In hull depth finder recommendation

[larman]

I would like to install a depth finder with in hull type transducer if anyone has one and it is working well would you mind sharing make and model?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. l. Why not install a "shoot through the hull" set-up? No holes to drill. We've got 2 Garmin units where I mounted the transducer inside and they seem to work just fine.

 

[Codger2]

Greetings,
Mr. l. Why not install a "shoot through the hull" set-up? No holes to drill. We've got 2 Garmin units where I mounted the transducer inside and they seem to work just fine.

+1

 

[larman]

Greetings,
Mr. l. Why not install a "shoot through the hull" set-up? No holes to drill. We've got 2 Garmin units where I mounted the transducer inside and they seem to work just fine.

I believe that is what I was asking. Don’t want to drill a hole in boat what model garmin do you have?

 

[ksanders]

Pick your poison as far as brand. Many offer shoot through the hull options.

Here is a decent example

Pair a Furuno FCV588 with a 520 shoot through the hull transducer.

 

[Airstream345]

As long as you don't have a cored hull an in-hull tranducer is a great option for basic depth and soundings. We also had a Garmin in our last boat and it worked very well (connected to a Garmin MFD).

 

[LarryM]

I think you will find the Airmar P79 is the most popular in-hull transducer. It is often re-packaged by manufacturers with their own part numbers, often due to different wiring configurations. Airmar sells them to fit virtually any manufacturer's equipment. Here is a link with part numbers and equipment models they their transducers fit.

https://www.airmar.com/xref.html?refid=P79

I use two of them on my present boat with Garmin, and have used them on prior boats as well.

Good luck

 

[gunho1]

I installed a raymarine I40 display with airmar p79 as well as a hawkeye dt2b with in hull transducers both of which work fine. They are sealed to the hull with petroleum jelly still! Some day I'll finish the job probably.

 

[jgwinks]

Most any through hull or transom mount transducer can be glued inside the hill to make it a shoot through. Only limit is it can't have a speed paddlewheel or anything else protruding from the bottom of it. I have a Hawkeye transom mount mounted that way and it works fine. It has a temperature sensor that also works but might read a degree warmer being inside the hull. I tried it first just letting it sit in about of inch of water in the bilge to make sure the location was good, then dried the area and glued it down with silicone. Epoxy is usually recommended for this but of you later want to move the transducer, you can't without breaking it. You can pry the silicone loose without damage. Be careful not to get air bubbles in whatever glue you use.

 

[backinblue]

Sorry, allow me a slight diversion. This discussion reminds me of when I was young and relatively poor but invinceable. So when I bought my first and only (so far) brand new sailboat, of course I did as much work as possible by myself as I couldn't afford otherwise. This included drilling 2" holes x2 in a brand new boat for a depth sounder and knotmeter. Also cutting 6" holes in the exterior fiberglass bulkhead to mount the 2 displays. (circa 1985). It all came out great. I don't know I would be that brave today. Is that called wisdom or just fear? I'm not sure.

 

[FF]

I have been told that about 1/2 the depth range may be lost..Only a hassle if your looking for fish , or doing contour navigation.

 

[Bacchus]

I have been told that about 1/2 the depth range may be lost..Only a hassle if your looking for fish , or doing contour navigation.

I removed my Airmar P-79 as it only provided digital depth and I was looking for contour and bottom conditions for anchoring. I dont know if the limitation is universal for those shoot thru hull but mine was.

 

[jgwinks]

Probably would lose a little range, but I doubt half unless it's a really thick hull. In my case though, I don't really care about 200 ft, it's 6 feet or less I worry about.

 

[Davil1]

depth finder

Installed this in my sailboat, can read the depth on my cell or tablet using their app.
kind of nifty.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Vex...0i512j69i61.1290j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[cbouch]

I did the same as Davil1.....works great, cheaper than most, interfaces with Navionics application. Navionics running on my iPad right next to my ray marine depth finder. Readings always within a 10th or so of a foot.....Navionics always shows the reading 1st. I didn't glue mine to the hull because of the angle of it, I cut a 6 inch piece of pvc pipe at the same angle as the hull, then with 5200 attached it to the hull. then took the transducer and attached it to the inside of the pvc and filled it with pink antifreeze. Put a cap over the whole thing and it sits in the bilge below the floor boards. The whole thing is about 6 inches high.

