Forums, Electrical Systems, Navigation and Safety equipment, Depth Transducer Installation

Wisdish at 09/01/2011 20:50:39
We are replacing our aged Stowe Navigator instruments with Raymarine ST60+. However, the Through Hull Airmar Depth transducer that is supplied is a larger diameter (2") than our existing transducer (which was approx 40mm) and therefore won’t fit in the existing location forward of the keel. Has anyone any experience of fitting this Transducer to a C032?

The other option may be to use the existing Transducer with the new instruments. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks,

Mark

George Isted at 10/01/2011 11:10:40
Hi Mark,
Yes, relatively easy to do, cut out the old transducer using an appropriate sized hole cutter, you will probably need to drill a pilot hole through the old one first. You can either use the plastic hull fitting provided (that will require a good bit of fairing in) or buy a bronze transducer fitting from Jeremy, this is better as is does not have the flange on the outside, therefore less fairing in. A third option is to cut back the flange on the supplied hull fitting but as it is only plastic you may be asking for trouble. You could probably refit the hull fitting with Sikaflex but I would suggest thickened epoxy, ideally micro-fibres or Silica for the bonding and microballons for the fairing. Don’t forget to rough-up the outside surface of the transducer skin fitting before fitting (not the transducer itself).

Edited: George Isted on 2011-01-10 11:12:05

davidmacdonald at 10/01/2011 19:49:30
Mark

When we replaced out echo sounder I managed to release the previous Navico sounder from its fitting (not easy as it was well and truly sikaflexed in with epoxy over the top) and reuse the hole. The sounder was about 40mm across but then narrowed to 15mm after the first couple of cm (i.e. it was nail shaped, with the lead coming from the ‘pointy’ end).

We replaced the broken instrument with a NASA sounder, which conveniently used the same sized sounder as the original (that being the main reason why it was chosen). I now understand that Airmar make a transducer in that size/shape. You should check with them or Raymarine, but they probably do one with is compatible with Raymarine instruments, but that does mean buying an extra transducer.

Another option is to fit the new transducer internally – this is a lot less hassle and what I would do if I were doing it again. Airmar and possibly Raymarine sell the tube for it to fit into and this is cut to the relevant angle (so the sounder points straight down when the boat is level) and filled with castor oil before the transducer is fitted into the tube. Fitting it in the hull will cut down the range a little (as I understand it from maybe 100m to perhaps 50-75m) but it does save you having to cut out the old one and fair in something new so is a lot easier and you have no reason to be concerned about leaks (except maybe a bit of castor oil!).

Give me a call if you want to know more about what we did.

David

doug at 11/01/2011 11:44:00
I have been fitting a new sounder as well, so I have been fussing with these problems…. On the old board Allen Coxon wrote:
“My transducer is moulded in where the keel starts and has a fairing around it. It is accessed through a small hatch in the deck between the V berths. When I upgared to ST 60 instrumentation all concerned decided that as it had been there working well for over ten years and would be far to difficult to replicate its moulding we left well alone. ST60 sounder runs very well using it”
Jan 07

davidmacdonald at 11/01/2011 19:13:16
doug
ST60 sounder runs very well using it

Yes, rather foolishly I didn’t think to try the old sounder with the the new instrument – it even had the same TV aerial type connector.

Wisdish at 13/01/2011 20:39:23
Many thanks for all of your highly useful comments. Further investigation has revealed that the old Stowe sounders worked at 205kHz whilst the Raymarine sounder operates at 200kHz. I therefore suspect, unless anyone can confirm to the contrary, that the existing transducer will not be compatible.

The most likely route I will take is to use Jeremy’s Bronze Housing and obtain a suitable transducer from Raymarine to fit (I suspect that the standard transducer supplied with the ST60+ Depth will not fit – I still need to be confirm this).

Option B is to fit the transducer internally – we used to have this arrangement on our Co26 and it worked fine.

I’ll let you know what the outcome is.

Mark

Simon Begley at 16/01/2011 16:15:47
Our NASA sounder worked well with the transducer bonded straight to the inside of the hull with a blob of plastic padding. The only drawback with this method on the Contessa is it needs to be well aft to find a flattish part of the hull to bond it to.

I’ve since moved ours up to the heads, and fitted it internally about 6" from the centreline in a vertical tube.
There’s no need for a pricey fitting kit, a piece of plastic waste pipe, just big enough for the transducer and bonded in with epoxy putty works fine.

Remember to remove any paint from inside the hull first, and try not to let too much antifouling build up outside. The tube can be part filled with water, but castor oil takes longer to evaporate!

Since fitting it we’ve not been in water deeper than 30meters, but it works perfectly to that depth.

Simon

Wisdish at 21/02/2011 21:20:27
I have now fitted the bronze transducer housing from Jeremy, and the Raymarine E26030 transducer that fits inside it. So far so good…

Mark

waratah912 at 01/05/2011 08:18:03
We fitted an Airmar B5 long stem bronze transducer – 22mm stem, slightly larger than the old Navico, but a simple replacement. Supplied by the Service Centre thru eBay.

Dolphyn at 14/08/2012 11:33:24
Mark,
A year and a half since your ‘So far so good…’ post: is everything still good?
I have the same challenge (old transducer u/s, new ST60+) and would like to know if you still recommend the bronze tube from Jeremy plus the E26030 transducer?

Winfried

waratah912 at 15/08/2012 16:11:26
Hi,
Raymarine make a bronze fitting for wooden boats that has a shaft about 22mm from memory. I used one to replace my Navico depth sounder with ST60. Bought it on eBay and sold the fat one the same way. £125 from theservicecentre.eu

Wisdish at 15/08/2012 21:26:50
We sold our Co32 in May but for the year after installation this arrangement worked well with no problems whatsoever. If I was to do the job again I would do it the same way.

If you have any queries please get back to me.

Mark

George Isted at 16/08/2012 10:08:50
Wisdish
We sold our Co32 in May

TURNCOAT!

Wisdish at 16/08/2012 20:16:22
If only Jeremy had built a Contessa 36 and then wouldn’t have had to buy a Rival 36 – although the Rival does sail really well even if she is not quite as pretty as a Contessa 32!

waratah912 at 16/08/2012 23:11:18
Must be something to do with the time zone here in BC – showed up as a new post….or maybe it’s just jt lag????

George Isted at 17/08/2012 22:16:31
I’m only kidding Mark, I’m sure you are very happy with your Rival. A good friend has a R38.

There is or was a Co35 on ebay that looked good, quite a departure from the 32, much more modern to look at although not bloated like the modern ben/jen/bav we see cluttering up the marina.