Question on exposed hole after taking screw out

[viper1216]

I have a new Raymarine Axium unit that I installed with a new Transducer. Everything works great when I am at no wake speed. But as soon as I hit the gas, I lose my depth reading. I contacted Raymarine and they advised that I need to drop the transducer down a little. I have scuba gear, so no big deal to jump in the water and do this. Where I have a concern, is the top screw for the transducer mount. The mount has 3 holes, like a triangle. The 2 on the side are on slides, so I can just loosen a little and slide the bracket down. But the third screw on the top is just a normal mounting hole. So when I take that out and drop the mount down, that hole will still be there. The screw was originally coated with 5200 as were all of them. But I'm concerned leaving that small screw hole in the hole. Is there anything I can put in there that would dry under water? Am I worrying more about it than I need to? Thanks!!!!

 

[dingbat]

I would venture to guess improperly sealed transducer holes are the leading cause of premature transom failure.

Flat head screw, marine epoxy and a top coat of MarineTex is the proper way to fill the hole

 

[lineman09]

i would slightly drill the hole out so apoxy can completely fill the hole then seal it off

 

[mr 88]

i would slightly drill the hole out so apoxy can completely fill the hole then seal it off

Uhhh , the boat is in the water , pretty sure that's why he mentioned scuba gear. The only way to do it properly without compromising your transom is to pull the boat . IF it has to be taken out with a lift , you pay for that service , 2-300 or pay a lot more if you do it in the water , as now you have introduced water into the transom.

 

[Alumarine]

Is the transducer on a bracket that's attached to the transom?
If so, can you remove the transducer without leaving exposed holes?
Then you could mount the transducer in the bilge if it's fiberglass.

 

[viper1216]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately as Mr. 88 mentioned, the boat is in the water and will be for the remainder of the summer/fall. So sounds like I'm kinda screwed here. Alumarine, yes the transducer is mounted to a bracket. Held in by bolts on either side so I can take it off if needed. However, the type of transducer it is requires it to be installed outside the boat. They had the thru-hull type, but they were extremely expensive. Plus it is all wired in. So to move it would require me to take out the unit from the dash and run the wire back out. Not an easy task. I think I will try to loosen the transducer in the mount and maybe tilt it one way or the other and see if that works at all without having to remove the bracket. If that doesn't work, maybe I can just get a piece of flat steel for each side and extend it down a bit that way until I get it out of the water.

 

[Alumarine]

If tilting doesn't help could you "extend" the current bracket somehow without removing it from the transom?

 

[viper1216]

If tilting doesn't help could you "extend" the current bracket somehow without removing it from the transom?

Yep. That's exactly what I'm thinking.