Thru-hull transducer on aluminum boat.

[Fishing Junky]

Hey guys, just wondering if a person can use a thru-hull transom on a metal boat? If so, how well would it work? Broke my bracket off in the BWCAW pulling to shore. Thought a thru-hull would be the ticket if it would work well. Thanks, Junky...........

[ETT]

A true thru hull transducer is one that you drill a hole for, and mount thru the hull. Those work fine on aluminum boats.

I think you are referring to a puck transducer designed to shoot thru the hull. Those will not work on an aluminum boats.

Actually you can use a shoot through hull on an aluminum boat. They do it on the west coast using something called an "oil bath".Find out from one of the charter guys in B.C. Canada about it.I Know this to be true becuase I saw them do it in detail on a show once.

[mariner227]

targa2
I sure would like some more information on this method of mounting a transducer on an alumimum boat. Mariner

I wish I could remember who aired the show where they showed it in some detail.It was a few years ago but I know what I saw because I had an aluminum at the time and was really amazed that they were doing this . I will do some searching for an answer seeing this is the second time I have opened my big mouth about this. I will post what I find.

[GENETRON]

JUST THOUGHT WE COULD GIVE YOU A FEW TIPS. A GENUINE THRU HULL DUCER APPLICATION IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO FOR OPTIMUM TRANSDUCER EFFICIENCY. IN OUR EXPERIMENTS THE LOSS OF SIGNAL SHOOTING THRU ANY MEDIUM OTHER THAN DIRECTLY INTO THE WATER IS FAR TO SIGNIFICANT TO IGNORE.WE DO NOT RECOMMEND IT AT ALL ON A GENETRON. HOWEVER SOME OF THE PROS HAVE GLASSED IN ONE OF OUR TWO BEAM SYSTEM TRANSDUCERS FOR RUNNING AT HIGH SPEED KNOWING THAT IT WILL LOSE THE CAPABILITY TO SHOW SOME FISH.WHEN THEY SLOW DOWN THEY SWITCH TO THE TRANSOM MOUNT DUCER. PUTTING A HOLE THRU AN ALUMINUM BOAT CAN ALSO BE TRICKY. FIBERGLASS IS MUCH EASIER AND IF PROPERLY DONE WILL NOT TEND TO LEAK. HOWEVER A HIGH SPEED BOATOWNER SHOULD THINK TWICE BEFORE DRILLING ANY HOLE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE HULL. WE HAVE HEARD OF HORROR STORIES OF THE FAIRING BLOCK OR FIBERGLASS COMING OFF WHEN THE BOTTOM OF THE HULL SMACKS A WAVE AT HIGH SPEED CAUSING THE BOAT TO SINK. BE CAREFULL!!!!!!! DICK KNUTSON GENETRON

[AquaMan]

I have an X65 on the bow of my aluminum boat that uses the "shoot-thru-hull" and it works great. Occasionally, I get interference from the LMS-350 mounted at the back, but when using one unit, you should be fine.

Mount yours toward the rear of the boat for on-plane readings. Use a good 2 part epoxy, keep air bubbles out and get the tranducer level with the water line. Be sure to create some kind of bracing to keep the trnsducer in place till the epoxy sets. I used to have one mounted in front of my bilge pump and that one was slick. No need to pull flooring. But when I rebuilt the fllor, I moved up front to reduce feedback from the other puck.

Now, these are not the clearest/cleanest readings and will not find deep water fish, but they are generally relaible for bottom depths, fish in the 10-30 foot range, etc. Most people want to track depths anyway.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just add water

[mariner227]

Thanks to all for the information! I'm going to buy a second transducer and give the thru hull a try on my aluminun boat. If I can get depth readings that are close at high speeds it will be worth it. My transom mount works pretty good now but does go blank once in a while when I'm running flat out. Mariner

Really can't recommend epoxying a transducer to the inside of an aluminun hull. Two reasons: #1 Due to the variances of the type and construction of the hull, the aluminum may transmit the sound just fine or it may "ring" absorbing the energy of the transducer. You can't tell by looking at an aluminum hull if it will work or not. Some will, some won't. Generally, epoxy won't work well, although obviously some people have had sucess with it. Usually, you need to use silcone RTV adhesive to attach the transducer to the inside of an aluminum hull. Never use RTV on a fiberglass hull, though. #2 The problem you're having at speed with the transom mount transducer will probably be worse with a shoot-thru-hull transducer. Why? Because the transom-mount transducer can be installed with the face of the transducer below the bubbles that come off the hull. These air bubbles are what's interfering with your signal at speed. They cling to the bottom of the hull, so a shoot-thru-hull transducer is trying to shoot through these air bubbles, with (generally) poor results.

You can make a transducer "well" by using silicone RTV to glue a piece of 4" PVC pipe vertically to the bottom of the hull. Fill the pipe with water and place the transducer into it. The transducer will shoot through the hull. This method works on fiberglass hulls, too. Just remember to drain the water out of the pipe before winter or freezing weather sets in. Some people use mineral oil instead of water so that they don't have to worry about freezing weather.

Finally, there is some loss of signal when shooting through a hull. If you're shooting through a solid fiberglass hull, then you shouldn't see a significant loss of signal. I have marked many, many fish using a shoot-thru-hull transducer. The key is a quality hull and a good installation.

-Big Al