esoxfly - 11/1/2011 10:06 AM
"Mount the ducer on the starboard side."
Prop rotation
OK. I didn't see that in the instructions. I've mounted them on both sides of the boat, but I'll take that as a trick of the trade if it's something you do.
"Make it behave like part of the running bottom, look all the way up the wetted surface of the hull bottom for lift and turning strakes and rivet lines that will dirty up the water coming off the hull and avoid placing the center of the ducer there.
Select an area where clean water is exiting, might take a look back there...carefully...under power."
This very much depends on the hull configuration. A padded hull and straight V will require different height, the centerline of the ducer may not be enough on way or the other.
This is the first step, on page 2 of the installation instructions where it talks about clean water, looking for strakes, mounting away from turbulence and in step 4 on page 6 where it talks about making the center of transducer even with the bottom of the hull; not too high or too low.
Describing how to determine where the clean water is is most of that trick, a hull may have a rocker/forward configuration that creates turbulence at lower speeds, and not on plane. A padded hull can have all but the pad out of the water, so mounting the ducer in the running surface area may not be a slam dunk.
"Follow instructions for a side scan unit."
Yep!
"Use a transducer block on an aluminum boat"
OK. I could buy that. I've never used one on any tin boats I've rigged and never had a problem, but if it's one of your tips and tricks, that's cool.
"Predrill and countersink with a high speed, very sharp drill on a glass boat. Easy, don't force the bit or you will fracture the gel coat."
Sound advice for any drilling of glass. Not sure it's a trick of the trade, but good advice nonetheless.
It is. Most folks will grab a bit out of the tool box that doesn't correctly match the screw size ( the 'close enough' syndrome) and will not countersink through the gel. later, the resulting gel crack caused by forcing a screw through the gel surface which is nothing more than un-reinforced resin, heads all the way up the transom and spreads different directions, and the owner thinks he has a bad hull.
"Some of the aluminum rigs out there have sort of a lipped transom edge, make sure you have the ducer where the water flow is straight back."
Again, good advice, but I'd put that in the category of basic ducer installation, ensuring clean water, minimal turbulence, aligning the ducer with the bottom of the hull.
The lipped area, like on some Mirro Craft models in the last few years, is not covered in the installation guide and most folks would have no idea it will cause a problem...it doesn't look like it would to most folks. It's basically a trim tab built in the the running bottom....but back a measurable distance from the transom making it a challenge to mount the ducer. Some of the aluminums now have welded transoms and have welds through the hull 'dimpling' the running bottom. Each will cause turbulence.
"Seal all mounting holes in the boat with silicone sealant on the screw and in the drill hole."
Mentioned numerous times in the installation instructions.
Trick here is to place the silicone on the screw AND in the hole. One or the other may result in a poor seal because of gaps.
"Route ducer wire clear of main engine power controls wire if at all possible"
Mentioned on page 120 of the owner's manual, step 2 in sonar troubleshooting. Or if by power controls wire, you mean throttle cable, I guess I'd just call that common sense.
The idea is to mount the ducer so you don't need to trouble shoot.
"Stay away from the outer chines that may be out of the water on a hard turn"
Also mentioned in the initial ducer positioning instructions; not to put it on an outter chine, though they mention it may be out of the water on plane. There's even a picture of it.
See my reference to padded hulls above, just an additional heads up because most folks do not know the difference between a sequential lift, padded, high performance padded, High performance Deep V or straight deep V hull.
I'm not trying to argue with you or TJ, I'm just saying that out of your tricks "that came to mind," really only two aren't specifically mentioned or addressed in the HDS instructions or manual, and I've done installs without using those and have been fine. But like I say, if they work for you, and it's a trick of yours, I'll buy that. As far as drilling glass, I guess I'd just consider that more of a standard practice...maybe not common sense, but a standard mechanical practice. Everything else you listed is mentioned in the instructions or owners manual.
I'm just sticking with my original advice, saying that the instructions are very complete for a newb or someone who's never done it before to follow and get good results. I'm sure we're the same Steve in that we just install them now and don't even follow the instructions any more after having installed a sufficient number each and we tend to get away from reading instructions and go more on our own respective methods....which are actually in the instructions.
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