Has anyone installed In hull transducers for speed or depth? And if so I was curious how well this technology works and what ones you would recommend.
When I first bought our E32 in ‘73 I went with a wet box method using a large diameter piece of PVC tubing in the starboard locker closest to the main bulkhead. The tube was mounted with epoxy vertically and had a clear piece of plexiglass on top to which the transducer was mounted. The top also had a small hole to allow filling the tube with mineral oil.
Back then I had a popular Pierce Simpson analog unit mounted on a swing out bracket at the companionway. The unit functioned perfectly taking its soundings through the hull. The added plus was that the transducer head remained free of barnacles.
It wasn’t until ‘91 when I finally swapped out for a more modern digital unit that I put the transducer through the hull along with a through hull knot meter.
To answer your question, yes they do work well. …But today given you can get speed and depth from just one through hull, I’d recommend that option.
We in fact filled back in one of the bottom holes and now use a single combo transducer/knot meter.