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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Depth finder install ?

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brian
Deckhand

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USA
23 Posts

Initially Posted - 08/07/2006 : 22:42:06

Where should I mount my transducer?

Boat: 1982 Catalina 25
Depth Sounder: Hummingbird
Transducer: Transom type
Mount application: In hull/toliet wax(temp solution)

I tried mounting under v-berth. All readings good in marina, but as soon as we leave marina it goes to 0.08 depth and stays there. I have tried like 5 spots under the v-berth and it seems to not help where I move it under there. I want to get this to work but I am going crazy now!

On another note, is it possible to mount it outside of the hull in the water somewhere? Maybe attach it to the rudder somehow? Reason I ask is this would give me access to the temp and speed sensor too.

Thanks for any help

Brian

Edited by - on

Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 08/07/2006 : 23:15:03

Brian -

Weird that you would get accurate readings in the marina only. Maybe it's not the transducer but the settings? Could it possibly have anything to do with the setting in which you can adjust for keel depth?

In other words, I have my Hummingbird transducer (set in black epoxy under the V-berth, just aft of the thru-hull) adjusted to show actual depth under the hull and it works great no matter where I am. When I first installed it though, I played with setting it to register the depth below the keel (i.e., indicating 2 ft depth while actually in 5 ft of water to allow for 3 ft keel) and I remember that the readings were really wacky then.

Just a thought.

Steve

Edited by - Lightnup on 08/07/2006 23:18:55

sweetcraft
Admiral

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USA
816 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 00:00:21

I don't have a hummingbird sounder but have had problems of reverse voltage or close to another sounder which throws off my unit. Is the speed of the outboard a factor or the charging system? Some charging systems do run up a higher voltage. Just some thoughts.

Edited by - on

glivs
Admiral

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USA
836 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 06:33:50

Brian,
In similar fashion...just last evening I installed a Hummingbird (160) that I picked up at a garage sale. Dangling the transducer over the side at my mooring the depth read 21' which I can believe, but when I mounted it under the V-berth (toilet wax) just forward of the thru-hull and slightly off-center, it read 1.8' (keel offset set to "off"). Not yet sure why??? Will try to play with it again this coming weekend, weather allowing. Please keep us posted if you make any progress. Just to cover all bases, did you remove the speed sensor so that the transducer lies flat against the hull?

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 06:34:18

My Humminbird is epoxied to the hull as far forward under the quarterberth as possible, works great.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3440 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 08:15:01

I have my Humminbird transducer mounted in V-Berth area with toilet wax ring material and it has worked fine since installation last winter.

I first checked it out hanging it over the transom connected to a stick. After that tested okay, then tried the Vberth area and required no troubleshooting.

Edited by - on

existentialsailor
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1180 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 08:37:58

Any possibility of hull delamination causing a void in the hull when under stress? The resulting pocket might be what the transducer is reading. I really hope I'm wrong about this though and there is a much simpler explanation.

Edited by - on

djn
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1561 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 09:59:40

Hi Gerry, I would think that the location of where you mounted your transducer might be a couple inches below the waterline. That would make for a shollow depth in the same spot. That is different than Keel Offset. Cheers.

Edited by - on

brian
Deckhand

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USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 08/08/2006 : 11:44:27

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by djn
 Hi Gerry, I would think that the location of where you mounted your transducer might be a couple inches below the waterline. That would make for a shollow depth in the same spot. That is different than Keel Offset. Cheers.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I think the weird readings have to do with movement of the boat. In the marina it doesn't move all that much. I don't remember seeing a "Keel offset" setting, but maybe I just missed it. I think the model of fishfinder is a "535" not totally sure , but I believe that is it. Oh and it is speed capable, but I don't have a speed sensor. I thought the speed sensor was in the transducer too, silly me!.. I hope I can get out to the boat tomorrow, so I will try a few different things again and see what happens. This can be so frustrating. Oh and I hope there is nothing wrong with the hull. Its been in the water 5 yrs with no bottom job, but the guy I bought it from took very good care of the boat scrubbing the bottom atleast once a month. But maybe it does have a few blisters, not sure. Didn't have it pulled or surveyed when I bought it. Maybe that was a stupid thing to do too... Hmmm

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 08/11/2006 : 11:33:47

Brian,
Work the transducer in the wax good. Try to avoid air bubbles between the transducer and the hull. Also make sure there's is a little wax between the transducer and the hull. I think I have about a 1/2 inch of wax between mine.

Edited by - on

StSimon
Captain

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USA
298 Posts

Response Posted - 08/12/2006 : 00:02:30

What happened to putting it in PVC with mineral oil?I think I read in the Tech Tips to do it that way.

I didn't read the thread as thoroughly as I could but the initial post says he has a transom transducer. This (at least I think it is) obviously cannot work on our sailboats. It would be out of the water on one of the tacks if mounted on the transom. I also say can not work as I don't believe these transducers are designed to "shoot through" an inch or more of fiberglass. Maybe I'm wrong.

Mine is a Standard Horizon puck that came with a mounting sleeve which I simply put under the rear of the V-berth on centerline with 4200 and filled with enough mineral oil to overflow when I put the puck in place. FYI, the mineral oil will not freeze (not that it would in AZ). Mine also came with a transom transducer so I had to order the correct one. Once installed and using a weighted, marked line, I adjusted it for keel offset. It works great. The speed and temp sensor required a thru-hull transducer mounted directly in front of it.

