Topic: Sanity check on my transducer placement - Helix 5 DI GPS

[turbovsix]

Hey folks -

First post on the boards - looking forward to learning a lot!  Picked up a Helix 5 DI GPS to replace my low dollar sonar that came stock on my Crestliner Kodiak 16.  I've attached a pic and am looking for a quick sanity check here.  If you look at my transducer plate, on the left side of the plate closest to the motor you'll see where I plugged two holes that were used to mount my Lowrance unit.  My opinion was that this was too close to the motor to avoid turbulence from the prop, so when mounting my DI transducer, I moved it further to the right.

***Note, I have the transducer flipped up right now as I'm letting the sealant on the screws cure, so it's not snapped in which is why it is at an odd angle***

Anyway, when it's flipped down, the hull more or less splits the seem of the transducer, and it's not behind any planing strakes or rivets (welded hull), and to my eyes, it sits perfect.  Question is more on the distance to the right that I moved the mount.  Obviously, it's a deep v, so I just wanted to make sure it was still cool to move it over those four or five inches towards the right. The manual gave a minimum measurement that it should be placed away from the prop, and I achieved that - just wanted to get another pair of eyes on it. 

So, it's not too far over, correct?  Hull has a 6 degree deadrise so it only ended up being an inch or two higher than the lowerance transducer was.  I wasn't too worried about an on plane reading as much as I was making sure I was free of turbulence from the prop.

Again, sanity check here -

BTW, love the Helix 5 unit!

Thanks in advance for the opinions -

Rich Cabelo

[rnvinc]

The minimum 15" distance in the installation manual applies only to outdrive boats with the prop in front of the xducer ...

Outboard setups only need clearance for the motor to turn full lock without hitting the xducer ...and enough distance to the side to not create turbulence flowing into the prop to allow the prop to "spinout" ...

Your new position will be fine as long as the xducer is actually in clean bubble free water at all speeds you expect readings ...

Rickie

[turbovsix]

Thanks for the sanity check Rickie -

Yeah, should be turbulence free - no planing strakes, no rivets to deal with, flat bottom on the hull with no protrusions and what not, etc. 

[MadCatter]

One thing to consider is the direction that the prop spins. If it spins clockwise going forward then you want the transducer mounted to the right side of the motor. Opposite if the prop spins ccw.

The prop will create turbulence as it spins on the upward side of the prop. This will affect image quality.  I learned the hard way on that one...

[Landry]

I have an aluminum deep v and I scoured the net for transducer pics and laboured over location. I ended up putting mine in the same plCe as yours. I get perfect images on both sides.

[turbovsix]

Thanks for all the replies guys -

Yeah, mounted on the starboard side is correct since its a clockwise prop rotation, so I'm good there.

Can't wait to put it on the water in April.  Hopefully the mess I made out of installing the bracket won't come back to haunt me (sometimes my ocd gets in the way of doing things the easy way).  Since my transducer plate is pretty thin, and due to the thickness and design of the humminbird bracket, I ended up using the longer screws that humminbird supplies because I didn't think the shorter screws would provide enough holding power, which obviously required me to drill through the plate and into the transom (which, on my boat that close to the bottom, there's no plywood).  Not a big deal - not the first time I've installed stuff like this, but when I sunk the screws the first time, I used a type of silicone that I wasn't really happy with.  So I backed out the screws and then used 5200.  Natch, still had some silicone residue in the holes after I applied the 5200 with a syringe up all the way in the holes.  Now, in my head, I'm going "well that stuff will never set up right and will wash out of the holes".  Sigh, so now I get to worry about it all winter.