Thru Hull Transducer

[Manomet]

Guys,

As always, thanks for all the insight and support. You have made buying and using my 210 CC a jpy.

Now, I am (already) considering trading up to the 235CC butI have a couple of questions in relation to fishfinder transducers. One of the questions is for the factory and the other is for the group.

1. (For the factory) Is it possible to mount a through hull transducer on the 235 and is there a specific spot where it can be mounted for reliable performance.

2. (For the group). On my current boat the fishfinder is useful only at low speeds and it shows much noise at speed. I have been told that this is due to the airflow and turbulance under the boat. I have also been told that a through hull transducer would solve this if mounted in the right place, allowing me to better see the bottom, structure and fish when travelling at speed. Can anyone give me an expert opinion about this (true, false, gotchas, etc) and also any recommendations as to brand, etc?

Thanks again...

Ted

 

[fridaysoff]

Manomet,
1. I don't think you can mount a through hull transducer on any Triumph boat.
2. I've had two Triumphs and received great performance of my fishfinders on both even at WOT. I had one Lowrance and 2 Garmin. The 2 Garmin units have both been combo GPS/Sounder. The noise you have could come from several sources. The main one being placement of your transducer.Most of the time I've found that the transducer is either too low or too high on the transom. You need to experiment with moving it up or down and see if the noise clears up. Look at the transducer when you're on plane. If its kicking up a lot of spray its probably too low in the water.Most Fishfinders have a noise adjustment from low to high. I'm sure you've set yours correctly. If you have not read the manual for your FF,make sure you do.You may pick up a few tips to solve your problem.You are correct in the fact that you will have problems if you have turbulance, but just make sure you do not place your transducer behind your baitwell pick up. Good Luck.
John D.

 

[NCangler]

From the factory:

We do not recommend through hull transducers on any of our boats.

 

[pamarine]

Transudcer

I would say it is possible but not desireable to mount a through-hull transducer in a Triumph. I am pretty sure with some careful engineering one could design a mounting configuration similar to my high-speed water pickup that the factory would OK. However, being as our boats are almost always trailered, there is a huge risk to damfaging a through-hull mounted transducer.

As far as brands go, almost every electronics manufacturer will use the same brand transducer, so pick the electronics you like the best. Lowrance and Furuno have the best Fishfinders, Garmin and Raymarine are tops in GPS technology, and Furuno has the best Radar. Humminbird and Interphase make excellent Specialty Sonar products as well.

And in regards to the noise issue. It is true a properly installed through-Hull transducer can give the best depth reading, however, it is far more difficult to properly install a through-hull transducer than a transom-mount one.

Hope this Helps.

 

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

For 20+ years i cursed those kayakers on the river,but now i are one ON ALL THE MESSAGE BOARDS AND FISHING FORUMS ON THE SITES I VISIT, THE ROTOMOLD GUYS ARE GLUING A CROSS SECTION OF A LARGE SWIMMING NOODLE AND BED THE TRANSDUCER IN VASELINE AND IT PICKS UP THRU THE PLASTIC. OUR BOATS ARE CONSIDERABLY THICKER BUT I AM GONNA TRY IT WITH THE RAYMARINE I AM TAKING OFF THE 210CC AND INSTALLING ON MY YAK

 

[pamarine]

Thru-Hull

The transducer would pick up throught the hull of a plastic kayak, although with worse degradation of signal due to PE being denser than most FRP, because PE kayaks are a single hull. However, the Triumph hull has a considerable amount of air-trapping flotation foam that would interrupt a transducer beam. In order to mount a transducer in the hull of a Triumph, one would have to either find a spot where the inner and outer hulls were bonded directly together and was large enough to properly mount the in-hull mounting flange, or mount the transducer through the hull of the boat, which brings us back to the warranty issue among other things. Hope this helps

 

[Manomet]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the info...

