Author Topic: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?  (Read 7672 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline bigkahuna

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Joined: Nov 2009
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 147
  • Accessories: Custom ROV with Imagenex sonar
Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« on: January 06, 2012, 08:28:33 AM »
Anyone ever try opening up their HB unit?  I'm wondering if the internal components of a 798 ci hd si might be removed from the original housing and fit into a water tight cylindrical housing with a 4" diameter.  That way I could use the ethernet connection and wouldn't experience signal degradation from extending the transducer cable too far.  Anyone have photos of the insides of a unit?


Offline Rickard

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: May 2009
  • Location: Mariefred, Sweden
  • Posts: 512
  • Unit(s): 999, 981, M37, LowBird-1, LowBird-2

Offline bigkahuna

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Joined: Nov 2009
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 147
  • Accessories: Custom ROV with Imagenex sonar
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2012, 09:54:17 AM »
Darn!  You're right, looks like the board fills almost the entire housing.  I'm sure it's a multi layer board so no chance of cutting it without major issues.  Hmmm... back to the drawing board...

Offline Humminbird_Greg

  • Humminbird Helper
  • Humminbird Staff
  • *
  • Joined: Mar 2009
  • Location: Eufaula, AL.
  • Posts: 6546
  • I help because I can
    • Humminbird Web Site
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2012, 11:52:48 AM »
The PCB is about 5 inches X 6.5 inches.
Yep, multilayered: try 8 layers with ground planes on both the primary and secondary sides.  Makes it really tough to solder to especially when combined with the lead-free solder and size of some of those components!

Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Offline bigkahuna

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Joined: Nov 2009
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 147
  • Accessories: Custom ROV with Imagenex sonar
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2012, 12:12:08 PM »
@Greg - Do you happen to know the dimensions of the 898 motherboard?  The 898 is longer and not so wide so that might be a possibility.

[Seems a shame to tear apart a perfect good $1400 unit to put it in a tube.  Maybe I should hang out behind the Humminbird factor and pick up one of their scratch and dent units.  ;)  ]
« Last Edit: January 06, 2012, 12:14:05 PM by bigkahuna »

Offline Humminbird_Greg

  • Humminbird Helper
  • Humminbird Staff
  • *
  • Joined: Mar 2009
  • Location: Eufaula, AL.
  • Posts: 6546
  • I help because I can
    • Humminbird Web Site
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2012, 04:18:02 PM »
4.25 X 9.5 inches for the main PCB of the 898c Si unit.

When we scratch and dent them they are usually in many pieces bigkahuna.  It’s a great way to relieve work stress!
[Actually we recycle most everything.]

Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Offline Rickard

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: May 2009
  • Location: Mariefred, Sweden
  • Posts: 512
  • Unit(s): 999, 981, M37, LowBird-1, LowBird-2
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2012, 04:58:39 PM »
Some people bake/pot their boards in plastic/epoxi/resin, then there is no need for a waterproof housing.
Rickard

Offline bigkahuna

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Joined: Nov 2009
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 147
  • Accessories: Custom ROV with Imagenex sonar
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2012, 05:10:03 PM »
that only protects the board and components, not the wires / circuits that it will be connected to.  If there were an easier way, I'd do it.  :)

Offline Rüdiger

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Joined: Feb 2011
  • Posts: 493
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2012, 03:27:12 AM »
Hi big k

You not only need an ethernet connection but also a power supply.
So I think that the effort with a waterproof housing is not worthwhile, just to make a potentially long cable connection.

mvh
Rüdiger

Offline Rickard

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Joined: May 2009
  • Location: Mariefred, Sweden
  • Posts: 512
  • Unit(s): 999, 981, M37, LowBird-1, LowBird-2
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2012, 03:53:47 AM »
These guys use potting instead of housings whenever they can:
http://www.submarineboat.com/waterproofing.htm
 
Rickard

Offline bigkahuna

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Joined: Nov 2009
  • Location: North Carolina
  • Posts: 147
  • Accessories: Custom ROV with Imagenex sonar
Re: Disassemble a HB unit to make it smaller?
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2012, 08:53:25 AM »
It seems I've hit a topic you fellows have thought about as well...

@Rüdiger - You're assuming my plan is to use this in a towfish, which it is not.  My application will have more than sufficient power for the sonar unit.

@Rickard - Thanks, I've got a fair bit of experience in designing and building submersibles.  There are good applications for potting electronics and then there are situations where it would be of limited benefit, I believe in this instance it is the latter.


Share me

Digg  Facebook  SlashDot  Delicious  Technorati  Twitter  Google  Yahoo

 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
1 Replies
5975 Views
Last post March 20, 2011, 04:34:56 PM
by sonar2000
2 Replies
2853 Views
Last post December 27, 2012, 12:15:28 PM
by Humminbird_Greg
1 Replies
2817 Views
Last post February 05, 2013, 07:54:30 PM
by Bob B
0 Replies
2321 Views
Last post April 01, 2013, 02:36:57 PM
by hchelette
4 Replies
12866 Views
Last post November 21, 2013, 02:58:29 PM
by FuzzyGrub
6 Replies
6017 Views
Last post January 03, 2014, 07:37:27 PM
by Dieago
3 Replies
6081 Views
Last post December 06, 2017, 09:23:34 PM
by rnvinc
0 Replies
2714 Views
Last post July 12, 2022, 01:14:15 PM
by jackfruit


SimplePortal 2.3.3 © 2008-2010, SimplePortal