mounting a transducer

just got a new revo and i had a lowrance m68 /s installed on the boat.. the other day i was out fishing and i had black lines going up and down the screen and the depth was flashing. just curious if maybe that sounds like a transducer issue or a monitor issue. the transducer was installed using hobbies method with the foam and the marine goop. has anyone had any trouble with the goop? i was also reading on here in a few earlier post that people are using a big piece of foam on bottom and smaller on top and are pretty much sandwiching in the transducer btw the pieces of foam and mounting the foam to the hull. im pretty new to all of this. maybe its a monitor issue. anyone had any experience with the M68 ff?

scduboy;

Air bubbles regardless of size, under the transducer, they are the enemy. I would NOT put any foam (with minute air bubbles manufactured into it) under your transducer.


Were you shallow when this happened?

Is your battery voltage (charge) low?

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March 2010 Hobie Pro Angler

CBull

Where is your transducer mounted? I had mine originally mounted just aft of the mirage hull cutout on the Revo using closed cell foam. While underway the mirage flippers were passing through the transducer cone and creating interference. The turbo flippers project 16" below the boat. In order to stay out of the 60 degree transducer cone the transducer needs to be at least 9.25" away from the edge of the nearest flipper. I moved mine to just aft of the crotch hatch.

The vertical black lines sound like you may have have had some wave action and gotten some air under the hull below where the transducer sits.
Blinking depth; I've seen that once and powering off the FF and powering the FF back on cleared that issue, still not certain what initially caused it though.

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March 2010 Hobie Pro Angler

CBull

first off thanks for the replys guys.. sorry i havent been back to check them i got busy..

cbull.. what do you suggest wet mount? i was in 1-100+ ft... i had the ff set up running 8 AA's figured that was wayy under powered so i switch to the big 9v.. i dont really have much experience with the ff yet so i really cant compare this new set up to anything..

demonick... my transducer is mounted just aft of the sail post as you mentioned. im also running turbo fins... and i did notice peddling in last night that there was a constant wave or squiggles if you will ranging from surface to about 10ft when i was peddling.. so im assuming that thats my finns?

is anyone running the lowrance m68/s? if so and you have some info or pointers etc you wanna share feel free...

thanks

Most FF expect 12v power. Generally, they will accept a lower value, but 9v is probably about as low as you want to go - I have my low voltage alert set for 10v. Check the documentation as it will likely give a voltage range and a maximum power draw. I'm not sure how big your 9v battery is, but using a 12v Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA) batteries are pretty standard on kayaks. Anywhere from 3-8 AmpHours (AH).


Sounds about right. I was getting surface clutter of 10-20 ft when peddling. On the salt in deep water targeting deep fish it's not a problem and you can always drift with flippers hull tight, but on a lake or targeting shallow fish it is a problem. One way to check is to stop and drift for a minute with the flippers hull tight to clear the FF screen, then peddle full strokes for about 10 seconds, then drift with flippers hull tight, then extend the flippers vertically stationary for about 10 seconds, then drift, then save the screen shot. You should be able to see some differences.

Foam mounting your transducer is easy. Make sure the foam is closed-cell so it will not absorb/leak water. Cut the hole somewhat small so the transducer is press-fit into the hole. Glue the foam with a solid bead of Goop to the bottom of the kayak. Let dry a few days. Fill foam hole with water and press in transducer. Try this link:

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/in ... 506.0.html