Where & how to install & be able to easily remove my Lowrance Elite-4XHDI Transducer

[shaun2020]

Hi,

Can someone please help me, as I want to install my Lowarnce Elite-4XHDI Transducer on my boat which is a Zodiac Futura 4.2mtr,

I have attached some photos below, I would like to be able to remove and install my transducer on each outing to prevent damage etc, so all home made fishifinder / transducer mounting photo adaptions would be appreciated, I have monuted the fish finder on my wooden seat already then I will probaly bungee strap my battery / tupperware box to the seat as well,

I want to be able to easily adjust the height of the transducer if needed incase of interference etc, or until I find the perfect easily removable mounting, with me living far away from the sea makes it difficult for me just to test it out etc,

Like a boy in a toy shop I want to be able to use my fish finder when I am next out but I want to make sure the transducer is secure on the boat when zipping around etc, I don't really like the idea of a G clamp so I was thiniking I could use maybe the screw holes that I use for my launching wheels that I never use,

I might be asking a silly question but is it the very bottom of my transducer that the signal comes from or is it the thin bit at the front, the reason I ask that is the transducer is supposed to see what is directly under the boat, but If I am correct when the transducer would be mounted somehow it would be pointing at the rear of the boat?

Firstly I am not sure how far I need to put the transducer in the water as the supplier I purchased it from advised over the phone, half of it should be in the water and half sticking out, I believe he means the thin rectangler bit at the front of the transducer that is at the front 25mm depth by 55mm wide,

So if I understand the supplier correctly I would say I would have 12.5mm x 27.5mm sticking in the water and the other half sticking out of the water, it doesn't sound right to me? I may be wrong of course, Personally, I would think you would need to have the whole transducer in the water to obtain the best sonar signal,

When I look in the transducer instalation instructions it advises that the transducer must be in the water at all times, and in a location that has a smooth flow of water when the boat is moving, so who is right the dealer I bought it from or the supplier instructions,

P.s I caught a Conger eel on a fresh mackeral head anchored about 1/2 a mile out in front of Brighton pier a few days ago, my bait was only in the water about ten minutes, quite shallow water which suprised me, I defiantlery did not expect to catch a Conger as I was looking for a hungry Bass,

Thanks to the son in law he lost it trying to haul it aboard the boat, I could of chucked him overboard believe me, it is only the 2nd conger I have caught in my life (41 years) considering I had it at the side of the boat for a few minutes while we cleared the boat as I thought it is going to be a mission to kill it, so thought best tidy up and make a space for it jumping around, It will teach me to let him bring my fish aboard when he volunteered, and secondly I best purchase a net,

all help and photos greatfully received,

Regards Shaun

[scubaqua]

Fix the sensor to a plastic plate with V-bolts so the backside is flat. Than fix it with Sikaflex to the transom outside.
Before fixing it permanent, you can "hang" it at the topside of the transom to discover the correct height.

What you also can try, which works at my boat, position it in the bildge and lay a small bag of sand on top so it wil be in place. Put some water in the bildge and test if it works.

If it works fine, "glue" it with Sikaflex (be shure there are no airbubbels in the Sikaflex).

Advantage: no holes in the transom, and also good depth at higher speed..

[Chris A]

Originally Posted by scubaqua

Fix the sensor to a plastic plate with V-bolts so the backside is flat. Than fix it with Sikaflex to the transom outside.

I have done it like that in the past but instead of using sikaflex I used some heavy duty duct tape on the plate, easily adjustable/removable

[bartiny]

Just done this very job

Mine is a Garmin 451s but the transducer looks the same.

First pic my finger is pointing at the bottom of the transom just so you can make it out, 2nd pic shows the transducer pulled up out of the way that is what it is designed to do its on a 'ratchet type bracket'.

If I remember correctly it should be 8mm below the bottom.






HTH

[jyasaki]

If you want it to be removable, you'll need to do something like the following:

Cut a piece of wood (or thickish aluminum sheet), and fix a rib so it won't flex. Mount the transducer to the bottom, with the bracket screws as close to the edge as practical (transducer body should extend well below the edge of the board.) Mount the board to your transom using C-Clamps or similar.

