FSH Xducer location

[Earfixr]

New FSH owner with a question. Installed a Helix 10 SI GPS with dual SI xducers either side of the jet and a XP9 20 epoxied in the rear of the hull just right of center. Side imaging works great. Above 7 mph i lose the down signal. Helix reads 2 feet until i slow down below 7mph. Where did y'all mount your shoot-thru x-ducers? I fear my dealer put mine in a bubble zone and its useless.

I love the boat and realize a jet drive poses some unique problems. Other toys are an
additional 800 gpm auto pump plumbed in the rear below the bucket tray. Rule High water alarm wired between the factory guages that looks stock. Dual bank 15 -amp changer for crank and house batts. Two trolling motor batts and 15 amp dual bank charger all mounted under front hatches. Minn Kota 60" 80# Rip Tide Ulterra which is just sick. Standard Horizon GS 2200 DSC AIS VHf and Hx870 back up. Keel Saver for beaching. And an ACR ResQlink for off shore insurance.

Couldn't sleep right carrying a $50k boat on $50 chineese bias ply tires. Changed to 15" aluminum wheels with 215/75/15 Goodyear Wrangler AT/S load range D's riding on wireless Dill TPMS sensors beamed to the tow rig.

Almost ready for my 10 hour. Misters and LED spreader lights go on next. Amber run way lights just for fun.

Any advice on shoot thru transducer placement would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Fred

 

[highanddryinco]

I'll be curious to hear where this subject goes as well. I have a Helix 7 DI. I originally had the Xducer on the transom. My bad as in my rush to get the new boat on vacation, I totally forgot about the thru hull water pick-up for the live well. The trailer bunk hides it. I must have been perfectly aligned behind it because it was bubble city and I lost bottom at about the same speed that you did.
So, I went the shoot thru hull route and mounted it just forward of the thru hull for the speedo. I've only had one chance to get on the water since and it was a "trolling motor only" lake so no speed test.
I had a good bottom, structure, and fish mark reading. I also had a real nice DI reading. My only concern was that I seemed to have a fair amount of clutter between the surface and bottom. I'm hoping it was air on the hull and not air in my epoxy job or worse yet, air in the hull structure. I'll be hitting the water again in the next few days and will see how the bottom reading holds up at speed.

FYI, I used Loctite slow cure marine epoxy.

 

[Earfixr]

The boat was super cheap. All the options, toys, upgrades and labor to install were not. On the hoof she's bumping right at 50. All the more reason to switch out the crappy tires as it will be trailered from Venice to Destin often.

50K boat? Is that because of the amount of $ spent adding additional equipment/mods? If so, for that amount of $ you could have purchased either a larger boat, a boat with those features already included or a boat brand/manufacture that will hold its value better.
(Just stating other options that I would have taken, not saying it correct or better, just my opinion)

$50k for a market value 32K boat (new). ?

Maybe I missed something and interpreted your post incorrectly.

he

 

[highanddryinco]

I'm hoping it was air on the hull and not air in my epoxy job or worse yet, air in the hull structure. I'll be hitting the water again in the next few days and will see how the bottom reading holds up at speed.

Happy to report that I played hooky today and went fishing. The epoxy Xducer mount spot right in front of the speedo proved to be just right. Good clear bottom reading right up to my max speed of 30mph. (Altitude) Surface to bottom was nice and clear up to almost 25 and then started to pick up some minor clutter which increased with speed from 25 to 30. I'm pleased.
Temp was spot on with the Yamaha gauge as well. I didn't pay attention but it probably took a few minutes for the hull to equalize with the water.

 

[Earfixr]

Happy to report that I played hooky today and went fishing. The epoxy Xducer mount spot right in front of the speedo proved to be just right. Good clear bottom reading right up to my max speed of 30mph. (Altitude) Surface to bottom was nice and clear up to almost 25 and then started to pick up some minor clutter which increased with speed from 25 to 30. I'm pleased.
Temp was spot on with the Yamaha gauge as well. I didn't pay attention but it probably took a few minutes for the hull to equalize with the water.

