Bob's (DSAFETY) very slick transducer mount really got my attention:
http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ead.php?t=6508
Even though I had pretty good results with Gooped transducers, I've been thinking about doing a wet mount for quite some time. Seeing Bob's elegant and simple mount made me want to give it a try. As luck would have it, I had just recently purchased a Stealth 14 and it gave me a chance to try out a wet mount. There were only two problems: 1) I have a Lowrance FF and the transducer is absolutely ginourmous, 2) I don't have the engineering/fabrication skills of Bob. With these two handicaps I launched headlong into my project.
I wish that Lowrance would make a smaller dual frequency transducer. The skimmer transducer that came with my Lowrance 527 FF/GPS is about the size and shape of an ironing board. It won't fit in a 3" PVC pipe. It won't even fit in the 4" ABS coupler that I ran out and bought before measuring the transducer. I had to use a little of my smarts and innovative thinking to come up with a solution. Unfortunately, I was a little short of smarts and innovation this week, so this is what I came up with.
I figured that it would be really cool to be able to see the water in the transducer well. After all, you have to know how much water is in there and if it's turning green. My solution; Lexan. That's right; Lexan. Why use a box that you find in your parts bin when you can spend two days building the damn thing.
Its a little bit on the clunky side. Not very elegant or clean looking, but it has transparent sides (until the algae turns it a murky green). Kinda looks like my old erector set that I had when I was 9.
Like a vintage Soviet tank, this thing is ugly, but strong. Aluminum angle on the corners, plenty of Goop and bolts-bolts everywhere.
It actually looks pretty badass in that photo. Kind of like the Enterprise in the space dock. Trust me; Scotty didn't build this monstrosity.....more like one of the dorks in the red shirt who gets whacked when he beams down to the planet surface.
I couldn't trust this install to Goop. I used 3M 5200 to attach it to the hull (CJ recommended this). I roughed up the hull with coarse-grit sandpaper first, to get better adhesion.
We'll see if it is still attached when I open it up in the morning.
BTW: That is a fill plug on the forward end. I will be sealing the cable pass-through with a rubber bung and Gooping it into place.