Baxter
Well-Known Member
UPDATE FEB 04, 2021:
The shield I made in this post has been removed from the boat already already. I switched to a simpler design made out of ABS. See Posts 12 & 13 in this thread for that.
My initial concerns are at the bottom of this post, but I had some nice folks on Facebook (Vancouver Island Salmon Fishing group) note that there may be electrical and electrolysis issues with my having used galvanized steel.
One person suggested that having this galvanized metal combined with the stainless of the transducer bracket and the aluminum of the boat is essentially creating a battery when mixed with the salt water. ! Not sure if that is true or not, but I see the logic, and not worth any risk.
Apparently this small piece of metal can also effect the voltage of the boat, causing a number of issues. SO I figured, play it safe, cut my $2 in losses and start over. New design cost only $3, so I am still ahead in life
(If it works).
*******************************************
ORIGINAL POST:
I was finding my transducer was spraying a nice rooster tail on my engine. Not good! I managed to find some aftermarket shields that were WAY too expensive for what they were, and could not find any specific to this transducer (not sure if it mattered), so decided to find a DIY solution.
I saw some videos where people had all kinds of solutions. One guy used the inside corner piece for a vinyl gutter and hacked it up to work. Looked good. I went a different (and cheaper route).
Took a 13"x3"x4" piece of galvanized step flashing. $2.10 at Home Depot.
- One bend, 4" up the corner, then wrapped the sides in to make a "box"
- Rounded the corners - cut metal is sharp!
- Drilled holes for bolts and cut a slot for the cable. Used a dremmel to clean up sharp edges from cutting.
- mounted between the boat and the transducer
Mounting it was by far the hardest part mostly as holding things, lining up the holes, and getting the bolts back in was insanely awkward. If you try this, get an extra set of hands! The fabrication was super easy, and I have never really worked with metal before. For anyone with experience it would be a breeze.
Test run will happen this weekend. My potential concerns:
- My slot for the transducer cable should be a bit bigger. While I wrapped the cable in electrical tape and the cable is not in contact with the edge, I worry a bit about the sharp edge cutting the cable a bit. Not much movement there, so SHOULD be okay, but if I take it off at some point I will make the opening a bit bigger, and will look into a better way to cover the cable (Yes I know the tape won't stick around for long!). Maybe I will use a piece of old bike tube or something Not sure yet.
- vertical part of the shield may need to be shorter. I am a bit worried that it might interfere with the readings of the transducer. Easy fix if it does though, take off, trim, re-mount.
- Not sure what kind of force, if any, will be on this when I take corners and on plane. It may be an issue, but unsure. If it is, I will probably try taking a few inches off the length. Most of the splashing likely comes from right at the bracket anyways. I can always remove, but can't add, so figured I would start long.
- May flap or vibrate on plane. Again, will adjust length or height if this is an issue.
- While the edges are not too sharp, in the likelihood that a fish swims over there, the worry of the edge contacting the fishing line is a bit of a concern, but will see what happens with that.
Anyone else have this problem and fix it with a DIY solution? Thoughts on my fix?
The shield I made in this post has been removed from the boat already already. I switched to a simpler design made out of ABS. See Posts 12 & 13 in this thread for that.
My initial concerns are at the bottom of this post, but I had some nice folks on Facebook (Vancouver Island Salmon Fishing group) note that there may be electrical and electrolysis issues with my having used galvanized steel.
One person suggested that having this galvanized metal combined with the stainless of the transducer bracket and the aluminum of the boat is essentially creating a battery when mixed with the salt water. ! Not sure if that is true or not, but I see the logic, and not worth any risk.
Apparently this small piece of metal can also effect the voltage of the boat, causing a number of issues. SO I figured, play it safe, cut my $2 in losses and start over. New design cost only $3, so I am still ahead in life
(If it works).*******************************************
ORIGINAL POST:
I was finding my transducer was spraying a nice rooster tail on my engine. Not good! I managed to find some aftermarket shields that were WAY too expensive for what they were, and could not find any specific to this transducer (not sure if it mattered), so decided to find a DIY solution.
I saw some videos where people had all kinds of solutions. One guy used the inside corner piece for a vinyl gutter and hacked it up to work. Looked good. I went a different (and cheaper route).
Took a 13"x3"x4" piece of galvanized step flashing. $2.10 at Home Depot.
- One bend, 4" up the corner, then wrapped the sides in to make a "box"
- Rounded the corners - cut metal is sharp!
- Drilled holes for bolts and cut a slot for the cable. Used a dremmel to clean up sharp edges from cutting.
- mounted between the boat and the transducer
Mounting it was by far the hardest part mostly as holding things, lining up the holes, and getting the bolts back in was insanely awkward. If you try this, get an extra set of hands! The fabrication was super easy, and I have never really worked with metal before. For anyone with experience it would be a breeze.
Test run will happen this weekend. My potential concerns:
- My slot for the transducer cable should be a bit bigger. While I wrapped the cable in electrical tape and the cable is not in contact with the edge, I worry a bit about the sharp edge cutting the cable a bit. Not much movement there, so SHOULD be okay, but if I take it off at some point I will make the opening a bit bigger, and will look into a better way to cover the cable (Yes I know the tape won't stick around for long!). Maybe I will use a piece of old bike tube or something Not sure yet.
- vertical part of the shield may need to be shorter. I am a bit worried that it might interfere with the readings of the transducer. Easy fix if it does though, take off, trim, re-mount.
- Not sure what kind of force, if any, will be on this when I take corners and on plane. It may be an issue, but unsure. If it is, I will probably try taking a few inches off the length. Most of the splashing likely comes from right at the bracket anyways. I can always remove, but can't add, so figured I would start long.
- May flap or vibrate on plane. Again, will adjust length or height if this is an issue.
- While the edges are not too sharp, in the likelihood that a fish swims over there, the worry of the edge contacting the fishing line is a bit of a concern, but will see what happens with that.
Anyone else have this problem and fix it with a DIY solution? Thoughts on my fix?
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