Author Topic: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)  (Read 9078 times)

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Offline Philip Brown

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What kind of plastic is the HUMMINBIRD XTM-9-HDSI-180-T transducer made of?

I ask because I am building a custom mounting plate to mount it to my Jack plate, and I would like to
bond some plastic "L" brackets to the top of the transducer itself to provide for extra support.

By knowing the kind of plastic (ABS, PVC, etc)... I will know what kind of plastic to use for the L brackets,
and what solvents to use to chemically bond the brackets to the top of the transducer.

Thanks!

        -Philip...

P.S. -- Like others (I'm sure)... I lost the original SI transducer when I mounted it to the back of a fast fishing boat (50 MPH)...   >:(
...I  had to bite the bullet and buy a new one, plus a shoot-through-hull puck, plus a "Y" cable.

Now I'm trying to fabricate a bracket out of 3/8" stainless steel to mount the SI transducer to my CMC Jack plate....  I looked at the Transducer Shield & Saver bracket, but they don't list the CMC as one of the plates they support, and I'm not interested in purchasing their bracket, and then trying to figure out how to mount it.   I post photos of my bracket one it's done, and if it works well, I might even share the design!  ;D


-------
180 ProCraft Combo  (Fish 'N Ski) with CMC Jack Plate and Mariner 150.
« Last Edit: September 14, 2012, 07:14:32 PM by Philip Brown »


Offline Rickard

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2012, 03:55:06 AM »
Hi,
The housing is PVC. Inside there is a kind of soft epoxy. I have used "plastic adhesive" based on ketone (Butadon). Acetone dissolves the PVC easily. Urethane sticks pretty well to the housing also. I have joined several transducers to make larger transducers with urethane. Epoxy doesn't work at all.
Regards,
Rickard

Offline Philip Brown

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #2 on: September 15, 2012, 01:03:09 PM »
Excellent!  Thank you, Rickard.

Given that information, I think I will use the cleaner and the solvents made for joining PVC pipes together.

The cleaner is purple, so I will use it sparingly... but at the end of the day if my transducer shows some purple on it I'm OK with that.

Thank you for the input.   If anyone else has any insights or advice, your input would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

      -Philip

P.S. -- When I'm finished mounting the transducer, I'll be sure to start a new thread to show and discuss what I did and the results that I got.  :)

Offline sonar2000

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2012, 02:30:22 PM »
Phillip,, just post your finding on this thread as it is and will be related to your opening post/.
You can put picture in the thread or post them in the media section..
Chuck

Offline George

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2012, 09:16:42 AM »
Philip

They have both purple and clear PVC cleaners.  I use the purple colored cleaner if appearance is not necessary and use the clear when the piping is visible.  Most home centers sell both.  The purple is good visibility for insuring that everything has been cleaned.  I also use the clear to clean off the printing on the PVC.

George

Offline Humminbird_Greg

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2012, 03:28:19 PM »
Hi,
The housing is PVC. Inside there is a kind of soft epoxy. I have used "plastic adhesive" based on ketone (Butadon). Acetone dissolves the PVC easily. Urethane sticks pretty well to the housing also. I have joined several transducers to make larger transducers with urethane. Epoxy doesn't work at all.
Regards,
Rickard

Hmmm, I thought that it was an ABS plastic...
Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Offline Rickard

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2012, 05:20:43 PM »
Hmmm, I thought that it was an ABS plastic...
Everything you say use to be true and it wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong.... :-[ Both PVC and ABS is soluble in acetone so perhaps the same adhesive works on both materials? /Rickard

Offline Philip Brown

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2012, 09:41:50 PM »
If forced to choose, I think I'd go with the Hummin' Bird employee's input ...  ;D

However,  I looked on line and found that my local building store should have this:  "Oatey 4 oz. ABS to PVC Transition Cement".

Since that is designed to connect ABS to PVC, I think it's safe to assume that should work on either material and/or both.  However, it says that it's not suitable for pipes
under pressure, so the bond clearly won't be as strong as using a bracket and solvent made out of the same material.

I'll have to see..., or maybe try a little test.

       -Philip

Offline Humminbird_Greg

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2012, 11:16:38 AM »
Everything you say use to be true and it wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong.... :-[ Both PVC and ABS is soluble in acetone so perhaps the same adhesive works on both materials? /Rickard

I double checked Rickard and the prints show “ABS” but I’m not saying that there could have been a material substitute.  The guy that would know this is on vacation right now though…

Greg Walters at Humminbird
gwalters@johnsonoutdoors.com

Offline W9GFO

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2012, 07:23:19 PM »
Here's an easy test;

Heat up a piece of copper wire with a torch until it is red hot. Touch the wire to the plastic so that a little bit sticks on the wire. Place the wire back into the flame. If it burns green then it contains chloride. If it is ABS there will be no green.

« Last Edit: September 18, 2012, 07:26:02 PM by W9GFO »

Offline Philip Brown

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #10 on: April 28, 2015, 02:22:23 PM »
So after 2+ years, I thought I would give an update regarding my custom-made transducer mount.

The short version is that I should have called support at the company that makes the transducer shield and saver products.

http://www.transducershieldandsaver.com/home/.   Although it wasn't listed on their website, they had an adapter pieces that
they sell that would have worked perfectly and exactly with my desired transducer and mounting it to my model of jacking plate.

Their product is lighter, as good if not better than what I built, cost less than half what I paid, and would not have required the many, many, many, many hours
that I spent designing, fabricating, modifying and installing my custom made solution.