 

[PNW Drifter]

I have a Garmin with a Airmar thru-hull transducer , but also a Raymarine WiFish, external transducer mounted “in-hull” using only toilet wax-ring wax. Works good enough, but shooting through 1/2” of solid fibreglass doesn’t get the depth of the thru-hull. Higher boat velocity also is a factor.

The WiFish works well enough, the only issue is that the iPhone can struggle to connect to the WiFish, so I don’t unreservedly recommended it.

But the two don’t interfere with each other, and it’s good to have redundancy in mission critical systems.

Unless you need to know depths beyond 200’, at speed, avoiding making another hole in the bottom of your boat would be my advice.

 

[kierasdady]

Inside depth finder, easy-peasy

I hate any holes in a boat, so an inside depth finder is the only way to go. I've used it with old spinning arm depth finders, up to forward sweeping fish/depth finders and it works exactly the same as mounting in the hull. As long as the hull is solid fiberglass where you mount it and it's submerged in a bath of mineral oil (NOT mineral spirits), it works great.
If you can picture this, I make a fiberglass well (like a drinking glass size and shape) straight up from the bottom of the hull. Put a cap on it to keep the oil from spilling out (sealed with silicone) and to mount the transducer in the cap. (Make a hole in it and mount it like you would in the bottom of the boat, but in the cap.) Set it so the tip is as close to the bottom as possible without touching when the lid is on tight. Make sure it's straight and oriented the right direction. That's it.
Been running this way for 40-some years & it sees fish, mud bottom, everything, and to full depth. Love it.

 

[Phil23]

Believe it or not I have previously mounted Lowerance transom mounted transducers in an oil tank/bath internally, they work perfectly well.
Currently I have 3 individual sounders on my current vessel on of which is a transom mounted transducer in a PVC tube faired to the hull shape with a wind on lid. Filled with mineral oil. Works perfectly well and is calibrated/tuned to the two thru hulls.

 

[kierasdady]

Exaaaaactlyyyy. Great to hear! Good on ya!

 

[kiefer]

in-hull transducer recommendation

Hi, on my previous boat I installed an Airmar P79 with my Lowrance HDS MFD with great results. I was able to read up to 1700' in salt water, [Pryce Channel, near Campbell River]. It was also able to show bottom contours and bait on the 200khz setting. My current boat has the same set-up and I can get good readings up to just over 700'. 1000' difference in performance is the difference between the hull thickness of a Bayliner 3288 and a Canoe Cove 41'. Also makes a huge difference finding the "perfect" spot to mount XDR and surface preparation. Both awesome boats by the way, just different...

 

[Helmsman]

Hi, on my previous boat I installed an Airmar P79 with my Lowrance HDS MFD with great results. I was able to read up to 1700' in salt water, [Pryce Channel, near Campbell River]. It was also able to show bottom contours and bait on the 200khz setting. My current boat has the same set-up and I can get good readings up to just over 700'. 1000' difference in performance is the difference between the hull thickness of a Bayliner 3288 and a Canoe Cove 41'. Also makes a huge difference finding the "perfect" spot to mount XDR and surface preparation. Both awesome boats by the way, just different...

Kiefer,

Do you know the hull thickness of your boat where you have your transducer.

Thanks!

 

[kiefer]

Hi Helmsman, I really don't know the thickness. I would guess at maybe 1/2"-5/8". I'm about 2-1/2 feet off the centre line so not the thickest part of hull. Very satisfied with the results and equipment used.

 

[Helmsman]

Hi Helmsman, I really don't know the thickness. I would guess at maybe 1/2"-5/8". I'm about 2-1/2 feet off the centre line so not the thickest part of hull. Very satisfied with the results and equipment used.

Thanks. That gives some perspective on the results. I am considering one also. I had one on my last boat and it worked well.

 

[kiefer]

You're very welcome. I think the kind of MFD used makes a big difference also. The Lowrance HDS units have a lot of sonar power.