Solid or cored hull?-A27

[packham]

I am in the process of ordering a transducer and am wondering what type of hull the A27 has...is it a solid fibreglass or cored hull. Thanks, Roger

[hetek]

Hi Roger -

I just replaced the transducer in my 1984 A27 FC last week. It is a thru-hull type located just aft of the battery platform on the port side of the hull. The bottom is solid fiberglass from what I could see.

[packham]

hi hetek, thanks for the info...solid is what i thought also... if your transducer is performing well then it must be a solid hull as apparently the thru-hull transducers don't work well thru a cored hull??

[hetek]

I would have made the same mistake - sorry for not clarifying...

"Thru-hull" means that the transducer mounts through a hole in the hull. The business end is wet in the water.

"In-Hull" is where the transducer is glued to the inner hull surface and shoots through the hull's fiberglass. Yes, you are correct - if there was a cored hull the shoot-through method of the in-hull transducer would not work.

I've had in-hull transducers in boats I've owned in the past but I've never installed them (they were on the boat when I bought it). One I had trouble with so I thought I would try and rebed it in the glue. Found the problem: a large quarter sized air bubble in the old glue. Transducers don't like air bubbles in glue, nor the air cells in the coring material.

[RobS]

You can test a shoot-through transducer in the hull by putting it in a bag of water.

[rwcoulter]

I'm thinking of installing a shoot-thru transducer in the bilge under the standing locker in the main cabin. I already have one mounted at the stern. This would put a second one fairly forward in the boat and be a fairly direct wiring conduit to the helm. Our home port is the 30,000 Islands of Georgian Bay and it's very treacherous with rocks, etc making a stern-mount less than ideal. Any thoughts?

[hetek]

You could try Rob's suggestion by putting the transducer in a bag of water. Then you lay the bag on the hull. Have a helper hold the transducer straight for you, and by that I mean perpendicular to the hull. Simulate the position it will be in when glued in place. I've heard of that trick before but I think I misunderstood it when I tried it. I put the transducer on top of the water bag (a ziplock baggie full of H2O). Rob's way should work better.

Bottom line is you just have to experiment sometimes to find the best placement.