Transducer putty mount

Yesterday I ripped out my old transducer mount of foam and grease and installed the transducer with Duct Seal, aka, Plumber's Putty, aka Monkey Shit. 

The closed-cell foam puck pulled off the Marine Goop intact, and the residual goop on the hull yielded to gentle persuasion from a 1" putty knife.  How easily the goop came off the hull makes me think that if I have to mount the transducer again, it will simply be glued down with Marine Goop. 

Other than just Goop I can't imagine an easier mount than the putty.  Clean up the hull, use about 1/3 lb, make a 3/8" thick pancake, apply to the hull, then press the transducer into the putty, and roll up some of the excess putty onto the sides and back of the transducer.  The only thing to watch out for is air bubbles between hull and putty and between putty and transducer.   The putty is damned sticky stuff, and seems to be a fair hand moisturizer.

The real test is performance, and I'm hoping to hit the water over the weekend or next week.

http://www.demonick.com/kayak/HMR/Battery.Transducer.Hull/HMR.Transducer.Putty.html

Look cools. So when it dries, does it get pretty hard?

Look cools. So when it dries, does it get pretty hard?

The putty is non-drying.  It stays pliable.

Just found a youtube video of this type of install. The guy did some testing and is pleased with the results. I think I might try this method too. Here is the video

Good fact sheet on Duct Seal Putty http://www.rainbowtech.net/products/docs/e4da3b7f6491c9bde11/Literature.pdf.pdf

key points:  Will not harm polyethylene, temperature tolerence to 175 degrees

Great video!!

I have heard that duct seal is the way to go. 

If the putty works fine without having to use water, and I have any problems with my foam puck, then I guess I'm going to have to fashion a transducer turd out of that "monkey shit" for my Tarpon. I'm waiting until I find out what works best before I change over from my foam-puck-with-water, though. I have yet to test mine.

I bought a rubber mounting kit for my transducer that seems to work ok.  Whenever it decides to fail I think I'll switch over to this.

This is how I am mounting my transducer for the Cuda 350.  Heard lots of good, and 0 negative.

I just installed my transducer in my hull... I read and researched many ways to do it and finally came up with a solution I hope works best. I took a plastic box that locks on all four sides and cut the bottom of it out. I then mounted my transducer on its mount to the side of the box. I use marine goop to glue the box down to the hull and non drying plumbers putty as a secondary sealant around the outside. I then filled the box with water and locked the lid in place... Not to wait for the ice to leave to try this out. I figured shooting through water then hull then water would be the best option outside of hanging my transducer off the side...

I've never seen this method mentioned.  Seems like it would work. 

I'm still waiting for an acceptable weather window to test out the putty mount.  From the wind forecasts it might not be until NEXT weekend. 

Finally was able to get out on the water and test my putty mount.  The results were not acceptable.

1. The first photo shows the initial view in very shallow water with the putty mount.  This is with both frequencies, 83 & 200kHz and a 500/4000 W Humminbird transducer.  Periodically it gets a good return, but overall it is very attenuated.

2. The second photo is in deeper water with only 83kHz.  Almost no return.

3. The third photo is at the same location with only 200kHz.  Very attenuated.

4. The fourth photo is with the transducer directly in the water, then after the gap, remounted in the putty.

As mentioned previously, my foam puck and grease mount worked well for a year, then went bad.  Remounting did not help, and I never figured out what went wrong.  The putty patty mount gave almost the same results as the grease mount gone bad. 

Very weird and not sure what to do.  I may give the putty patty mount another shot with a thin enough patty for the transducer to contact the hull.  After that, I'll try the putty doughnut and water mount. 

At least you know the transducer is good.

I did the putty mount on my PA last Friday and it worked great on Sunday even after 2 surf launch huli's.  Did not see any interference and it matched up with another on a different kayak for depth.