In-hull transducer

[fredn56]

I want to install an in-hull transducer on my Ericson 23 II.
Is the hull solid fiberglass or cored?
I have never drilled a hole in the hull, so I don't know.
Where is the best location for placement of the transducer?
Any other advice for epoxying the transducer in place?

Thanks,

Fred Nelson
Ericson 23 #344
Ad Astra

 

[pmarsha3]

I want to install an in-hull transducer on my Ericson 23 II.
Is the hull solid fiberglass or cored?
I have never drilled a hole in the hull, so I don't know.
Where is the best location for placement of the transducer?
Any other advice for epoxying the transducer in place?

Thanks,

Fred Nelson
Ericson 23 #344
Ad Astra

Fred, I installed a new depth sounder earlier this year. I simply found the flattest spot under the V berth and stuck the transducer to the inside of the hull with clear silicone. No need to drill a hole. It works perfectly. Make sure you use a lot of silicone to ensure you don't let any air exist between the transducer and the hull. Good luck.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

 

[Gmilburn]

Thru-Hull Solution

Hi Fred,

I agree with the other poster--I installed a new GARMIN Depth/Fish Finder with GPS and Maps and couldnt be happier. It had an included transducer that was designed to be mounted to the base of a trolling motor, but also had instructions to mount it as a thru hull (no holes to drill or worry about)--just as long as the hull is solid fiberglass and not with a wood core. The hull of my E29 is indeed solid fiberglass. Before I permenantly mounted it to a semi-flat region just forward of the keel, I put it in a zip lock bag full of water and wired it up. It worked perfectly!

So next I designed a permanent mount. The instructions suggested "slow cure" epoxy--but I have read that many others have used silicon as well with great results. I ended up cutting a 4 inch piece of PVC pipe with the same angle as the hull mounting spot, then with a piece of wire, I suspended the transducer slightly above the hull, correcting for the slight angle of the hull. The idea was to suspend it so that it pointed more straight down, rather to a bit of the side (had I glued it directly to the hull). I then mixed up 8 ounces of west systems epoxy and carefully poured it into the 4 inch PVC and then mounted the transducer--slowly pressing it into the pool of epoxy. I was very careful during the mixing and the placement of the transducer, to prevent any bubbles between the hull and the transducer.

I now have a permanent mount, without drilling any holes and it works perfectly. I only wish all my Do It Yourself endeavors turned out sooooo well!

I hope this helps!

 

[Gmilburn]

Solid Hull on all Ericsons?

Fred,

One more comment. In my experience the hull of all Ericsons are solid fiberglass and not "cored"--if this is incorrect--someone please correct me.

However, I have replaced several thru-hull fittings and the hull is pure fiberglass. I doubt that Ericson would do anything but use solid fiberglass for the hull.

 

[Lucky Dog]

Oil bath method

I am sure the fiberglass is solid below the water line.

This is a method that I have seen several times in sailing magazines and books.

Here a web link too.

http://www.echopilot.com/user/image/fittingadepthlogtransducer.pdf

ml

 

[TRMN8R]

I read an article in GOB about someone who went through this process and when he was looking for 'best locations' he used hair gel as a temporary medium through which he placed the transducer to find the best location for performance. Once he found that best location, he cleaned up the hair gel, used silicon and voila! I thought it was a great idea to share! Hope this helps!

 

[fredn56]

Thanks

Thanks for the quick and useful responses.
I am glad to hear I don't have to drill a hole in the bottom of my boat.

Fred Nelson

 

[fredn56]

Thanks for all the advice

I installed my in-hull transducer and depth finder on Saturday--works great!
Someday I'll get pictures here.

Thanks


Fred Nelson
Ericson 23 #344
Ad Astra

 

[Guy Stevens]

There are cored hulls

Fred,

One more comment. In my experience the hull of all Ericsons are solid fiberglass and not "cored"--if this is incorrect--someone please correct me.

I doubt that Ericson would do anything but use solid fiberglass for the hull.

There are several of the 39's and ALL of the 46's are cored. I don't know of any of the smaller Ericson's that are. However I do recall one owner of a 37 reporting a cored hull. But that is secondhand knowledge.

For both the 39 cored versions and the 46's the hulls below the waterline are solid, above it they are balsa cored. Stiffens the boat nicely and provides some good insulation.

The only thing to watch for in these boats is that occasionally the exhaust fitting is into the cored area of the hull and was not correctly sealed.

Guy

 

[HughHarv]

Cored to the keel

FYI, I repaired some hull damage and found that my Er/39 is definitely cored to within several inches of the hull deck joint down to the keel, way below the waterline. Easy to see the step in the transition from solid to core construction on the inside.