Depth sounders

[seagulls78]

Good afternoon all looking at getting depth sounder but not sure on what type of transducer. Transom or in hull please advise/help

[Chris Caton]

hi. ive got an in hull on my Garmin 4008, works really well

[Dirk Diggler]

Assuming your hull isn't cored, I'd go in hull every time.

[Trimix]

Ive gone through the same and looked at the choices.

Depends on your RIB a bit.

Ive got a large RIB with an enclosed space under the splashwell, so I bought one that sits in a well near the bilge pump. Its basically a compartment under the seats, so no chance of it being damaged by anything in the boat (crew/loose gear). That part of the boat will mostly be in the water, so it will work at 99% of the speed/time.

You can get transom mounted ones - so they are on the outside and hang down into the water. You need to mount it so its not likely to get damaged by the engine and pick up clear water for a sounding. If its in the bubbles comming off your prop the readings will / may be out.

So it really depends on your boat / transom / space.

[9D280]

I have a transom mount simply because I had no other option.

Only way I was goiing to get a thru' hul lto work was to dril la big hole i nthe floor, and fit it in the watertight compartement betwee nthe underside of the hull & the floor. That of course adds another couple of leak paths to the floor cavity...... Hence I wrent transom mount. Took me 4 goes to get it to work almost reliably (probably drops out about once per trip in really lumpy stuff but at moments like that the depth is usually big & irrelevant! It also throws up a ton of spray (to the point I am fabricating / prototyping a small deflector plate to sit above it)


If yo ugo transom mount, one idea is to get a block of wood, and glue it to the transom, so you can screw the sounder to that which means you don't have another two (four?) holes in your transom below the waterline. I used Sikaflex, and 3 seasons later it's still attached.

Another handy thing is that by essentially jacking it backwards by something like 1", it can be raised quite a way when compared to the installation instructions, thus potentially taking it a bit further out the way of potential Impact damage from solids you might run over.

If you do that it;s worth fettling the block of wood with files & sandpaper to look good before installation - I then painted mine with International's "Rescue Orange" epoxy paint to match the hull, which also improves the look.

[Huib1965]

Hi, I bought a RIB this year with a transducer on the transom which did break off ... As I am in a dry stack but even on a trailer I can see this easily happening... I am now going for an in-hull one before next season but curious to see how easy that is going to be .....

[Johnscubanut]

Recently removed our transducer and epoxy resin glued it into the splashwell. Works amazingly better now!