Here's the long version for anyone who wants to hear the story.
I can also try to get a few photos to post of my work.
It's sturdy, and doesn't look bad, but it definitely looks home-made.   :'(

---------------------
My journey.... 

I was having a hard time finalizing a good design creating or using plastic brackets and connecting them to the side imaging transducer to both reinforce
the mounting and to allow me to mount it to the bottom of my jacking plate where it would be under the plate and out of the way of the engine and any obstructions,
and

With many of the ideas I considered, I  was afraid of interfering with the side-imaging signal.

So, I ended up building a prototype out of cardboard and masking tape, using it as a pattern to create a design,
and drawing plans to-scale for a machine shop to custom cut the pieces, drill some of the holes for me, and put a required 90 degree bend
in one of the pieces to make one part a custom-shaped L bracket. 

Because I was concerned about strength,  I choice to use 3/8 stainless steel.   I had lost my original side-imaging transducer (this is before HB improved
the design of the transom mount), so I was determined create a design that not only worked, but would also protect the the transducer
so that I wouldn't have to replace it ever again!

 The machine shop laser-cut the pieces based on my drawings that had all of the pieces drawn to scale with markings
on where to drill and with the parts laid out so as to minimize waste

I purchased over a dozen stainless steel bolts with SS washers, lock washers and 2 nylon-locking nuts for each bolt.

I spent hours drilling 1/4" holes in 3/8" stainless steel.   It's a lot tougher than I expected, and I ended up buying two different special drill bits at a cost
of about $20 each in order to get the job done. 

Even then, and even using cutting oil on the holes, and/or water to cool the metal and bits as I drilled, it took me hours and lots of muscle fatigue
to get the job done.  (Maybe I should have paid the machine shop to drill all of the holes... but I had to pay per hole and it wasn't cheap, so I thought I'd save some
money!).

I spent even more time assembling, bolting, drilling a handful of holes in my aluminum jacking plate (very easily, for a change!), and making a few minor adaptations to overcome the mistake in my design pattern. (I didn't account for the 3/8" thickness of the metal at the place where I had a 90 degree bend, because the cardboard mark up had almost no thickness.  However, when I bent the 3/8" steel at 90 degrees, the thickness of the steel itself caused a few holes and the size and shape of a few pieces to be off by about 3/8"... more ore less!!)

In the end, I produced an over-built, time consuming, too-expensive bracket (although it is built like a tank!), that cost me over $350 for the materials and machine
shop work, while  I feel that the "transducer saver" solutions are just as good if not better than my setup, look more professional, cost less than half what I spent, and
would not have required 10's and 10's of hours of my design, shop, build, drill, adapt and install time!

Here's a photo.  I sprayed everything with black plasti-dip... just because I could!  ;D
ila_rendered

Also, I embarked on this journey because the website for the manufacture of the transducer saver didn't list parts to exactly fit mounting my transducer on my jack plate,
so I thought I had no choice other than to make my own bracket.  Initially, I thought it would be easy and save me money. 

About half-way through working on my own custom mount, I EMAILED the transducer saver folks using the contact us link on their web site.

Here's what transpired....

ME:
 
Quote
Subject       L-Bracket for CMC Jack plate?
Message       I have a CMC Hydraulic 5 1/2" PL-65 Jack plate, and would like to mount a TM-HD SI bracket to the jack plate.
Do you sell any L Brackets to do this or have any suggestions on if and how it can be accomplished.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

-Philip


Them:

Quote
From:  info@transducershieldandsaver.com
Subject: Re: Transducer Shield and Saver.com L-Bracket for CMC Jack plate?

Do you already have our TM-HDsi transducer shield ($79.95)? If not, you
will need that to hold the transducer. The shield then mounts to the jack
plate.

If the sides of your jack plate are ridged/stepped up you will need our
LB-CMC-8-5.5 with 1 1/2"spacers ($64.95).

If the sides of the jack plate are flat, you will need the same bracket
but with 1" spacers.

What is the make and model of your boat? Do you have power poles/tallons?

Also, please verify which transducer you have.

Sincerely,
Vickie
Product Innovations Inc
Home of Transducer Shield & Saver



 So I found out that they had an extra adapter that would make everything work perfectly on my setup... and the cost was under 200 bucks! ...

 but by then I had already spent almost $200 on my design, and had invested enough money and time that I didn't want to talk away from the project.

So here's what I would suggest based on my experience...   if you want a good, secure mount for your transducer, look at the transducer saver.

If you don't see exactly what you need, contact them and ask!  If I had done that I would have saved a lot of money and even more time!    ;D ;D ;D

Offline rnvinc

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2015, 12:26:49 AM »
I think fabrication is way more self-gratifying than buy and install ...

I tear apart nearly everything I buy just to say I did ...(just look at my xducer install in my avatar) ...

Rickie
« Last Edit: April 29, 2015, 12:32:51 AM by rnvinc »

Offline ITGEEK

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Re: What kind of plastic is the Transducer made from? (XTM-9-HDSI-180-T)
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2015, 12:52:04 PM »
Hey Philip,
As a fellow tinkerer, I have to say that your transducer bracket does look extremely strong.  It looks like it would knock down a stump. :)
It will survive much more impact than a factory made transducer saver.
Factory made stuff is built with cost-savings in mind.
I would not feel bad about the time and money invested.
The time spent building that transducer was better spent than sitting
around watching TV.
It works, and nobody else can get one exactly like the one you have.
If somebody asks you about it, tell them, "I built that myself", and
be very proud of it.
It's because of guys like you, that we have cars, trucks, buses, trains, and airplanes.
« Last Edit: April 29, 2015, 12:57:07 PM by ITGEEK »


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