The transducer sends and receives its signal through the face, which is the flat part opposite the mounting "arm". They typically have a beam angle of somewhere around 15 to 20 degrees, but will read the first impulse returned, so you can't really say it's looking "directly below the hull"; rather it's looking at the entire beam and showing the shallowest part (though if you have some lower density stuff above higher density stuff you may get a double return.)

Hope this helps;

jky

[shaun2020]

Hi all,
Thank you for all your responses, I was scouring B & Q etc today to look for a solution, I was going to go for a wooden 3 x 2" for the stiffness and then I was thinking it would not last long and rot away,

the sound of plastic sounds a better idea, just done a Google and found the below pic, So I think I now understand what the supplier was saying over the phone looking at the diagram, is the below pic basically how I have to have it on my boat as the transducer is not fully in the water looking at the diagram, also do you tighten the ratchet nuts up at the end on the transducer or are they meant to be slightly loose so you can tilt the transducer if needed?

Transom Mounting the fish finder transducer for best obstruction free performance.

[Peter_C]

*Shrugs* I mounted mine to the transom and leave it there. The wiring is left routed to my electronics tower. It clears my tie downs on my busy transom. You probably already know this but it needs to mount on the starboard side in order to avoid prop turbulence.

[shaun2020]

Hi Peter,
Thanks for your photo, I would prefer to leave it mounted on the boat but I am more worried of damaging it by launching and retrieving etc, so I would prefer it to be removable, just looking at your pipe coming out of your drain hole, do you rig a pump on the top of it to get rid of any water inside the boat while out at sea etc?

[Peter_C]

No where between the drain plug and the wheel mounting pin can the transducer come in contact with your trailer bunk as it is far enough away isn't it? Can the boat slide over? If it can I would recommend side bunks to keep it centered. Do you tie the stern of the boat down? I wouldn't recommend towing any boat without a minimum of three tie downs.

Yes I put a bilge pump in to get rid of water right before pulling the already heavy boat up the beach on it's launching wheels. We tend to drag a lot of water into the boat with our drysuits and scuba gear.

[jyasaki]

Shaun, the ratchets on the pivots are there in case the transducer hits something at speed - allows the transducer to kick up out of the way instead of breaking at the arm (from experience, it doesn't always work that way, which is why my last transducer spent the last 3 years of its life as a large blob of wire-reinforced epoxy.)

Pivoting the transducer intentionally won't really get you anything (other than less of a lock on the bottom), as it will still read the nearest echo. In other words, it's not really "amiable".

Pete: Nice setup with the bilge pump. Wish I had had that on my Achilles.

jky

[shaun2020]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

No where between the drain plug and the wheel mounting pin can the transducer come in contact with your trailer bunk as it is far enough away isn't it? Can the boat slide over? If it can I would recommend side bunks to keep it centered. Do you tie the stern of the boat down? I wouldn't recommend towing any boat without a minimum of three tie downs.

Yes I put a bilge pump in to get rid of water right before pulling the already heavy boat up the beach on it's launching wheels. We tend to drag a lot of water into the boat with our drysuits and scuba gear.

Hi Peter,
I really like your set up and little mods to make life easier, I have a ratchet strap at the bow which attaches to the D rings at the front of the boat, and then it goes around the trailer bar near the jockey wheel to stop it rolling / falling backwards off the trailer and I have a a ratchet strap at the rear which goes through the boat handles and straps to the trailer and I also have a ratchet strap which goes through the handles at the front of the boat and straps down to the trailer,

My boat seems quite secure now on the trailer and doesn't move once I have tightened the ratchet straps, I invested in better quality ratchet straps as the ones I received with the boat were rubbish and the boat was not 100% secure, on average I am towing the boat 80 miles each way on each outing and so far so good, just hope it stays that way, think I might fit a water pump as the sea is a bit choppy at times where I go and I find I am using a tupper ware box to bale some of the water out, its not a lot of water but a pump would be nice to make life easier and more enjoyable,

Going back to the installation of the transducer I think I might do what other forum members do and use the good old G clamp and bit of wood until I test the fish finder out at sea at different speeds and make sure I have the correct position then maybe look at permantly fixing it to the boat etc, as like you say I don't think the transducer would be in the way of the bunkers etc of the trailer, just more worried of a clumsy mate or myself knocking it etc,

