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2007 Montauk 170--routing SONAR transducer cable

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 11:07 am
by jheiii
Hi all,

Per the Boston Whaler manual for a 170 MONtAUK, it appears the factory wants you to drill a hole in the transom, then route the transom mount transducer cable through that hole you drilled, into the chase pipe and ultimately into the console. The plug end on this Totalscan transducer is all of 1 inch. Trying to see if there are any tips on how to run it into the console before I dig in.

For ground and 12V, factory manual says to run the ground to the ground bus bar and the 12V to the Main 30 amp fuse. Would installing a Blue Sea fuse panel, running 12-Volts for the Blue Sea fuse panel to the common post on the Perko 1/2/Off/Both battery selector switch make more sense?. Going to be adding the VHF, chartplotter, and bluetooth dongle at this point, but the Bluetooth dongle gets its power on from the radio amplifier, so the fuse box is really just for VHF and chartplotter.

Thanks for any insight and tips--Joseph

transom.jpg
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Re: Any tips on routing a transducer cable - 2007 Montauk 170?

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 12:52 pm
by Phil T
I would NOT drill a hole. Holes in a whaler are bad.

Use a Sternsaver for mounting the 'ducer. The inventor solicited Whaler owners feedback prior to introduction.
http://sternsaver.com

Go up and over the transom. Use 2 clips (seal the screws)
Pull the cable through the rigging tunnel from the rear.

Re: Any tips on routing a transducer cable - 2007 Montauk 170?

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 1:13 pm
by jimh
As Phil did, I recommend routing the transducer cable over the transom. I do not like to captivate any cables by passing them through holes in the transoms. Nor would I pass the cable through a transom splash well drain hole that was already in place.

For a mounting location, the diagram you included (above) shows a suggested location for the transducer. You mention the transducer will be a TotalScan model. That transducer offers side-scan SONAR, so its mounting location should be chosen to give an equally good view for the signals to both Port and Starboard sides of the hull. You also don't want the engine to be blocking the path. For those reasons, I recommend you experiment with the mounting location in a temporary manner before permanently affixing the transducer to the transom. Also, consult the owner's manual for the SONAR for further advice and details on the best location.

Phil's recommendation of the Transom Saver intermediate mounting plate may be a good one to follow. Boats with transom mounted transducers tend to accumulate several extra holes from transducer mounts that were for old transducers or present transducers that did not work well in their first (or second) positions on the transom.

I am not familiar with what other rigging is already in place in the rigging tunnel. Try to keep the new SONAR cable isolated as much as possible from any existing cables already in the tunnel. I have seen electrical interference being introduced into the SONAR when the cable from the transducer is run in a tight bundle with other cables carrying various electrical signals; that particularly occurred with an older engine, which had a rather high-voltage circuit (for the lanyard safety switch) that carried pulsating DC in proportion to engine RPM.

I would expect that a 2007 170 MONTAUK boat would already have a secondary power distribution panel available in the console. The 12-Volt negative circuit for the SONAR can connect to the secondary panel negative bus. (Note that in the drawing the term "buss" is used. A "buss" is a kiss. A "bus" is a common point in an electrical circuit where several conductors are fastened.) For the positive circuit you can connect the fused 12-Volt positive lead to the 12-Volt circuit from the battery that supplies the secondary panel, or perhaps you can use an existing secondary circuit with a circuit breaker that might be available, sometimes labeled "ACCY" or something similar.

If you decide to install another secondary power distribution panel, the products of BLUE SEA SYSTEMS are a good choice. Get a fuse panel with its own negative bus included, and buy the clear cover for it, too. See:

https://www.bluesea.com/products/5025/ST_Blade_Fuse_Block_-_6_Circuits_with_Negative_Bus_and_Cover

Re: 2007 Montauk 170--routing SONAR transducer cable

Posted: Mon May 21, 2018 1:55 pm
by jheiii
Phil and Jim, thank you. Yes, I agree and would much prefer to not drill any holes, especially ones all the way through the transom. We're on the same page, I will route it over the transom. Jim, thanks for the link to the 6 circuit fuse block with negative bus bar and Phil, thanks for the link to the stern saver!