Hold off on hardtop till I find out what they will do with this.

[John_D]

Here's a rough sketch, the red lines is where the wires would go.View attachment 127604

Looking at your Lowrance, I want to install the Elite 12 Ti2. Is there enough room?

 

[Floridaman79]

Mine is a 2020, bought it from cycle springs

 

[Floridaman79]

Looking at your Lowrance, I want to install the Elite 12 Ti2. Is there enough room?

I think so but can't say for sure. My unit came with templates for the 12 but I threw it away so I wouldn't accidentally use it! You could probably download and print the template or at least get your hands on one and you'd be able to tell.

 

[John_D]

I stand corrected, after looking at the top with the stress cracks it is also a flat stock.. My bad......

 

[John_D]

I think so but can't say for sure. My unit came with templates for the 12 but I threw it away so I wouldn't accidentally use it! You could probably download and print the template or at least get your hands on one and you'd be able to tell.

Did you run a transponder cable? If so do you have photos of the transom and how you ran the cable to the console. Thanks

 

[2kwik4u]

I have the same top. I'm thinking of adding diagonal bracing wires like flying wires. I don't think the cracks were caused by a manufacturing flaw as much of a design flaw. The cross section of the tower has a low area moment of inertia athwartship, meaning it doesn't have a lot of stiffness side to side. Side to side movement would definitely cause stress in the location of the cracks.. I've considered a few options to stiffen it up but think the cables attached with turnbuckle would be cheap and effective.

You're correct, the AMOI is low in that direction. In the case of lateral sway, the legs of the tower are far more flexible than the upper assembly, and I would expect them to deflect more than the hartop assembly. This however would lead to a dynamic misalignment between the legs of the tower and the top assembly. You also have that weld in a place of very high stress do to the combination of forces all residing at the same point.

I don't think adding stiffness is the answer here, personally. You will simply move the area of high stress from that joint to elsewhere in the system (most likely the base mounts between the tower and the fiberglass).

Instead I would place a thick (1/4in+) rubber gasket between the hardtop and the tower legs. This will allow both static and dynamic misalignment without significantly decreasing overall system stiffness and deflections, which should hopefully allow for the movement without transferring stress. This assumes the overall deflection doesn't cause problems elsewhere (like the tower legs hitting the fiberglass console).

If you're dead set on adding stiffness to the entire system, then I would suggest adding gussets between the hardtop mounting plates and the cross tubes. This will transfer the lateral deflection loads directly from the mounting plates to the cross braces without putting a weld in the load path. You could also lower that cross brace tube to tie it directly into the lower mounting plate to remove the moment in that welded joint. Another option is to move away from the tube in general, and place a formed channel in that area. It would allow it to be fully welded on both sides of the material (Doubling weld capacity without adding extra passes), and shaped to create a higher stiffness.

Lots of possible re-design solutions here. The "fix" solution is to remove, grind out the weld, and repair at some level. Assuming it's aluminum here, so back purging can help maintain the weld integrity, as well as proper beveling and grinding prep to achieve a full penetration weld from a single side with back purge. Depending on who is in control of the repair I would consider adding some gussets while it's in the fab shop. They are inexpensive and should be effective.

 

[Floridaman79]

Did you run a transponder cable? If so do you have photos of the transom and how you ran the cable to the console. Thanks

Here is how I ran the transducer cable. I don't have any pictures of the cable routing but it was a straightforward proposition to run it. I wired it to an accessory switch and swapped out the 10 amp breaker with a 3 amp. If i had life to do over again I don't think I'd wire it to the rocker switch. The reason I put the bulkhead there is that its above the waterline there but also good visibility on the backside so it is easy to service in case it ever leaks.

 

[mkbcaptain]

View attachment 127617

Here is how I ran the transducer cable. I don't have any pictures of the cable routing but it was a straightforward proposition to run it. I wired it to an accessory switch and swapped out the 10 amp breaker with a 3 amp. If i had life to do over again I don't think I'd wire it to the rocker switch. The reason I put the bulkhead there is that its above the waterline there but also good visibility on the backside so it is easy to service in case it ever leaks.

Does that location work at Speed?
mine is in the same area and doesn’t work past no wake speeds.