That must be pretty hard work pulling your boat up the beach with your equipment in as I personally found the Ali floor once I installed mine back in after my repairs it made a big difference in the weight of the boat without the engine etc on, you must be a strong man to haul yours up the beach, I really appreciate yours and other forums members help as I have learned a lot from you all in the last few months, all knowledge gratefully received, I just wish I could return the favour to you all or buy you all a pint,

[shaun2020]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Shaun, the ratchets on the pivots are there in case the transducer hits something at speed - allows the transducer to kick up out of the way instead of breaking at the arm (from experience, it doesn't always work that way, which is why my last transducer spent the last 3 years of its life as a large blob of wire-reinforced epoxy.)

Pivoting the transducer intentionally won't really get you anything (other than less of a lock on the bottom), as it will still read the nearest echo. In other words, it's not really "amiable".

Pete: Nice setup with the bilge pump. Wish I had had that on my Achilles.

jky

Hi Jyasaki,
It now makes sense why they are on a ratchet, I couldn't get my head around why they were on a ratchet, think I am having a blonde moment, thanks for your help

[Mickhitchuk]

Hi, good luck with your sonar, not sure I would have wanted a conger on board they would thrash around taking out anything they hit and don't taste very good either, if you want bass hit the shoreham arm at sunrise-sunset

[A1an]

I've not read all the replies but here's a solution my pal came up with. He can lower it right into the water and it reads at top speed and it also retracts so its out the way for beach landing.

[slate1234]

I have the same fishfinder as you, I got a wall plate strap and fixed a lenth of 2"x1" to it and used a g-clamp to hold it to the transom, I hold the cables in place useing reusable cable tie's I have only been out once and forgot to charge the battery so I couldn't tell you if it works.

[shaun2020]

Originally Posted by Mickhitchuk

Hi, good luck with your sonar, not sure I would have wanted a conger on board they would thrash around taking out anything they hit and don't taste very good either, if you want bass hit the shoreham arm at sunrise-sunset

Hi Mickhitchuk,

Thanks for the advice on Shoreham arm, I will have a venture around that area next time I am out, I was fishing off the pier last year at Shoreham and I was hitting Bream like they were going out of fashion, on the end of the pier cast straight ahead / out about 50 - 70 yards,

The weather is supposed to be crap on Saturday as that was my next planned trip out, believe me, I did not expect a conger on my line, good result though, lifted my spirits up, I know what my last conger that I caught was like on a charter boat, hence I was trying to clear my boat as much as possible, I have some spanish friends and they eat practically anything in the sea, even pouting, yuk!

[Ianhfc]

Hi, got to reply to this as I've just sorted mine out, I have the Lowerance Elite4 DSI.
I've been pondering the same situation for weeks now, and then I came across this...
Force 4 Universal Adjustable Stern Transducer Support - Only £9.95 - Force 4 Chandlery
It arrived today and is perfect, I will be fitting it over the weekend so hopefully i'll be up and running.
hope this helps.
Ian

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by A1an

I've not read all the replies but here's a solution my pal came up with. He can lower it right into the water and it reads at top speed and it also retracts so its out the way for beach landing.

Pretty clever.

jky

[Attack Ducks]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

*Shrugs* I mounted mine to the transom and leave it there. The wiring is left routed to my electronics tower. It clears my tie downs on my busy transom. You probably already know this but it needs to mount on the starboard side in order to avoid prop turbulence.

That's pretty much exactly where I put mine. Do you experience loss of signal at speeds above 25mph? I think the speed tubes cause turbulence and/or raise it too far from the water. Just a theory. I also have problems with it getting hit by underwater objects which knock it off level. Easy to fix but annoying.

http://www.rib.net/forum/members/196...icture5852.jpg

Has anyone tried mounting the transducer INSIDE the boat, just above the rubber floor? I originally was going to try that but it would require me to de-rig the entire boat so took the easy way out lol.

[Peter_C]

My Garmin sometimes looses depth readings but it is variable and happens at most any speed. 28mph is tops for my boat and only in rough water. Otherwise 25mph is max. I leave the bolts holding the transducer a little loose so if it does strike something it will pivot up.