Fish finder transducer install

[river warrior]

Can I glue the transducer to the inside bottom of an aluminum boat? I've herd of this being done on kayaks and glass boats but can't find anything on aluminum boats.

 

[Al U Minium]

No you cannot mount a depth sounder transducer by gluing it to aluminum, wood, steel, foam. It can be done on fibreglass hulls if there is really clear resin or epoxy with no air bubbles. Even if it is mounted inside on a fibreglass hull, you have to be sure to place it so air bubbles flowing over the hull on the outside are not in the mounting location. Likely the best spot will be at the stern left or right of the drive. Adjustable mounts make it easy to adjust the transducer so its face is parallel to the water flowing over its surface. keep it away from things on the stern like pitot tubes, ladder mounts, and things that would stir up the water near the transducer.

 

[richg99]

Actually, there IS a device called the Alumaducer that is supposed to work through aluminum hulls. Very expensive IMHO and not all of the reviews are favorable.

However, I have a bit of experience putting t'ducers inside of kayaks. A lot has to do with how you install it ( no bubbles in the stick'em) and where you install them (picking a spot without a flow of air bubbles off of the strakes).

If you want to experiment....and you can get to a flat spot on your tinny bottom..., just buy some Amazing Goop. Make something to hold the Goop in place. I'd just cut a piece of PVC pipe to a height of one or two inches. Place the PVC ring on the bottom; fill most of the cavity with Goop; squeeze your transducer in slowly (so as to not create any air bubbles) and wait a day or two.

Take her out and see what kind of readings you get. If it doesn't work, you only spent the cost of the Goop and a short piece of PVC.

You will NOT get good temperature readings with a shoot-through setup.

Please report back here.

Here is an article about the Alumaducer...

richg99

https://www.meanchicken.net/webmain/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=7479

 

[TNtroller]

If you want another option with the kayak type mounting, go to home depot/lowes and get some plumbers putty, make a bed for the xducer with the putty and no air bubbles in the putty, and then insert the xducer into the putty. You may have to add a bit of water using this method, I've never done it, but have read of numerous success stories. The putty is not permanent, and never hardens. I've had a brick of it in the shed for 2 yrs, still soft. You can experiment with the location with the putty alot easier than the goop or epoxy.

 

[fl.graderman]

If you want another option with the kayak type mounting, go to home depot/lowes and get some plumbers putty, make a bed for the xducer with the putty and no air bubbles in the putty, and then insert the xducer into the putty. You may have to add a bit of water using this method, I've never done it, but have read of numerous success stories. The putty is not permanent, and never hardens. I've had a brick of it in the shed for 2 yrs, still soft. You can experiment with the location with the putty alot easier than the goop or epoxy.

This is how I mounted transducers in all my kayaks and never had a problem. The reason I did this was because I didn't have a stern sheet to mount on and also didn't want to rip it off the bottom of my $1300 polyethylene kayak hull in inches of water.
Why don't you want to mount yours on the transom? I'm with others in thinking that trying to shoot thru hull is unreliable at best and could get expensive if you have to buy special transducers.
You could always buy a portable sonar unit and engineer a portable mount for the t-ducer...

2015 Tracker Grizzly 1448 MVX
1996 Evinrude 25hp 3 cylinder looper

 

[perchjerker]

the problem is sound waves do not travel will through metal.

so thats why its not usually recommended