 

[John_D]

View attachment 127617

Here is how I ran the transducer cable. I don't have any pictures of the cable routing but it was a straightforward proposition to run it. I wired it to an accessory switch and swapped out the 10 amp breaker with a 3 amp. If i had life to do over again I don't think I'd wire it to the rocker switch. The reason I put the bulkhead there is that its above the waterline there but also good visibility on the backside so it is easy to service in case it ever leaks.

What is the name of the plate covering the cable going through the transom? Thanks for your help, I plan on running this myself so any tips you may have would be appreciated

 

[Floridaman79]

What is the name of the plate covering the cable going through the transom? Thanks for your help, I plan on running this myself so any tips you may have would be appreciated

Here is what I used. I had to file down the nubs on the transducer connector and open up the minor thread diameter on the nut by about .010" but other than that it worked out great. Installed with generous amounts of 5200.

 

[Floridaman79]

Does that location work at Speed?
mine is in the same area and doesn’t work past no wake speeds.

Works great at speed. Reverse washes it out and at idle speeds I get some noise on sonar in the water column but can still see bottom. Really shallow water seems to confuse the unit sometimes.

 

[Liveto99]

What year was your tower refitted? Your top is for sure structurally different. Not round stock like the one that is showing the stress cracks but a square stock design.

2019

 

[Tailwaters]

My transducer is in the same location but opposite side and seems to work just fine at speed

 

[John_D]

Here is what I used. I had to file down the nubs on the transducer connector and open up the minor thread diameter on the nut by about .010" but other than that it worked out great. Installed with generous amounts of 5200.
View attachment 127629

Thank you

 

[2kwik4u]

That round tube to flat bar weld is terrible. It's a REALLY REALLY poor design. We avoid those like the plague because they are very difficult to get right, and in a high stress application they fail often.

Some formed or machined saddles would great a MUCH better design in this area, and not add significant cost.

 

[Botchco]

I was rifling thru boat pictures and it looks like mine has a different structure.
View attachment 127606

This is the one from Jet boat pilots website - Will @JetBoatPilot might want to comment on this for those of us who were considering this product.

 

[brian86992]

You're correct, the AMOI is low in that direction. In the case of lateral sway, the legs of the tower are far more flexible than the upper assembly, and I would expect them to deflect more than the hartop assembly. This however would lead to a dynamic misalignment between the legs of the tower and the top assembly. You also have that weld in a place of very high stress do to the combination of forces all residing at the same point.

I don't think adding stiffness is the answer here, personally. You will simply move the area of high stress from that joint to elsewhere in the system (most likely the base mounts between the tower and the fiberglass).

Instead I would place a thick (1/4in+) rubber gasket between the hardtop and the tower legs. This will allow both static and dynamic misalignment without significantly decreasing overall system stiffness and deflections, which should hopefully allow for the movement without transferring stress. This assumes the overall deflection doesn't cause problems elsewhere (like the tower legs hitting the fiberglass console).

If you're dead set on adding stiffness to the entire system, then I would suggest adding gussets between the hardtop mounting plates and the cross tubes. This will transfer the lateral deflection loads directly from the mounting plates to the cross braces without putting a weld in the load path. You could also lower that cross brace tube to tie it directly into the lower mounting plate to remove the moment in that welded joint. Another option is to move away from the tube in general, and place a formed channel in that area. It would allow it to be fully welded on both sides of the material (Doubling weld capacity without adding extra passes), and shaped to create a higher stiffness.

Lots of possible re-design solutions here. The "fix" solution is to remove, grind out the weld, and repair at some level. Assuming it's aluminum here, so back purging can help maintain the weld integrity, as well as proper beveling and grinding prep to achieve a full penetration weld from a single side with back purge. Depending on who is in control of the repair I would consider adding some gussets while it's in the fab shop. They are inexpensive and should be effective.

I've thought about this quite a bit. Also considered guy wires or even a welded lateral brace. Like you mentioned, lots of considerations to get a good weld plus matching factory powder coat is a pain.

Guy wires from a thin cable that provides some elasticity might be a good answer. Allowing slight deflection to not over stiffen and over stress the mounting points while limiting deflection magnitude up top. Plus, they can be attached by drilling a hole and not worrying about welding and powder coat.

 

[Liveto99]

 

[Liveto99]

Some pictures, I can’t see to well early in the morning.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

I have not seen this personally but I know the manufacturer and he always stands behind his products. Did this get resolved?