Excellent news! I'll have my dealer put a new one right there too. Thanks for the info highanddry.

 

[Bill Smith]

Happy to report that I played hooky today and went fishing. The epoxy Xducer mount spot right in front of the speedo proved to be just right. Good clear bottom reading right up to my max speed of 30mph. (Altitude) Surface to bottom was nice and clear up to almost 25 and then started to pick up some minor clutter which increased with speed from 25 to 30. I'm pleased.
Temp was spot on with the Yamaha gauge as well. I didn't pay attention but it probably took a few minutes for the hull to equalize with the water.

I've always heard that the thru hull transducers did not work well with a cored hull design. That basically the foam core of the hull would not allow the transducer to shoot thru. I ended up mounting my Garmin on the stern with a stern saver and running the cable up the drain tube into the left swim platform locker. Is there something I've been missing about transducers or our hull ?

 

[Earfixr]

I've always heard that the thru hull transducers did not work well with a cored hull design. That basically the foam core of the hull would not allow the transducer to shoot thru. I ended up mounting my Garmin on the stern with a stern saver and running the cable up the drain tube into the left swim platform locker. Is there something I've been missing about transducers or our hull ?

How well does your's work at speed? Good reading up to WOT? Usually the reason to go shoot-thru is to get a better return at speed. Below 7mph my side scans also down scan in HD for awesome resuls but suck for any returns at speed.

 

[highanddryinco]

I've always heard that the thru hull transducers did not work well with a cored hull design.

Not having drilled "thru-hull" for anything else on my boat and therefore not knowing for sure, I went purely on the assumption of my "visual best guess" that we do not have a cored hull before I mounted this thing where I did. If anyone has drilled the bottom and knows for sure something to the contrary, please chime in. That would be good info for all.

And I guess it's probably worth noting that the lake I was on only hits a max depth of approximately 40 feet. I'm not sure how much the speed effectiveness will drop in deeper water.
However, that's the kind of condition I want my bottom reading to work at high speed...when that 40 feet comes up to 4 feet in 5 seconds.

 

[FisherMcree]

Happy to report that I played hooky today and went fishing. The epoxy Xducer mount spot right in front of the speedo proved to be just right. Good clear bottom reading right up to my max speed of 30mph. (Altitude) Surface to bottom was nice and clear up to almost 25 and then started to pick up some minor clutter which increased with speed from 25 to 30. I'm pleased.
Temp was spot on with the Yamaha gauge as well. I didn't pay attention but it probably took a few minutes for the hull to equalize with the water.

With the guidance from highanddryinco I epoxied my transducer from my Hummingbird Helix 7 di gps just in front of the speedo inside the hull. Took it to the lake and it works great with he same results posted earlier. Our local waters get down to about 100' and then can jump up relatively quickly. Thanks highanddryinco!

 

[highanddryinco]

Glad it worked out! About the time it works for one person...another has different results. 2 for 2 is a good start.

 

[jetfisher]

When I mounted my lowrance , I think i have it to the outside just a tad too far. I have no problem reading depth at speed but lose the ability to mark fish at around 7 to 8 mph. my guess is turbulence from the live well thru hull. Its something I can live with thats for sure.

 

[Van T]

I have a simrad Go7 can I mount the transducer in side the hull or do you have to use a special transducer for it to work I'm new to the boating- fishing game

 

[Earfixr]

Not seeing a picture of what transducer came with your unit, most likely you'll need a different transducer. Most new units come with a transom mount unit. You'll need to order a special shoot-thru xducer and epoxy it in the right spot. I've heard of people trying to make a shoot thru with a transom mount xducer but with poor results. Most shoot-thru's are cheap too. Good luck.

 

[SoftballBryan]

I put my transducer under the boat mounted to the metal around the keel. Self tapping screws predrilled with some marine sealant into holes.... side scan works great...

Does terrible when in neutral and reverse due to jet wash...

Works on plane to about 30mph...

 

[Earfixr]

Update: dealer finally installed a new shoot-thru puck on the port side of the jet pump mirror image to the factory speedo location. Works perfect! It now reads depth accurately up to WFO.