in hull depth finder

[Rock Richardson]

I am saving my money and will get a new thu hull depth (mine is non functional) and
speed & temp but until then I need a good way to measure depth I would like to get a in hull depth finder in the bow Close to where my thru hull is, in the v-bearth, is there any core material I need to be wary of. any one have a recommendation ? installation problem ?

[Anonymous]

I am also faced with replacing a depth sounder and most of the electronics on Silverheels (hull #17). I have purchased a B&G Multi Function display package from Defender.com which includes a DST800 in plastic housing which will leverage the NMEA2000 protocol and wiring. The plan is for the old transducer to be pulled out and replaced with this unit. I hope to work on this in about two weeks and will share how it goes with this forum.

[Rock Richardson]

I too am looking at a b&g, in the meantime would like to use a temporary depth sounder that goes in the boat, until I have the cash for the b&g

[Anonymous]

The old depth sounder was all one piece and we had to remove it by sanding down the residue around the depth sounder on the outside of the hull and then pushing the through hull down and outside. Once the old through hull was out, we found that the thru hull was a standard size and would fitting the new DST 800 would be no problem. After doing some research and speaking with some experienced sailors in Green Cove Springs Marina, I decided to used 3M 4200 Marine Polyurethane fast cure sealant. This was smothered around the lip and the bottom 1/3 of the through hull threads. As I hand tightened the through hull screw from inside the bilge, a person outside the hull was cleaning off the excess sealant that was forced out.

There was one main gotchya I forgot to look for the little arrow on the through hull that was meant to point forward for the benefit of the speed sensor/paddle wheel. I had it pointed athwart ship…oops. Luckily I ran into a friend within So re-setting after 15 to 20 minutes of curing made the job difficult…especially hand tightening over the fast cure sealant that had started the curing process…I was sweating like a monkey in the bilge with every quarter turn.

I’m still working on setting in the new gauge and running the NMEA 2000 backbone wire up to the inside of the cockpit combing.

[JodyandStephen]

Rock Richardson wrote:

I am saving my money and will get a new thu hull depth (mine is non functional) and
speed & temp but until then I need a good way to measure depth I would like to get a in hull depth finder in the bow Close to where my thru hull is, in the v-bearth, is there any core material I need to be wary of. any one have a recommendation ? installation problem ?

I recently fitted Blue Pelican with both a through hull Raymarine transducer AND a Lowrance shoot thru the hull transducer. There is no issue with “core Material” in the hull because it is solid fibreglass. I tested the shoot thru hull sysytem by first setting it in vaseline in the intended position. It worked. So I then cleaned away any trace of vaseline and bedded in epoxy [used plasticene/childs modelling clay to form a dam to pour the epoxy into, carefull not to have any bubbles]. The Lowrance is low cost, and works with our Lowrance chartplotter. Although the wire colors do not match, I have also mated a connection as a back-up to the Raymarine system. Works perfectly. Blue Pelican’s primary depth transducer is a new Raymarine branded Airmar. The bronze one that stopped working was too hard to find replacement, and in distant harbours that difficulty is exponentially compounded. Mainstream plastic unit is easiest for swap out repair. However, I cant find fault with the performance of the Lowrance; and there is no hole in the hull, and they are inexpensive. Hope this helps.

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