Next up is the depth sounder for the Garmin GPSMAP. This will give the contours and fish in addition to the depth. You gotta love redundancy plus more information than before. It should be nice for diving and fishing. They have a puck as well so there's only one thru-hull under the V-berth. It should be nice once installed.

Good luck brian

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 08/12/2006 : 17:46:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by StSimon
 I also say can not work as I don't believe these transducers are designed to "shoot through" an inch or more of fiberglass. Maybe I'm wrong.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I have installed the "transom mount" type transducers in epoxy and/or wax in the "shoot through" mode on several boats over the years with no problems. If I'm not mistaken the last one I did (a Garmin) gave instructions in their manual on how to do it.

Edited by - on

Music Man
Deckhand

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USA
7 Posts

Response Posted - 08/22/2006 : 16:25:35

I had great success mounting the transom transducer on a piece of 1/2" thick x 2"wide x about 10" long plexiglass. Mounted the plexiglass piece to the starboard transom with the mounting holes above the waterline and silicon sealant. Works great and seldom comes out of the water, even on a hard tack. When I need a depth finder the most is in shallow water or when fishing...neither of which I'm sailing hard. I dunno, works for me.

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 08/22/2006 : 17:02:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by tompotter
 <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by StSimon
 I also say can not work as I don't believe these transducers are designed to "shoot through" an inch or more of fiberglass. Maybe I'm wrong.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I have installed the "transom mount" type transducers in epoxy and/or wax in the "shoot through" mode on several boats over the years with no problems. If I'm not mistaken the last one I did (a Garmin) gave instructions in their manual on how to do it.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
My Humminbird had instructions on how to mount the transom mount transducer on the inside of the hull. The best suggestion they made was to use slow cure epoxy so all the bubbles get out before it hardens. I did and it works great.

Edited by - on

StSimon
Captain

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USA
298 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 15:26:27

Looks like I wasted money getting the optional puck transducer.

Oh well..

Edited by - on

jotruelove
Deckhand

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USA
22 Posts

Response Posted - 08/23/2006 : 21:34:05

Hi, and welcome to the group :)

When I bought my Catalina 25 this past spring, my Humminbird unit was worked fine while at the marina, but in real water it was "stuck" on 17 feet, no matter how deep the water was. I changed the tranducer's location and mounting technique and the problem went away; I mounted my transom mount transducer on the port side with Plumber's Putty (about $2.00 at Lowes). It is a flat dashboard mount type head. Once I used the puddy, as recommended here on the site, the unit functioned perfectly.

I just put in a Humminbird 525 fish finder/depth finder, and used the same Plumber's Putty as it's base. The putty had been on the boat for a while in anticipation of the Fish Finder's arrival. The putty was "damp" and sticky, but the adhesion properties of the putty still existed.

Funny thing though, after placing the tranducer into the putty, the fishfinder's depth was not stable, no matter where I placed it. I gave up on the project, as it was 94 degrees on the boat, and went home to do some research.

I was concerned that perhaps my two tranducers might create a conflict, and I was right. You can have multiple depthfinders on a boat, but it helps that the two transducers are on unique frequencies. Mine, of course, are on the same frequency (200Khz). This, I was certain, was the root of my issue.

So I go back to the boat to test the multiple-tranducer theory, and I am unable to replicate the error. The new 525 works perfectly, and the existing depthfinder works just as well. They are both within about .2 to .4 feet of each other. That's close enought for me.

I believe that the root of the problem was the "moist" putty that was being used to secure the transducer. I feel that once the puddy "dried out" and the putty and tranducer became as one, the problem was solved. The dry putty did the trick.

Again, welcome to the group. I hope this helps...

Edited by - on

brian
Deckhand

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USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 08/24/2006 : 18:43:30

Hi all. Sorry its took so long for me to write back. Finally got out on the boat this week and played with it alittle. So I think its working now, somewhat. Not sure how though? Let me explain for the confusion.

So Today I found the "depth offset". I set the offset to -5ft. Doing so it now reads stable for the most part. Sometimes it jumps randomly, sometimes its stable. So I am think that it could have been a few different things that made for the weird readings.

Last week when I went out I wiped down most of the bottom of the boat while swiming. For the most part it was fairly clean but had some paint flaking off here and there. I also moved the transducer several times which by letting it sit in 1 spot for 3 weeks might have dried/let air out of the wax. Then changing the Offset today.

So now I am thinking that the random readings every now and then just means it needs to be place alittle more towards center and alittle further back than it is currently. However do to the heat wave here in texas and the lack of time(work in the morning), I called it quits and came on home. I will hopefully make it out there this coming week and turn on my NEW!! A/C!! and get some work down on the boat. Then again, if the winds are right... lol..

Edited by - on

brian
Deckhand

Members Avatar

USA
23 Posts

Response Posted - 10/05/2006 : 00:43:17

Update:

Depth offset set to: -1ft

Depth meter runs great now. Runs stable now. Still have the transducer in toliet bowel ring wax. If it works why mess with it haha...

Thanks for all the help guys.

Edited by - on

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