Airman transducer install advice with bravo 3

[boatrboy]

I received a Garmin 741xs and an Airmar p66 transducer for my birthday. I am installing it and noticed that the instructions show a picture of a prop turning clockwise from the rear view and they mount the transducer to the right (starboard side) of the transom in their installation instructions. They state that the prop should be pushing water down in front of the transducer. Here is my concern - a bravo 3 front prop turns counter clockwise. That means water would be being lifted if I mounted it as shown in directions. My feeling is that with the concept of pushing water down in front of the transducer it should be mounted to the left of the prop (port side of transom).
I looked at pictures of installs here including Neha... And they are all to the right. Am I over thinking this or does it even matter - or are bravo three's different. Garmin support did not understand what a Bravo
3 was so they were no help.
Anybody have experience with this setup?
Thanks,
Mark

 

[NickBOE]

You are over thinking it. The prop is behind the transducer anyway, but if you can stay 20" away from it I think you won't have any problems. If you are unsure post a picture of your transom and I'll let you know.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I agree. Overthinking it. Install it to the right and go have fun. I work at a Sea Ray dealership (kinda nice!) and we ALWAYS install them to the right.

 

[boatrboy]

Geez - I looked here too late
I even called Airmar and they they said they never really were asked that question but my logic seemed sound.
That's what happens when a mechanic turns engineer....
I just finished mounting it to the left of the drive. I hope it is not a bad thing
Nick- I was going to call Boe but I felt bad that my family did not purchase it from Jim
Dennis - thanks for the input as always - I hope I did not make a mistake after reading that you ALWAY mount them to the right....
I will report back after I launch it next week

 

[boatrboy]

So here is a picture of my installation. I will launch this weekend and see how it works.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I'm sure it will be OK there. It's not that it "can't" be mounted on the port - just that it's "preferred" on the stbd.

 

[Amberjack_Jae]

Ok.. so I have a question for you Lazy Daze, I have a Simrad GO7 XSE with the Total Scan Transducer...Everything works fine, until I am on plane. At that time I lose depth and sometimes speed. I have tried to readjust it several times, but haven't been able to find that sweet spot yet. Any ideas??
Oh I guess it would help if I told you what it was on...a 2000 Sea ray 290 AJ. with twin 5.0's and bravo IIIs the transducer is mounted between the outdrives. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

 

[Lazy Daze]

Ok.. so I have a question for you Lazy Daze, I have a Simrad GO7 XSE with the Total Scan Transducer...Everything works fine, until I am on plane. At that time I lose depth and sometimes speed. I have tried to readjust it several times, but haven't been able to find that sweet spot yet. Any ideas??
Oh I guess it would help if I told you what it was on...a 2000 Sea ray 290 AJ. with twin 5.0's and bravo IIIs the transducer is mounted between the outdrives. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Obviously I can only guess here. But the most common thing would be that the ducer is losing good contact with smooth water. That could be from being mounted too high, or from turbulent water flowing off the transom chine. Take a look under the hull and see if the hull is all clear ahead of the ducer... factory ducer, for example? The best thing would be to put a camera on a stick so you could see what is happening.

 

[boatrboy]

Update;
After three trips using the boat I will say that the sonar seems to be working fine while running. The depth readings seem fine and while watching the sonar screen is quite new to me it appears to be working.
The one concern I have is yesterday the tide was so low at my slip (1 foot below normal) before I started the boat I noticed I did not have any reading on depth. After the tide rose another foot, it worked fine all day. The water at my slip is really dirty so I wonder if that had something to do with it?

 

[Lazy Daze]

Very soft bottom can cause problems for transducers - the signal doesn't bounce back well. Very shallow depth can also sometimes cause issues. A sonar simply works by sending out a sound and measuring the amount of time it takes for the sound to bounce back.

 

[boatrboy]

Very soft bottom can cause problems cor transducers - the signal doesn't bounce back well. Very shallow depth can also sometimes cause issues. A sonar simply works by sending out a sound and measuring the amount of time it takes for the sound to bounce back.

That's was what I was hoping. I just came from boat and sonar is working at dock with a higher tide.
Thanks