GPS Transducer Installation

[lope4946]

Just purchased a Garmin GPS 531S for my 2002 280 DA. This unit comes with an transducer that can either be mounted on the outside of the boat on the transom or epoxied to the bottom of the boat in the engine compartment. Two questions:

1) What is the best way to route the wiring for the transducer from the helm to the engine compartment?

2) Will the transducer work correctly if it is glued or epoxied per the directions to the bottom of the hull or do I need to run it outside the boat and install on the transom? The manufacture directions indicated it can be installed either way.

 

[SeanO]

Great question- I'm in the process of doing this myself. My boat did have a Garmin system and from what I can tell it looks like they may have installed a transducer in the "factory" location in front of the engine. On my boat the stock transducer does not work and there appears to be an extra one attached to the installed transducer. Now I am installing a Hummingbird transducer and the one that came with the system is similiar to yours although I have to believe our hulls are pretty thick and I doubt the results will be great through the hull. That said, I don't want to drill a hole in the transom for the wire!

 

[Nehalennia]

I installed mine on the transom so that I could get temp. I didn't want to drill a through hull and the shoot through doesn't get temp. If you elect to go with the transom mount style, use a forstner bit to drill through. It has a very clean hole.

In the engine bay next to the starboard trim tab

Yes, I cleaned up the 5200

 

[lope4946]

Great pictures of your transom install. Should I choose to go that way, they will be a great help.

Any other suggestions or ideas or how to best route the wire from the helm to the engine compartment on the 280?

 

[Nehalennia]

John
I believe your route will be the same as my 260. You have the catch all drink/map holder next to your helm seat?
If so remove your helm seat(just pull up). Remove the catch all. Behind there you'll see all the wires, hoses, etc coming from the engine bay. There should be a glob of silicone sealing the engine bay from this area. Remove that and make sure you reseal it (CO poisoning). Once the wire is through there you'll be able to route your wires wherever you elect to mount your transducer. I tied all of my cable back with zip ties along the existing wiring routes.

 

[tobnpr]

Personally, I would epoxy it to the bottom of the hull.
Shoot-thru hull installations work great as long as you make sure to get all the air out of the epoxy. Any time you can avoid putting holes in a wood transom it's worth considering. Loss of performance is negligible.

Pick your location carefully, then follow the instructions on the proper method to epoxy it to the hull.

 

[lope4946]

Thanks for all the reply's. I am leaning toward the epoxy method for intallation so I dont have to drill any holes in the boat.

Any 280 owners have any suggestions for running the transducer wire from the helm to the engine compartment?