10M

My existing through-hull depth finder never really worked right...it would flash the wrong depths or no depths at all. I'm replacing it (and the rest of the gauges) with gaffrig. I've heard interference from wood or the consistency of the hull causes problems. It is a straight hull ('88 10 meter) with the transducer mounted right in front of the port side engine. Should I mount the new transducer in the same spot? Anyone know if something in the hull of this boat is causing problems? Should a whole new unit fix it? Suggestions would be great. Thanks.

c_deezy

For the 'shoot-thru' ones to work there is supposed to be a little recessed area where there isn't any coring, for some reason they don't work as well through the balsa. Personally I've about had it with my 'shoot-thru' and as soon as I get a chance I'm going to put the transducer for my gps on.

US1 Fountain

I just talked with Fountain about this very thing last Fri. Not sure if this relates to your boat, but they said that Fountains are cored down the keel 12" both sides, and for me to mount mine at least more than 12" off center. At that point it is pure FG, no coring.

I had a '94 27' that had what looked like a peice of PVC pipe glassed into the the floor in the bilge, then the t-ducer set it epoxy in that pipe. It appeared that was recessed into the bottom, not just glassed to it. That gauge worked flawlessly up to WOT speeds!
My current '99 boat wouldn't read depths if the boat was in gear. At rest, it worked ok. It was epoxied in the bilge, not by Fountain I understood, and I kicked it loose. Probaobly why it wasn't reliable. Haven't tried to remount it yet in front of the step, as Fountain recommends for the stepped bottom boats.

carcrash

I **used to** have a transom mounted depth transducer, but at about 70 knots it went bye-bye. So you really haev to go with a "shoot through"
installation, and it can't go through any core: foam is as bad as balsa. Gotta be solid glass. Pretty easy to grind the inner layer, remove the core, lay some more glass back into the divot, and glue in the transducer.

As has been mentioned, a common approach is to epoxy in a vertical 4 to 6 inch, or even bigger, PVC pipe with a screw-on cap, install the transducer in the cap, and fill the pipe up with water or, more typically, a mineral oil, so the transducer to bottom to water has no air whatsoever between the transducer and the water. That works, and makes it easy to replace the transducer the next time.

luvlake

Mine went bad after I had the boat 1 month. The dealer tried to fix it, no luck. I finally installed it myself. The trick I found was to use a good epoxy glue that is designed for plastic, wood & fiberglass. I put it back where it was installed at the factory. First I took sandpaper to rough up the plastic on the transponder, then I wet it and moved it around till I started to get a signal. I then put the epoxy glue where I got a good reading, wet the transponder and pushed down, holding it for 5 minutes. You might think I'm nuts but the only way I could get the depth finder to work was to wet the transponder. Since I have a stepped hull on a 2000 32 fever, I loose reading some of the time but at idle, and most of the time, it works fine. Good Luck...

US1 Fountain

luvlake, is your mounted inside the access hole in the cabin step compartment?

luvlake

Yes it is, I bought the boat new in 02, and fixed it a couple months after owning it. It is in the access box or hole right as you step into the cabin by the little pump that is in there. I know it sounds nuts but you have to keep the transponder wet while glueing it down. I guess so there is no air bubbles in between it and the hull. It has stayed there ever since that time and works fine.

US1 Fountain

Thanks. Good to know it works there. Just for clarification, not in the step compartment itself where the pump is, but thru the access cover in the side of that compartment leading under the sink cabinet??? At least that's where Fountain told me to mount it. I tried to remount mine there with epoxy last yr, but it wouldn't work at all. I ended up prying it loose a couple weeks ago to remount. Must have not had a good seal. Fountain told me to use silicone.

luvlake

You are correct. You have to open the round plate and it goes in there. I mounted it at the same place it came from the factory. The dealer tried to glue it but it came loose again. I tell you how I came accross the water trick. I put a depth finder in my 21.5 Welcraft and I would drop the transducer in the water to test if it was working. It wouldn't register till one time I forgot to wipe it off and then it worked. I did the same procedure a depth finder I put in a pontoon and it worked on the Fountain. I didn't use silicone but the epoxy that works on plastic/ wood, comes in a tube with two types of glue that you mix and then hold. I know this sounds crazy but it works....