Is there a way to replace transducer with boat on the water?

S

swordfisherman

New Member
Jul 29, 2011
206
Philippine Islands
Boat Info
2000 mdl, Westerbeke 8.0 genny
Engines
Cat 3126 diesels, 350 hp x 2
Hi folks. I need to replace a thru hull transducer on my 400 sedan bridge. Can it be done while the boat is in the water? Or do i need to haul it out? Thanks.
 
Depends how quick you are....
 
It can be done, but you will get some water in your bilge.
Just need to have the new one ready for a quick swap.
Some types have a flapper built in, so if you had to replace it, it "should" keep out most of the water, IF it works.
Ive done it a couple of times, so it is do-able
Have fun:grin:
 
Go under your boat with a suction cup (large with release, like you might use to hold side of boat) Set cup, pull and replace transducer, release cup. Requires two people
 
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swordfisherman said:
Hi folks. I need to replace a thru hull transducer on my 400 sedan bridge. Can it be done while the boat is in the water? Or do i need to haul it out? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Please make sure you set the video recording before you start................just in case, we will want more than just the story
 
I like the suction cup idea...but I was going to add that you might want to have a crash pump on board plugged into shore power for good measure!

If you don't mind my asking...how much is too much money to haul? $500...$1,000? $2000? Inquiring minds want to know.
 
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It is easy to do of you have a ducer designed to do this. You will either have a flapper valve in the housing or a plug to fill the hole. Water comes in at the rate of perhaps a water fawcet, so it is not like a geiser once you remove the ducer, so there wil be no panic. Do you have a picture of your transducer?
 
IF you put a suction cup over the transducer and remove the transducer the suction cup will lose vacuum and fall off. I don't see how this works. I could see damming up the hole with some saran wrap stretched from one rail of the boat across the hole to the other rail. But who wants to get in the water this time of the year. I think you can swap it quickly though I'd have something ready to plug the hole if it all goes bad. I keep one of these Emergency Plugs on the boat for such occasions. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=495852&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50632&subdeptNum=50646&classNum=50649

Pete
 
Ten Years Gone said:
I like the suction cup idea...but I was going to add that you might want to have a crash pump on board plugged into shore power for good measure!

If you don't mind my asking...how much is too much money to haul? $500...$1,000? $2000? Inquiring minds want to know.
Click to expand...

Almost 1k to put the boat up. They also charge for the blocks like $50 per block, they say i will need 16. To keep it up, ill have to pay $180 a day. It's a floating dry dock used for commercial vessels up to 1000 tons. Thats the closest we have in the area. The next one is in Cebu which is about a 300 Nm away.
 
My transducer is a brass thru hull, the threaded type. Even with the suction cup, I don't think it could be done because i will need to have the cable go thru too. Which means it should go in from the bottom. I will just have to do the dry dock i guess. Thanks anyway for your ideas folks.
 
Another thought was to drive to a sand bar at high tide and wait for low tide and have the boat hanging. But its too much a gamble still.
 
swordfisherman said:
Another thought was to drive to a sand bar at high tide and wait for low tide and have the boat hanging. But its too much a gamble still.
Click to expand...

That would scare me, wouldn't want to be the person under the boat, if it fell to that side.

If you read Jim's post though, 'the water will come in at the speed of a fawcett' so no panic.

I guess make sure that the bilge pumps are operating. The replacement transducer is the correct one.

You could use a suction cup with a handle or similar, from underneath, to stem the flow, between removing the old one and having the new one ready to feed in.

Slip would be safer though


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I guess the first question is what make/model transducer you have, or atleast post apic of the thru hull.
You should not need to pull the boat out of the water, unless you want to.
The thru hull portion is brass, but the transducer should be plastic, that has a screw on cap that has the wires for the ducer running thru it. Unscrew the cap, and pull out the old transducer. Normaly there will be a rubbet flapper in the thru hole that will slow down the flow of water, but it might not work.
There will be water that gets in, but nothing to worry about, you will get more water on you if anything. You just need to have the new transducer ready.
It will be hard to get out at first, but it will come.
If you dont want to do the haul out, call around to your local marine electronic installers and get a quote.
 
u4evaqe9.jpg


My transducer looks like this
 
Looking at that one you will have to haul it out:smt089
Do you know the model or manufacturer
it looks like that this transsducer is one piece at that it is 5200 expoxed in on the water side.
Nomaly you have to loosen the gland nut on the inside, and heat up the expoxy to break the seal, then pry it out.
Depends on how it comes out, you could be looking at additional charges for bottom coat replacement in that area, cause when the ducer comes out, it will take off some bottom paint as well.
Its a PITA.
If it is all one piece, then look into getting one that has a removeable transducer.
We use airmar, but thats just we use, there are others out there
Take it to a full service marina and get a quote for the whole thing.

If you can get me the make / model i will research it for you
 
I know it's expensive, but I would sure hate to get into it and encounter a problem. That type of transducer has to be thread from the bottom. You also want to properly seal it to the hull. For your safety, pull the boat and do it right the first time. Wish it was easier.
 
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