Help! My transducer for fishfinder is not pointing straight down?

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Hi guys!
On the boat that we own, i found out that the transducer is pointing side ways instead of pointing all the way down. (which probably explains why i always see weird stuff like broken sea beds, or no sea beds at all.)
The boat has a v shape hull, and they kind of drilled the transducer into the side of the v-hull.
What can i do??

This boat was gotten 2nd hand.
Thanks!

Oh, its a garmin sonar, if it helps.

✅ Answers

? Best Answer

  • Derrick S is correct but sometimes correcting this is more difficult than you’d think. In the old days you could cut a block of wood and install it outside the hull. Hard wood like teak with sealant between the hull and transducer, then a similar block inside the hull so that the nut compressed the two blocks. If you did it well it worked until someone painter over the transducer. Later there where plastic wedges, that stacked together, but often left it a little crooked. .

    The best method was either a transom mounting bracket. Or the “grease spot method” what you would do is put a big glob is silicone in a good spot on the inside of the hull. Then pressing the transducer into the glob. keeping it vertical. silicone would fill in the gap on the high side.

    If it didn’t work at that spot like you wanted, you could move it by just braking it loose and cleaning it up and then pick a new spot.

    In your case you might need a new transducer.

    There are also lots of other options.

    I’ve seen boats that would outrun their return signal in shallow water.

    I worked on lots of Bayliners so we knew where we got the best results, so a dealer for your boat might be a good place to start.

    Good Luck.

  • What you need to get is a “Fairing Block”. You’ll need to remove the transducer carefully and cut the necessary angle to the fairing block so that the ‘ducer points straight down. Then reseal with a urethane sealant and let cure for 7 days.

  • It doesn’t have to point straight down. The sound pattern is a cone not a laser beam. besides, the boat is never dead upright what with heeling in the wind, waves, and getting up on plane.

    It has to always be underwater, of course, and not sending through cavitation bubbles.

    Mine is flush to the hull on a sailboat, sending through a thick GRP hull with some grease as an impedance matcher, and works fine except maybe when heeled far over on the “wrong” tack. I guess it’s about 30 degrees off vertical

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