Transducer cable through transom?

[emilime75]

Hey, all. I'm looking for a good, water tight, way to accomplish this without just drilling a hole and applying gobs-o-sealant to it. It's on a FG bow rider and will be above the water line, but only by about 3-4" above it, so it'll get very wet, very often.

I ordered the BSS Side Entry CableClam, but it does not have a rubber seal around the cable to compress and seal around it like their normal CableClams - which I don't want due to how the cable needs to be routed. I also have the Hobie Thry Hull Wiring Kit, but it's sealing area against the transom is really thin and I wouldn't trust it.

Anyone have any ideas? The connector needs a hole of about 5/8" in diameter to pass through, and the cable, itself, is about 3/16" So, what I need is a plastic housing that would allow the connector to fit through, while having a rubber seal small enough to seal against the cable.

 

[Scott Danforth]

how much work do you want to do?

what is done on millions of recreational boats is drill a hole, feed wire thru, seal from both sides with 3M 4000UV and go boating

if you dont like that, you can add cable glands. some like Roxtec are guaranteed to be submersion proof. https://www.roxtec.com/en/
this is what is done on large yachts and vessels.

with a 5/8" hole, my guess you have a new garmin with the GT-51 transducer

I wouldnt over-think it, I would simply drill the hole, run the transducer and then seal it. if you really want, drill the hole 3/4", coat the inside of the hole with epoxy to seal, then run the cable thru.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Drilling a hole and applying sealant actually works quite well. If you don't like the look, a clamshell over the cable hole on the outside of the boat dresses it up nicely. I personally would not want another hole in the transom if it wasn't sealed liberally with 3M 4200 or something similar.

 

[emilime75]

I can't help but overthink it, it's just how I do. And I know the 3m 4k series sealants work well and would do just fine. I was just hoping for something a little more...graceful? Something that I could take apart if need be and not have a bunch of cured sealant to deal with. The transducer is a Humminbird, it's mostly rectangular, but to fit through a round hole, that hole would need to be close to 5/8" in diameter.

 

[dingbat]

I've use the cable clam in the paste. Had issues with the bend radius of the cable but made it work.

Having said that, liberal use of 4200 and a stainless clam shell is the best solution.
Run cable, fill hole with sealer, install clam shell over top. Works and looks good, easy to remove.

 

[poconojoe]

I didn't want to make any holes either.

This may be a Rube Goldberg way of doing it....but I didn't make any holes. Here's what I did:

Also a bow rider. I ran the cable on the outside frame of my windshield, down to the black rubber bumper guard that protects the hull. I peeled the rubber out a bit and ran the wire to the transom in that channel that holds the rubber on. Popped the rubber back on and had the wire come out at the transom.
I used small sticky backs and small ty-wraps to hold the wire along the windshield frame and down the transom. There's a bit of exposed wire at both ends, but it doesn't bother me. I really didn't want to make any holes.

I didn't want to make transducer mounting holes in the transom either.
I bought one of those Stern Saver kits that mounts to the transom with the included adhesive. Then the transducer gets screwed to the stern saver.

This may not pass the good looks for some or it may not even work for you, but thought I'd throw it out there.

That Stern Saver kit was well worth it. Very nice idea. It's basically a piece of StarBoard.

 

[JimS123]

Buy a used up second hand boat with holes drilled in it and you won't know what you got. It may be on the verge of rotting out because the POs might have been rube goldberg.

But, buy a new boat and drill the sucker with holes all over the place. Just do it right and seal them with 4200.

SS clamshells hide everything. My last boat had 4 different depth finders in it over the years and none of them caused any harm. Every time I upgraded the new transducer fit into the old hole with ease. A screwdriver and a utility knife easily removed the old wire is a couple of minutes and the 4200 sealed her up again.

 

[poconojoe]

All great advice from experts with probably an infinate amount of experience combined.
Believe me, these guys know what they're talking about!

But there are still some of us that are so paranoid about drilling holes through the transom or anywhere through the hull for that matter!

Keep us posted and take some pictures!

 

[roscoe]

I wouldn't feel safe in a boat if it didn't have at least a few holes in it.

 

[poconojoe]

I wouldn't feel safe in a boat if it didn't have at least a few holes in it.

That's funny!

 

[JimS123]

That's funny!

No, its not funny at all. I have owned 2 wooden boats over the years. Both leaked and neither had had a transom or garboard drain. I drilled holes in both.

 

[JASinIL2006]

I can't help but overthink it, it's just how I do. And I know the 3m 4k series sealants work well and would do just fine. I was just hoping for something a little more...graceful? Something that I could take apart if need be and not have a bunch of cured sealant to deal with. The transducer is a Humminbird, it's mostly rectangular, but to fit through a round hole, that hole would need to be close to 5/8" in diameter.

I installed one of those and had to drill a large hole in my transom also. As I was getting ready to drill, I couldn’t help but wish that they had thought of coming up with a smaller connector.

 

[JimS123]

There are boats whose owners do it right. Drill a ton of holes, seal them up, and make a slick, neat job of it all.

Then there are others that are afraid to drill a hole because they lack experience, or whatever, and their boats have wires all over catching fish hooks, etc., and simply look like crap.

 

[emilime75]

I'm not afraid of the hole drilling, got over that when I installed my Smart Tabs. I ended up going with the BSS Side Entry CableClam and pointed the opening down so the cable can come straight down to the transducer. Used some "adhesive putty" to seal where the wire comes into the clam and a step bit to sneak up on the right sized hole. Those worked out well and the part of the clam that protrudes into the transom was a really snug fit. Haven't sealed it yet, but I won't need any on the outside with the putty and rubber gasket, when I finish routing it inside the boat I'll goop it up on the back side where it isn't visible. I'll try and snap some pics of it when it's all said and done.