New transducer - thru hull vs. in hull-gctid382541

[Guest]

All - I have a 2859 with two thru-hull transducers glassed in - one fed a Horizon depthsounder and the other a Sitex Fishfinder. Both transducers are now dead (one long passed, the other recently) and I need to replace one so I am going for the fishfinder. Here's the question: As I research new fishfinders, their transducers seem to be exclusively "in hull" or transom mounted. Are these mounts as reliable as a thru hull? I assumed I would have to haul her out and cut the old one out and glass a new one in. In Hull would make this project a lot easier! Any advice is welcome.

[boatworkfl]

With a good transducer in hull will work just fine if you follow the directions, but, a thru hull will provide better performance, some will disagree, but, not according to Airmar.

You may want to remove the old transducer, your choice.

If installing a new transducer thru hull, buy the fairing for it, not expensive, it will move the transducer down slightly and be contoured to the hull for a straight down look.

[2850Bounty]

There is "Thru Hull" and "In Hull". Some confuse the two.

Your 28 footer is well deserving of a true Thru Hull transducer, IMO.

[Guest]

I guess the proper term would be 'shoot through hull' meaning mounted inside the hull with the beam travelling through the bottom of the boat.

In any case, shoot through hull is perfectly fine and my preference. I stay away from depths that are marginal - I get nervous and bail when I see less than three times my draft, so I don't expect or need pin-point precision. Any time my signal drops out because I'm going too fast I'm always in very deep water anyway.