarine C70 that's been tested already in simulation mode.. ensuring I don't bugga up the transducer installation is the area I need guidance on please

Any advice welcome.
Click to expand...

how about a decent gear change linkage :o
 
Airmar instructions are very comprehensive so just follow them, should be with the transducer, if not they can be downloaded from the Airmar site. That is a cracking transducer by the way and I see from the photo it has the proper high speed fairing, I have two on my own boat.
 
Nothing too it Gary, drilling holes in the hull of your boat is perfectly natural :eek:

David2452 was a tower of strength when we did mine, I could not bring myself to do it so it so he did!
 
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omega2 said:
sorry did not realise you had a paddle to contend with. No option but to cut a hole
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The 258 doesn't have the paddle wheel, the one on Perry's boat was a 774, but the fitting operation is the same, to do it right you really need access to a band saw to cut the fairing at the hull angle, apart from that it's perfectly simple.
 
If you do decide to glue the transducer on the inside of the hull, DO NOT use sikaflex or any other type of silicone, this is written in the installation instructions, as they don't give a hard connection with the hull which is essential for the transmission of the 'click' sound wave, it acts as a shock absorber and its a shock wave that the transducer uses!
Use two component epoxy or as we use Hempel Epoxy filler which isn't runny like Araldite so stays in place while it cures, just make sure there are no air pockets under the transducer when you mount it, its best to have too much epoxy and push it down at angle and twist slightly to get a good contact, then remove the excess.
As regards the Mente Marine auto trim, I have it on my boat and it works very well, I was always a hands on driving person but my boat is very sensitive to lateral trim and its great not having to dab the flaps buttons all the time. I also connected the Power trim function so it trims the drive as the speed increases and that works well too.
 
omega2 said:
sorry did not realise you had a paddle to contend with. No option but to cut a hole
Click to expand...


I'm going to give your method a go first. the transducer arrived in the post this morning and bugger me is it bigger than I thought, huge in fact! not that anyone will see it but it's a big lump of metal to put underneath a 29ft boat.
 
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spannerman said:
If you do decide to glue the transducer on the inside of the hull, DO NOT use sikaflex or any other type of silicone, this is written in the installation instructions, as they don't give a hard connection with the hull which is essential for the transmission of the 'click' sound wave, it acts as a shock absorber and its a shock wave that the transducer uses!
Use two component epoxy or as we use Hempel Epoxy filler which isn't runny like Araldite so stays in place while it cures, just make sure there are no air pockets under the transducer when you mount it, its best to have too much epoxy and push it down at angle and twist slightly to get a good contact, then remove the excess.
As regards the Mente Marine auto trim, I have it on my boat and it works very well, I was always a hands on driving person but my boat is very sensitive to lateral trim and its great not having to dab the flaps buttons all the time. I also connected the Power trim function so it trims the drive as the speed increases and that works well too.
Click to expand...


thanks for the advice regarding the epoxy, I'll do the check as per Omega2's advice and then go for the epoxy. there's a flat space in the bilge forward of the engines so will install there. the engine bay is GRP lined, presume I wouldn't need to remove that coating before installing?

p.s. there's a new version of the Mente Marine that looks very neat.. just need to swap out the control panel as all the gizmo's are in the panel
 
When you say GRP lined, I guess its not an inner liner otherwise you will have to cut through that to reach the outer hull, if its just standard GRP then you only need to degrease and sand it so the epoxy keys to it.
 
No paddle? then plastic bag and find a sweet spot that compares with the over the side method, try to stay off the centre line you could find the keel a bit thick to fire through, also the flat bit you mention could be hiding a hollow beneath it.??
 
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