Who installed your Fish Finder

[ThaiNinh]

Hello just wondering who installed your fish finders into your boat. I am buying a newer one and really want it done right. I am mechanically able to install it myself if had to but have only worked on cars and not boats. Can someone point me in the right direction or should I just get a shop to do it. If a majority of ya'll have installed it yourselves then I am very confident I can do it myself. Thank you in advance.

[Ebiz]

Try giving the guys over at Dan's Southside in Bloomington a call

[Nick Kuhn]

It isn't difficult at all. If you can operate a drill and a screwdriver, you can install your own fishfinder. Deciding where to position the transducer is the trickiest part. Find a spot where the water comes off the bottom of the boat smoothly (away from ribs or hull steps). Then take the transducer assembly and trace it out at the appropriate height. Drill two small holes. Use a marine grade silicon (I put some in the hole and some on the screws) and mount the transducer assembly. If you drilled the proper size hole, it will be pretty difficult to get the screws started, but after the first few threads they'll go in pretty easy. The rest is just running the wires (which is every bit as frustrating as running chassis wiring in a car).

[solbes]

I've installed two. Mechanically the only thing you are looking at is installing the transducer and installing the graph mount. The main thing is making sure you use good stainless hardware to mount the transducer bracket into the transom. Also use plenty of marine grade silicone (below the water line type) inside the hole and around the bracket to prevent ANY water intrusion. If you have a glass boat, I do not have any experience with the through the hull type transducer, but I doubt this is much more involved.

Then it's just a matter of running the transducer cable and hooking up your power source. Simple electrical tools for this. You just want to make sure you run off your starting battery or a dedicated electronics battery, not the trolling batt. If you can hook into a master switch circuit, you have less concerns with running your battery down by forgetting to shut off your graph.

Ram mounts are a great way of mounting the unit itself. Makes them infinitely adjustable for position and they can be removed in a snap. I find working on boats to be one of my favorite off season pastimes.

[jwhjr]

As others have stated, you should be able to do it yourself.

[ThaiNinh]

Thanks to all that replied. I am even more confident now that you guys assured me that it is pretty simple. I was a auto tech for about 6 years but for some reason the transition to marine stuff kinda scares me. Maybe it's just me, but I even had to do some research to install my 4 rod holders. That by far should have been simple. But its my first boat and I am just a little scared of it. But thanks to ya'll I am excited to work on it from now on. Thank you

[PerchJerker]

The toughest part is usually running the transducer cable and the power wires, especially in boats with limited or no access. After the wires and cables are run, the rest is just simple connections and mounting. Just make sure you get it in the right spot the first time so you don't have extra holes in your boat.

[ThaiNinh]

I have heard of interference happening sometimes. To minimize this how far should i have my transducer wire from the power cable. As in would it be okay as long as I don't bundle them together.

[walleyemaniac]

Just try and keep it away from the main motor wiring as much as you can. That's what I've found has the most interferance, if any. Another thing before you mount your transducer, think about mounting a transducer board first, so if you have to move the transducer or go to a different style you don't have a bunch of holes clear thru your transom. Then your going to have to worry about keeping the old ones from leaking.

[BoxMN]

Amen to walleyemaniac - install a plastic/poly board to your transom first, then attach the xducer mount to that. You can adjust if you have to without drilling more holes in your hull, and also use it again for next one, or additional one

We run a direct power wire to our locators right from the battery, rather than connecting it to a spare or "aux" connection at the console, etc. I highly recommend using a small bus at the battery, but you don't have to, just use a ring and make sure to use proper fuse. We also have went away from the glass fuses and use the mini ATF (?) or whatever it is called, auto fuse.

Another tip is that when you pull the wire through, tape a string to it and pull that through and cavities/tubes/gunwales/etc. too, and just leave the string lay for the next time when you need to string something else. Makes it very easy, especially if you have wide gunwales that are hard to fish wires through.

Good luck, and you can certainly do it yourself.

[katophil]

I'm over ten myself

[Tom7227]

Where are you going to mount the unit? You should consider using one of the mounting systems that allows you to swivle the device so you can change the position and angle to maximize your ability to see it when you're driving, and then be able to swivel it if you change positions to fish. I can't remember the name of the devices that you need but someone will pipe up with the answer. Don't worry too much about interference. The lines are shielded so unless you really screw up it won't be an issue.

[Tom7227]

Johnny Ray mounts is what I was thinking of. A device mounted solid on the boat that has a ball on top and then there's a jobber do that connects it to the unit that allows you to swivel it around.

[Northlander]

Use a RAM or Johny Ray type mount but make sure wherever you put it has enough backing under it so it doesnt crack the dash or wherever your putting it. If it doesnt have good wood than mount as big of a plate as you can under to make it tuffer and sturdier.