Can you temporarily mount a thru hull transducer?

[jkust]

Hi all. I received a very inexpensive Bottomline Tournament 1101 FishFinder for Christmas from my wife to mount in my fiberglass boat. It was a Cabellas bargain cave no returns deal so I am stuck with it. I want to do a little fishing this year with the kids but I most likely won't keep this unit for more than a season and actually won't mount the unit to the dash or drill any holes for this cheap a unit. I My question to you all is can you temporarily mount a thruhull transducer? This is a small, almost flat transducer not a big round one. The bilge stays dry in this particular boat. I was going to try to duct tape it flat against the inside of the hull but realize how hokey that would be.

Thanks,

-Jason

 

[Moody Blue]

Re: Can you temporarily mount a thru hull transducer?

The transducer face must be in a "transmitting" media. That could be water, epoxy, grease, etc. It will not work if the face is "dry" because ultrasound does not effectively travel thru air. Whatever the transducer is mounted in, it must not contain any air bubbles or the efficiency of the unit will drop dramatically and become unusable.

You could make a dam out of a small plastic margarine tub by cutting the bottom off and glue it to the floor (hotglue ?) then fill with water and insert the transducer. Cut a small notch in the lid for the cable and snap it in place to keep the water from splashing out. The hot glue can be removed if/when you need to with minimal effort.

 

[okboating]

Re: Can you temporarily mount a thru hull transducer?

I have had good luck taking the transducer and carefully putting it in a glob of silicone. Just make sure the silicone does not have any bubbles.
Dave

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: Can you temporarily mount a thru hull transducer?

The transducer pressed against/resting on a water filled plastic bag will work for the short term. A clay/silicone dam filled with water also will work. Neither method is robust but it will last for a trip or two. You just need to get all the air out between the hull and xducer face.