Installing a transducer

[Toyelectroman]

Just got a Garmin echomap 73cv that i will be installing on my pontoon. I plan on installing the transducer on the bracket in back one of the toons. How low should the bottom of the transducer be? Should it be level with bottom of the toon or lower or higher?

 

[Scott Danforth]

i am 100% sure that there are instructions with the transducer...... with pictures

you want it lower the the hull (or in this case, the 'toon log).

 

[GA_Boater]

Didn't your unit come with installation instructions?

Transducers only work when the Xducer is in the water. From Garmin;

7 Adjust the transducer assembly so it extends beyond the bottom of the transom approximately 3 mm (1/8 in.) on fiberglass hulls or 10 mm (3/8 in.) on aluminum hulls.

8.Make sure the transducer is aligned parallel to the water line.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Read the instructions none of us usually read. I installed mine just below the water line. I know my water line because of the skung on the transom. If a new boat mark it with a Sharpie when she's in the drink.

 

[Toyelectroman]

The instructions that came with it only show v hauls

 

[GA_Boater]

The instructions also refer to aluminum hulls like the snippet I posted above. Aren't your logs aluminum?

 

[JimS123]

The waterline has nothing to do with it unless you have a displacement hull, not a planing hull.

(You do mean HULL, don't you?)

For a puck (flat) transducer, you normally mount the lead end flush with the boat bottom, and then tilt the aft end downward about a degree or 2. That way the ducer makes firm contact with the water.

If you have a torpedo type ducer (like maybe a chirp) its normally mounted with the circumference slightly below the bottom. They usually provide a fairly good rooster tail, but work well at high speed..

If you don't care about high speed accuracy, you can mount it anywhere.

We don't know what you have. If you look online you can download the installation manual for your specific model. Mounting on a tube is the same. Consider the lowest (rounded) portion of the tube to be the bottom of the boat, and then follow the directions as indicated for a traditional hull.

Been there, done that. Expect a rooster tail because its a tube not a "hull".

 

[Toyelectroman]

Sorry ya i meant hull. Here is a pic of the transducer. I haven't installed the bracket. I am guessing it is the torpedo transducer

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I was thinking the back of the pontoon is vertical like a regular transom. I guess not.

 

[GA_Boater]

That's one of the two-fold purposes of a mounting bracket on a log. A vertical mounting spot and secondly, no need to drill holes in the log.

 

[JimS123]

Sorry ya i meant hull. Here is a pic of the transducer. I haven't installed the bracket. I am guessing it is the torpedo transducer

Yes, it will need to be positioned slightly below the extreme bottom of the (round) tube. The plastic ducer bracket should have slotted holes so if you don't like the performance you can easily move it up or down. Regardless, because you are mounting it on an aluminum "bracket", not the tube itself, if you make a mistake and have to drill more holes it shouldn't make any difference.

 

[dingbat]

​​​​​I would not want the transducer hanging below the lowest point on the hull.

I would pass up the "bottom of the log" approach and go with one of the "stick" type mounts made for pontoons.

 

[ahicks]

My vote would be flush for the simple reason it would gather fewer weeds. If you didn't care about performance while on plane (because your boat won't plane out for instance) I don't see any harm in mounting it slightly above flush.

 

[JimS123]

Maybe this will give you better insight:

https://www.pontooners.com/install-f...-pontoon-boat/


Surely, if you mount it above the bottom of the tube you may have high speed readability issues. On boats with fiberglas hulls, mounting slightly below the bottom is the usual method, even if its a flat bottom boat, not a deep V hull. In any of the 3 cases you always run the risk of hitting something.

Go ahead and mount it flush. If you don't like the way it works, move it around.

http://www.pontoonboatforum.com/uploads/2611/Tranducer_1.JPG

 

[MRS]

I mounted mine flush with the bottom of the pontoon. Reason is where we fish some times in the river we beach the toon at night and if the river level drops at night. It will be setting on the ground till the water comes back up no damage to the transducer.

 

[Toyelectroman]

Thanks everybody, installed the transducer flush with the bottom log. Now just have to wait a couple of months for boating weather