 

[glehav]

manonet have you tryed lowering the gain ajustment on your fishfinder it will get rid of the noise do it a little bit at a time untill it clears up. i have to put mine less than 50% i have a garmin and it works well took me some time to learn how to use it right.. at frist it was showing fish everwhere and i could not catch any of them.i had to read the manuel good and play with it ....befor i got the hang of it.... hope this helps

 

[pamarine]

I did a Forum jump to transducers to get some imput and the first thing I noticed is alot of misunderstanding on terms. "Shoot thru hull" and "Thru Hull" are NOT the same thing. Shoot thru is mounting the transducer INSIDE the hull and shooting the signal thru the hull. "Thru Hull is drilling a hole and mounting the transducer on the outside thru the hole and with a nut on the inside of the hull. The transducer is located outside the hull and works without any interference from the hull. The only consideration is where to locate the transducer and drill the hole. You want a single layer of hull for best sealing of the transducer. If it's in an area of inner hull and foam, just make a larger hole on the inside and dig away the foam and mount to just the main hull thickness. You can even block it to make it thicker for strength. Triumph may not like that, but it will work just fine. Triumph has plenty of penetrations thru the so called "inner hull" (ie: water in all the supposed sealed compartments) I personally don't like transom mount transducers. Especiall if your using side imaging. (needs to be closer to the keel)

Currently Triumph has no standing approval for adding or modifying Thru-hull fittings, including the installation of Thru-Hull transducers. Before adding or modifying any thru-hull fitting or transducer, first talk to the factory and make sure it will not void your warranty. It can be done, but It is far easier to just mount a transom mounted xducer, and better for a few reasons.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

My Transducer was also giving me problems at high speed. If I went over 25 mph I would loose it all together. It ended up being I just had to raise the transducer 1/8 of a inch. The directions said to hang the transducer 1/8 inch below the hull and I had it down just below that. Now at 40mph I can mark fish.

Good luck.
HTR

 

[pamarine]

It really depends on the boat and transducer mounting location as to what kind of transducer will work best. The only real constant in performance is a transducer that is in direct contact with the water will read better than a transducer mounted in-hull (i.e. shoot-thru).

The advantages of a transom-mounted transducer on a trailered (or dry stored or left-stored) boat are 1) The transducer can be flipped out of the way during loading to eliminate interferance with the storage system, and 2) The transducer will not cause major damage to the hull if struck during loading or unloading.

With the amount of flex that a PE hull can experience, a substantial reinforcing plate would need to be permanently bonded to the inside of the hull to provide the rigidity needed for a leak-free thru-hull transducer installation. Also, most consumers do not have ready access to high-speed transducers that do not require a fairing block on a v-bottomed boat. The additional height required for these fairings will severely limit the possible mounting locations to spots between bunk supports, which in turn may lead to less than ideal placement of the transducer and negatively impacting performance. Further even if the fairing block is installed on the hull if it is not aligned correctly fore and aft it can induce a drag on the hull that impacts handling, and in some cases to the extent the vessel becomes unsafe. Therefore it is highly recommended that Through-Hull transducers be professionally installed by a competent Marine Electronics Technician, Boat Yard, or Boat Repair Facility, which can easily cost the owner $150 or more in installation fees.

Transom-mounted transducers minimize most of these issues. Fairing blocks are not required since the transducer can be mounted parallel to the waterline regardless of deadrise. Since the transom generally overhangs bunk supports the location span-wise on the vessel can be made ideal for peak performance without concern of striking the vessel storage supports. Serious Hull damage is avoided due to the inherent "kick-up" and shear brackets that attach these transducers to the boat and the fact that such transducers are superficially mounted with small screws (instead of a 2" hole and nut). Transom-mounted sensors also save in installation cost because the average owner can successfully complete the job himself (or herself). Even if the initial placement is less than Ideal the mounting brackets allow for adjustment (see HTR's post above) and the entire assembly can be safely relocated if so needed with minimal repair needed to the hull (fill screw holes with PE rod or Power and melt).

And last there is the Warranty issue which has already been discussed.

 

[NCangler]

Of course it is each owners choice with what they do to their boat, but as pamarine cautioned, I would check with a Triumph Dealer or the factory direct before doing anything to the hull that could void the lifetime hull warranty.

 

[boostjunkie1]

Can anyone tell what pamarine does for a living ........... Pamarine, you give the most detailed posts I have ever read on a boat forum....Good Job

 

[cagrove]

Can anyone tell what pamarine does for a living ........... Pamarine, you give the most detailed posts I have ever read on a boat forum....Good Job

Definitely an asset to us other owners...thanks PA!

 

[pamarine]

Definitely an asset to us other owners...thanks PA!

Don't thank me, thank the Oil company's for running up gas prices and costing me customers. (I hope that sounded as bitter as I meant it).