Humminbird Sounder Issue

[squidboy]

I was lucky enough to buy a Humminbird 798cisi some years ago (Excellent product). Since then I sold my boat and my boat dealer fitted my sounder on a Quintrex Top Ender 450.

Since my new boat purchase I have had some transducer problems with the mount popping off or snapping. off This could be because the transducer has not been set up correctly as I have not been in water with much debris. I have had this happen three times on three different settings.

Just wondering whether anyone has the same boat and sounder so I could share how their transducer is setup. It might even be the same on Humminbird and Quintrex boats in general.

I would like the sounder to work properly sounding the bottom at speed and not breaking off.

Another aspect I thought of was how much the boat raises to the plane, could this could also be a factor on my issue.

Any help would be appreciated. I have a few photos below of how it was set up:

Cheers

Squidboy

[2sheds]

Hi Squidboy

This is a common problem with this type of Humminbird mount. The mount is designed to kick up if the transducer hits an object to prevent damage to the transducer. Unfortunately just normal cruising speed in a small chop offshore was enough to cause mine to kick up. I was constantly pushing it back down into position. And after it kicks up the first time the plastic tabs in the mount seem to weaken and even less force is required for it to kick up again until eventually the tabs break. I was replacing mounts every 4-5 months which became a bit exxy. This is compounded by the need for the transducer to be mounted fully in the water flow (ie deep - exactly as the instructions show) for the sounder to work at speed which does expose it to a fair force from the water.

My solution was to drill a small hole through the mount parallel to the stainless steel bolt which is shown in your photos. (Sorry I don't have any photos of mine to post). Through this hole I poked a small cable tie. The cable tie was then looped behind where the mount attaches to the transom and tightened up. I did file a small groove in the back of the mount to enable the cable tie to pass between the mount and the transom. Been going for 3 years now without a problem.

Just another small hint. When the transducer is mounted correctly in the water flow it will send up quite a spray of water onto the side of the outboard. No spray and it is not deep enough. I had to mount an aluminium spray deflector on the transom above the transducer as I was worried about the volume of water hitting the outboard. Available from online boating suppliers for about $25 or thereabouts. Mine will hold the bottom at 20 knots plus in a smallish chop offshore.

Hope this helps

Regards

Twosheds

Edited November 25, 2014 by 2sheds

[squidboy]

Cheers! Back on the water to test soon!