Shoot Through Transducer question

[ReelTimeWes]

I have a 1998 205 Osprey and I'm wanting to switch from the transom mounted transducer to a shoot through transducer. My unit is a Lowrance but I will probably update it before next season.
In my bilge area there is a nice flat spot but I'm not sure if it is a solid area. If it's not the shoot through won't work as it has to shoot through a solid hull. Would I be better off with a through hull? Any suggestions on transducers? Thanks

[wingtime]

Seabob is the guy who can tell you what the hulls are laminated out of.  I think they are solid.  A flat spot could be a glassed in wood block for mounting a bilge pump.  

I personally don't like a through hull transducer.  It's not the hole in the hull thats the big deal...  It's the fact that even the newest electronic gear you buy today is already out of date and when you upgrade in a few years your through hull ducer is no longer supported.... and you have a hole in your boat.

[fitz73222]

Whats wrong with the transom mount?

[John Jones]

For me, transom mounts kick up, they break off, and can be a PITA to get adjusted where they read at all speeds.  My 222 CCP had a well glassed in the hull with a cover attached with screws.  (see picture)  I don't know if it was factory but it matched the rest of the bilge.  Put some mineral oil in the well, dropped in the transom mount transducer and it worked fine.  When I upgraded the bottom machine I put in the big bronze thru-hull.  With either setup I could read fine from stopped to WOT.  In my flats boat I just tossed the transom mount transducer in the bilge.  As long as there is 1/4" of water in the bilge it works fine at any speed (no hull core).  Now a "shoot-thru" will lose a little bit of signal but it's not enough to notice unless you are bottom fishing in really deep water.

CCP transducer well.

[Circle Hooked]

I once had a ducer mounted on the flat spot in my boat and it worked great,the one i have now is on the transom and I'm gonna move it to the bilge just haven't done it yet, still have one this way in my little boat,this might sound crazy but lightly sand the area and the ducer,get a big tube of silicon and apply a big gob of it on the spot,i use most of the tube,then mash the ducer into the glob and move it around to get rid of any air,the silicon should cover the bottom and the sides of the ducer,let dry a day or two then go fishing.

[gran398]

I've had good luck in spurts with either. Think it depends on the hull, as far as turbulence/kick-up off the stern re. a transom mount.

Have been on boats where a transom mount works great even to WOT. Have been on boats where they stop recording at say 20-25 mph. A transom mount never bothered me personally because when we went to look for bottom, specific bottom, we were off-plane anyhow.

The downside to not being able to read at cruise would be if you were heading in from way offshore after a day of trolling, and looking to do some bottom-dropping, and miss something. In that regard, a clean through-hull would be best.

Elections are Tuesday....How's that for politricks?

[seabob4]

Wes,
If you have a foam filled glass stringer grid, then there may be foam and/or plexus between the grid and the hull.  If so, you will have to dremel it out until you reach glass.  If ut is strictly the rough looking form filled stringers glassed to the hull bottom, then you will be fine, solid glass...

Sorry, 205's were built down the road at plant 1 (spent 3 MISERABLE months there!) so it's hard for me to say for certain...

[John Jones]

Most of the manufacturers do not recommend silicone because it absorbs some signal.  Yeah, I know several people that used it and it worked fine.

I had a '19 Key West I bought new in '02.  It had a depression in the bilge that was not cored specifically for a shoot-thru transducer.  I mounted the 'ducer with the recommended slow set epoxy without sanding or prepping.  When I sold that boat 3 years later I put a sharp wood chisel against the edge of the epoxy and gave it one moderate whack with a hammer.  It popped right off the fiberglass with no damage to the boat or the transducer.

[gran398]

If you have a foam filled glass stringer grid, then there may be foam and/or plexus between the grid and the hull.  If so, you will have to dremel it out until you reach glass.  If ut is strictly the rough looking form filled stringers glassed to the hull bottom, then you will be fine, solid glass...

So in summary, there should be solid glass where you'd like to drill for the thru-hull transducer install.

[GoneFission]

Do a trial and error test - you can use play clay to build a well, put the transducer in with some water, and see if it works.  If it doesn't, try another spot.  If it does not work there, give up and do a transom mount.  

My $0.02...

[DOCREED]

I used a transom mount on my 250CCP and it works fine at wot