Airmar B175 Transducer Installation

[s_explore]

Hi everyone,

I'm installation the Airmar B175 in my boat. My boat has a core of balsa between the inner and outer layers of fiberglass. From the Airmar instruction, they say to drill the first hole of 95mm which I did. The transducer fits correctly in the hole. Now their instruction say to drill a 6inch hole from the inside through the inner layers of fiberglass and the core. I don't want to do that, my inner fiberglass layer is thick I rather to keep it for solidity.

What I am thinking is scrapping the balsa core with a screwdriver or something then adding resin and then thickened resin to fill the balsa I removed. Did anyone did the same? I added a picture of my hole to let you see.

Another question is did anyone install the transducer in the engine compartment. They say to not install it there, but this was my only option. I am thinking to add two 12Volts fan to blow directly on the transducer to help it cool down.

Thanks for the help,
Sam

 

[dingbat]

Hi everyone,

I'm installation the Airmar B175 in my boat. My boat has a core of balsa between the inner and outer layers of fiberglass. From the Airmar instruction, they say to drill the first hole of 95mm which I did. The transducer fits correctly in the hole. Now their instruction say to drill a 6inch hole from the inside through the inner layers of fiberglass and the core. I don't want to do that, my inner fiberglass layer is thick I rather to keep it for solidity.

What I am thinking is scrapping the balsa core with a screwdriver or something then adding resin and then thickened resin to fill the balsa I removed. Did anyone did the same? I added a picture of my hole to let you see.

Another question is did anyone install the transducer in the engine compartment. They say to not install it there, but this was my only option. I am thinking to add two 12Volts fan to blow directly on the transducer to help it cool down.

Thanks for the help,
Sam

I installed the same transducer in my boat.
My hull is solid glass, so didn't pay attention to the cored hull instructions.

Looking at the installation instructions, I don't see why you couldn't use a Dremal to cut the core back say 1/2" then fill with epoxy to seal the core.

The transducer is housed in a brass housing in full contact with water. If the transducer gets hot enough to affect performance, you have bigger problems to worry about.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I use a bent allen key chucked in a drill to remove a bit of balsa core. that way the fiberglass acts as a guide, and the allen key chews out the core to a fixed depth.

then mix up some PB (see the stickies) and fill the void. dress as needed and it will be a solid bit around the transducer hole.