Transducer placement on your Grady 330?

[slimjim7]

Currently my boat has a transom mount transducer -- but I am planning to upgrade anyways. Grady recommended a shoot-through transducer first, and a transom mount second.

Can anyone provide practical examples of your transducer experience on the 330?

Thanks!

 

[DennisG01]

I can't give specifics on your 330 as I'm not familiar with it. But I can give you some info regarding boats, in general, and that can easily be extrapolated to your boat. Yes, a shoot-thru will be superior to a transom mount. Actually, a through-hull is even better, but I believe (and this is where I'm not sure regarding your boat) the 330 uses a solid (no core), single hull (some boats use an "inner liner" and have difficulty using a shoot-thru) and a shoot thru would work just fine. The shoot thru has no chances of getting fouled from either lines, weeds or growth. There's no chance of it "kicking up", either. As long as you place it correctly (away from strakes), you should also get better readings since there will be cleaner water there, as opposed to off the transom.

 

[wspitler]

The transducer on my 2007 330 is starboard side aft, just outboard of the generator seacock. Maybe 2 feet off the keel. It is a through hull 1K Airmar and works great under all conditions. 330 hulls are solid below the waterline, so a cored hull is not a problem from a "shoot thru" standpoint. I have a shoot thru in my 210 Scout which is a cored hull and found a solid spot in the cored hull that Scout told me about. They put a seacock in that spot for some installs and it has epoxy between the outer shells. If you go with a shoot thru, would not be my choice, but I tested my shoot thru by putting it where I thought it would be solid, held it down with a weight on top, enough water in the bilge to cover the transducer and observed the performance at various speeds. It worked good at all speeds so I installed it permanently. One warning with a shoot thru, make certain you fill the cavity with antifreeze and seal it good. Once it leaks, even a little, the transducer will not work. Good luck!

 

[ElyseM]

2009. m260 in the bilge starboard side between stringer and bulkhead. attached to gsd 22. works fine for me. good luck, ron

 

[PaulBoat]

I have a 370 express and I installed an in-hull "shoot thru" transducer and I'm very happy with it. We placed it mid-ship in an area that David Neese (GW VP of Eng.) had recommended. I think there's a similar spot on the 330. Just outside the door to the head in the cabin, there's a plate in the floor that's screwed in (at least it's there on the 370). Unscrew the plate and there should be an empty compartment. I had to cut the opening a bit larger to fit a big 2 kw ducer.

It has worked great in all conditions even running at 30 knots in bumby seas. Here's a little clip from a couple of days ago. As you can tell from the video it was bumpy but I never lost bottom. I was out to 800' but the video is around 500'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur5BiyAgMeA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[grady33]

I've got a 600 watt flush tranducer in the bilge area midship. I'm considering switching to a 1,000 watt mounted in the stern where I have a temp sensor/tranducer. I fish in 120-2,000 feet of water and now you got me thinking 2,000 watt. Anyone else upgrade to a 1,000 or 2,000 and (if so) was it a big improvement?

 

[PaulBoat]

I ran the boat to the Bahamas yesterday from south FL. Tracked bottom the entire way across at 30 knots - inlet to inlet. Could never do that on my old boat with a 1kw (non chirp).