I own a 1987 Ericson 34 and am considering buying a Garmin GPS/Chartplotter that can also be attached to an in-hull (shoot thru hull) transducer for on-screen depth readings. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge if this will work ok? Information says that it will work as long as the hull is not cored. I don't believe the hull is cored but it is quite thick so am concerned whether the transducer will function if glued to the inside of the hull. I'd rather not drill another hole thru the hull. The original depth sounder is on the boat but it only reads to 200 feet and there are times I would like to know deeper depths as well as have a back-up depth sounder.
In-hull transducer OK?
- Thread starter razehnder
- Start date
exoduse35
Sustaining Member
I am using one in my 35-2 without any problem. I am sure my hull is as thick as yours. Also most sensors are made by Airmar regardless of brand so the fact mine is Raymarine should not be a factor. They have recently changed the recommended media for suspending the sender (I think from mineral oil to glycol) so check to make sure you have the most up to date info on that. Edd
Garmin 541
I bought and installed a new Garmin 541s on my E28 last spring. I also opted for the through the hull sounder.
It was an easy install. Just one small glitch. the cable from the sounder was not quite long enough to make it to the unit and I had to purchase the 10 foot extension cable. Everything worked perfect.
On an unrelated issue I did an on line search for the Garmin 541s prices, found the least expensive, presented it to the local West Marine store and they matched it - no ?'s asked. (Of course I had the additional Massachuisetts sales tax but I had the piece of mind that if anything was wrong with the unit, it is an easy return.)
I bought and installed a new Garmin 541s on my E28 last spring. I also opted for the through the hull sounder.
It was an easy install. Just one small glitch. the cable from the sounder was not quite long enough to make it to the unit and I had to purchase the 10 foot extension cable. Everything worked perfect.
On an unrelated issue I did an on line search for the Garmin 541s prices, found the least expensive, presented it to the local West Marine store and they matched it - no ?'s asked. (Of course I had the additional Massachuisetts sales tax but I had the piece of mind that if anything was wrong with the unit, it is an easy return.)
Last edited:
I recently purchased new thru-hull transducers and used the existing holes from the crap I replaced. Why not do that?
As for West Marine's price matching, use the Red Laser app if you have a smart phone. I routinely save 40-50 percent off their prices. Problem is, they keep re-branding with private labels now, so many searches only return West Marine prices since they are "West Marine" products instead of Lewmar, or Samson, or whomever really manufactures them. But, they still carry plenty of name brand stuff that need Red Laser to dig into West Marine's 100 percent markup.
razehnder,
We installed a Garmin 441S in our e31 in August 2010. We didn't want to haul out at the time so we ordered the "shoot thru the hull" transducer and it has worked fine. While I can't vouch for the accuracy of the deep water readings we verified the shallow readings with a lead line several times (we also verified it once with our keel but that's another story). We did a "temporary" installation using a wax toilet bowl ring to mount the transducer to the hull and that is still how it is mounted. Very easy installation and it seems to work fine (it is important to eliminate any air bubbles). At our next haul out we will be installing a regular thru hull transducer to get speed and water temp info but we will probably leave the current one in place as a backup. You can see pictures of our installation here: http://imiloa.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/if-its-not-broke-dont-fix-it/
Cheers,
Rowan
We installed a Garmin 441S in our e31 in August 2010. We didn't want to haul out at the time so we ordered the "shoot thru the hull" transducer and it has worked fine. While I can't vouch for the accuracy of the deep water readings we verified the shallow readings with a lead line several times (we also verified it once with our keel but that's another story). We did a "temporary" installation using a wax toilet bowl ring to mount the transducer to the hull and that is still how it is mounted. Very easy installation and it seems to work fine (it is important to eliminate any air bubbles). At our next haul out we will be installing a regular thru hull transducer to get speed and water temp info but we will probably leave the current one in place as a backup. You can see pictures of our installation here: http://imiloa.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/if-its-not-broke-dont-fix-it/
Cheers,
Rowan
DS question
Helpful pictures at your web site. I'm not for sure but that old Combi system was probably at least a month's wages - or a multiple of that, back in the day. :0
Gotta ask about the DS transducer. Did you get the usual Garmin cup that is supposed to be glued to the hull and filled with liquid. Their 'ducer is mounted on the top of that plastic container with a bayonet type lock to hold it on. That kit came with my Garmin 3005c, and the thin plastic mounting cup/pot broke at one of the thin bayonet parts within a year. I am thinking of just gluing the 'ducer to the hull. I gather that yours is reading ok thru the wax? How deep does it regularly read??
Our transducer is the Airmar (via Garmin) P79.
