Inside mounted transducer

[reelendealen]

Hello everyone I just podded the boat and don't want to drill anymore holes in the transom. I was toying with the idea of mounting my factory 50/200 Lowrance transducer in the old engine well. The Lowrance transducer has one heck of an audible "snap" to it so I can only assume it would travel through the bottom of my Double Eagle with ease.

Has anyone here mounted an external transducer inside the hull? If I get enough "NO's" I'll order the one that Lowrance sells specifically for it. Let me know.

 

[wildthing]

know a few guys who just place in the bilge area and hold it down with a zip-lok bag of sand
and it works for them easy one to try. unless your completely dry
then you may just have to mount it with silicone caulk .

 

[Sharphooks]

The bigger issue is.....what are you shooting through? The best scenario would be a thin skin of fiberglass with ZERO foam or wooden combing between the transducer and the water

In-hull transducer placements are the last on the list as far as betting good clean returns. Some guys get lucky if the bottom of the boat is conducive but it's not an exact science

Have you considered epoxying a transom saver to your pod then mounting the transducer to that? No holes to drill and you would have the option of tilting the transducer a bit if you want to track your fishing gear

 

[Hookin'up]

easy to test,
place ducer in a baggie full of water, tie off the top where the cable comes out and place it in the bilge where you are thinking, plug it in and fire up the head unit
see what your getting for returns, make sure it is as horizontal to the water surface as possible and pointing straight down,
try a couple different spots to make sure, try 4-6" either side of keel line as a start,

 

[reelendealen]

Thank you for the ideas. Yes, I've read about the bag of sand and the bag of water and trying different spots. I understand I could weld a bracket on my pod and attach the transducer to it but I was hoping to keep it dead clean back there without all the extra wires. I have a super clean spot inside the old inboard motor area where it could mount.

Has anyone on the forum mounted one inside and do you notice any difference in quality or signal?

 

[Sr SQ]

I have mounted a couple that way and they work pretty good.
You definetly have to check with the baggie filled with water to make sure your location has no air voids in the layup
Mounting must be done with out any chance of air bubbles, the cheapest way I found was to build a dam around the ducer and pour 1/2" slow cure ( this allows bubbles to escape) epoxy in then slowly lay ducer into bath of epoxy.
Another option is to make a wet box or tank that is filled with antifreeze that you glass to the bottom of the hull and mount the ducer in.
Airmar website has tons of info on shoot thru ducers and how to mount them to get the best performance from them

 

[Delray]

I installed my skimmer transducer from a hds7 in hull two years ago. I just embedded mine in waterproof silicone, works great, picks up bottom at 30 + mph. If your unhappy with it just pop it off. Easy. Worth trying before you buy a new one.

 

[reelendealen]

Hey great idea's... Delray that's super interesting! I was hoping someone who had used one that was meant for the outside transom would chime in on installing inside Silicone eh? Nice!

 

[ryanb]

My river boat has a transducer thrown in the bilge. It works well enough shooting through 3/8 inch aluminum then 1/2 inch UHMW. Works better if I throw a bit of water into the bilge. It reads much better in the water though. Just not practical for me and how many rocks I hit when in the river.

I did initially mount it in silicone but found it read better lying free on the bottom.

 

[reelendealen]

I'm going to go the epoxy route..slow cure..no bubbles. I paid extra to upgrade the transducer with the system and like I said it has a powerful "snap" to it. I will post pictures of the install and let you all know how the sea trial goes. I would have a way cleaner system with the ducer inside. Thank you for all the input. If anyone has pictures of there install that would be great!

 

[Birdsnest]

I have done it in a few boats with a regular external transducer. I did this without epoxy for there was always water in my bulge but the problem without epoxy was if some sand or dirt got under the unit it would not work so well. I think you will get a better send/receive using a nice hard slow setting(to get rid of bubbles)epoxy than in silicone. It works fantastic and is great for navigating at high speed because it always works and you can mark bait on the run as well. I would DO IT!!!! You may loose some sensitivity but not much and it is worth it to have a hassle free transducer. Ever since I started doing this I have refused to use anything less than a through hull. I do not hesitate to cut holes to install these. try to have the sender right down on the glass bottom to better the signal. if you have mounting hardware there is no reason the sender can't be mounted to the back wall of the transom (backwards) or even sideways i'd suspect.

my 2 cents

 

[reelendealen]

Thnx birdnest. Great post. I was planning on mounting it with the mounting bracket pointing to the bow though. Just like it was mounted to the transom...only inside