Transducer Mounting - No Spray at Speed?

[Bigstorm]

I put a new locator on the boat this spring and have had problems getting it positioned correct so that it wouldn't spray up and get water in/on the back of boat at speed and also to have it read depth at speed. (when I say ready depth at speed I mean 20 to 30 mph, boat tops out at 31mph)

I believe the problem was that it was mounted too low in the water when I first installed it. I had to replace the mounting board to raise it up and now have it positioned so that is sits just barely below the bottom of the boat.

My hope is that it doesnt spray water up on the back of the boat and also reads depth properly at speed. Take a look at the 2 pictures and tell me if you think I'm in the ballpark now or if it would need to be mounted higher yet

Thanks

[nikmark]

Looks to me like the transducer mounting board is extending below the bottom of the transom and causing the spray.

[Bigstorm]

the board is sitting flush with rivets on the underside of the boat. The old mounting board was in the same place and it didnt spray until I installed the new locator/transducer.

I mounted the new board in the same location (as close to as possible so I could avoid drilling new holes in the boat

[nikmark]

Okay, must just be the way the photo looks. You might try adjusting it up a little more and tilting the back edge of the transducer down. Water might be catching on the front edge causing it to shoot up. It looks really level in your photo, but the way your boat sits when running may make the front edge lower than the back edge.

[REW]

There is a very simple solution.
1. Forget about the spray.
2. Adjust the transducer however you have to adjust it to get a perfect reading at all speeds from stopped to going wide open.
3. Now, if you have spray from the transducer, make a spray hood and screw it to the transducer board.

If you find that you are getting objectionable spray when going at speed, have someone else drive, the boat and with you wearing a life jacket - peer over the boat - and determine the pattern of the spray. Determine what and how much have to be covered with a spray shield.

Generally, when making such a spray shield, it does not have to be very big. You just need something to keep any spray that might be going vertical to not get to any place in the boat. A simple piece of aluminum as wide as is needed with a flange bent into one side and screwed into the transom will solve the issue.

Bottom line - you really don't care about spray, but you do care about a good transducer readings at all speeds.

When you go to do some testing, you could bring along a foot long piece of 1X4 or 1X6 and hold it in the general area of the transducer to see if one or the other would be sufficient to eliminate the problem before actually bending up a piece of metal and mounting it on the boat.

You might actually find that a deflector that is angled up at 45 degrees or so might be perfect. In other words, just deflect any spray that might come up - back far enough so that it never comes into the boat. Just deflecting the spray is likely a better solution than trying to blank it out entirely.


p.s.
You are not alone. I have seen quite a few boats which have a considerable transducer caused spray that gets the rear of the boat wet, especially during certain wind conditions.

REW

[MC620]

Even simpler solution:

cover the gap in the bracket mounted to the boat with a couple wraps of tape.

sheesh.........

[SingleShot]

This has been notorious for HB xducers. The new ones supplied today should have a rubber plug to fill that hole. Black electrical tape works, some even make plates mounted under to just cover the hole.

JK

[Bigstorm]

I was thinking the whole time that the spray was casued by havingthe transducer itself too low in the water, never even thought of that gap causing the issues. I will wrap electrical tape around that too.

Assuming that it was that gap/hole in the mounting bracket, how low do you want the trandsucer to sit below the boat then?

Thanks for all of the replies so far, this site is great for getting answers

[REW]

Big
You need to have the transducer at the level where you can have a clean bottom pickup at all speed from 0 to wide open.
That might mean flush with the transom or an inch below the transom.

It all depends on how turbulated the water is in the area where the transducer is mounted.

If you have a boat with rivets, and strakes in front of the transducer, it will be deeper than if you have a boats hull that is perfectly smooth and is leaving dead smoot water behind the hull.

Also, be sure that the rear of the transducer is a touch deeper in the water than the front of th e transducer. When the water slides across the face of the transducer, you want it to be going sligthtly downhill so that the water doesn't develop any turbulation of empty spots due to turbulation across the face of the transducer.

Good luck
REW

[codeblue]

I had this exact problem and the plug did not help. As mentioned---I cut a 4" Pvc pipe in about a third and 9" long. Then cut out a notch in the PVC for the the transducers top bracket (about 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" x 3") deep notch ---these are all rough measurements off the top of my head----use 4 screws to attach to mounting board---its like a hood over it that redirects the splash down......


Very easy to do and took 15 min tops and has worked perfectly with speeds up to 45mph.....the white PVC blends right in and is hardly noticeable even when on trailer.

I will try to find a picture of it. Hope this helps