(Since the older Raymarine DS works reliably, I have been ignoring the "no reading" on the Garmin plotter screen.)
Thanks,
Loren
Helpful pictures at your web site. I'm not for sure but that old Combi system was probably at least a month's wages - or a multiple of that, back in the day. :0
Gotta ask about the DS transducer. Did you get the usual Garmin cup that is supposed to be glued to the hull and filled with liquid. Their 'ducer is mounted on the top of that plastic container with a bayonet type lock to hold it on. That kit came with my Garmin 3005c, and the thin plastic mounting cup/pot broke at one of the thin bayonet parts within a year. I am thinking of just gluing the 'ducer to the hull. I gather that yours is reading ok thru the wax? How deep does it regularly read??
Our transducer is the Airmar (via Garmin) P79.
(Since the older Raymarine DS works reliably, I have been ignoring the "no reading" on the Garmin plotter screen.)
Thanks,
Loren
Attachments
-
cf-md.jpg
I also mounted a new transducer with toilet bowl wax. It's still working fine. (A PO cut the wires on all the transducers and kept his instrument displays.) It's the one that comes standard with the RM ST40. The expert at WM told me it wouldn't work that way, but it does. It didn't work on the first try, but I re-balled the wax and pressed pretty hard - so there is only a very thin layer of wax between the sensor and the hull. Also, the location on my E29 is in the small bilge under the hanging locker (next to the original through-hull) The first spot may have been too close to the keel. I'll get it hauled out one of these days and replace the through-hull, but no rush.
ps, I've only had it in the river, so it hasn't been tried on any depths over about 80 feet.
pps, the disadvantage to this is that there's no place where the transducer can actually point straight down. But in the shallows, where I'm principally worried about depth, the error is only a few inches. The original through-hull sensor doesn't point straight down either.
ps, I've only had it in the river, so it hasn't been tried on any depths over about 80 feet.
pps, the disadvantage to this is that there's no place where the transducer can actually point straight down. But in the shallows, where I'm principally worried about depth, the error is only a few inches. The original through-hull sensor doesn't point straight down either.
Last edited:
I don't recall there being a separate cup piece that we attached but I will ask Devon, he may remember differently. It has been working fine through the wax, we verified the depth in shallow water and we haven't gotten any erratic readings. Here on the river around St. Helens we see depths in the 60 foot range (which agrees with the charts) but that's about it, so although it is supposed to be able to read upwards of 200ft we haven't tested the accuracy at the deep end of it's range. We don't have a lead line that long anyway
Wax ring mounting transducer
There is nothing else in the wax, just the transducer in the wax. It really does work well, we tested it to touching the bottom with the keel and it was accurate.
I don't know if the wax will hold up in lower latitudes and higher water temps. We are going to install a through hull transducer at a future haul out. We plan to save the wax "shoot thru the hull" as a back up.
If this is not the final solution, at least a person could verify the mounting point and test the accuracy before doing the permanent epoxy.
Cheers!
Devon
I don't recall there being a separate cup piece that we attached but I will ask Devon, he may remember differently. It has been working fine through the wax, we verified the depth in shallow water and we haven't gotten any erratic readings. Here on the river around St. Helens we see depths in the 60 foot range (which agrees with the charts) but that's about it, so although it is supposed to be able to read upwards of 200ft we haven't tested the accuracy at the deep end of it's range. We don't have a lead line that long anyway
There is nothing else in the wax, just the transducer in the wax. It really does work well, we tested it to touching the bottom with the keel and it was accurate.
I don't know if the wax will hold up in lower latitudes and higher water temps. We are going to install a through hull transducer at a future haul out. We plan to save the wax "shoot thru the hull" as a back up.
If this is not the final solution, at least a person could verify the mounting point and test the accuracy before doing the permanent epoxy.
Cheers!
Devon
Thru hull
When I was having some sketchy readings on the original depth sounder on my '88 34, I did buy new ST60 instruments.
For the balance of the season until I hauled out the following spring, I mounted the new ST60 transucer in a baggy filled with water and put that in a hollow near the thru hulls underneath the sinks. I did put a little bit of water in the hollow too so that the baggy didn't have any air gaps between it and the hull. Worked great. Of course, the original transducer started working again before I hauled it out. Changed it anyway.
Regards
When I was having some sketchy readings on the original depth sounder on my '88 34, I did buy new ST60 instruments.
For the balance of the season until I hauled out the following spring, I mounted the new ST60 transucer in a baggy filled with water and put that in a hollow near the thru hulls underneath the sinks. I did put a little bit of water in the hollow too so that the baggy didn't have any air gaps between it and the hull. Worked great. Of course, the original transducer started working again before I hauled it out. Changed it anyway.
Regards