So the other day will I was standing in the garage looking at the kayak I came up with an idea to mount the transducer externally. My idea: I dont ever use the drain plug in the back so why not run the transducer out that and make a mount for it. The size of the drain hole is a 1/2 inch well they dont make anything that would fit in it so I had to come up with something. So today I went to Lowes and picked up some supplies. I got a piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe,an elbow and a cap. I took the PVC pipe and sanded it down enough to where it would fit through the opening. Afterwards I attached the elbow and another piece of PVC that I attached the transducer too. After I ran the wire through the PVC I filled the PVC below the elbow with silicone so it water could not get into the yak. I then inserted everything into the drain opening. Since I sanded down the PVC to get it into the opening I had to wrap electrical tape around it on the inside so the cap would fit on it. I then ran a bead of silicone around where PVC goes into the drain opening so it would be water tight. Here is how everything came out. I will be going out Thursday to try it out. Hopefully it will work or I will put the transducer back in the hull.

Should work fine. I want to mount mine in the hull but because I'm waiting to make sure I know how I want everything before I cut and drill I made one too. I have rod holders in my crate so used the stock ones for the mount. It makes some gurgling noises when your moving fast but it really doesn't affect the tracking that bad. Make sure you seal the inside of the pipe cause it funnels the water up it. Why didn't you like yours mounted in the hull?

I was getting a solid black line till bout 2ft down. That and the water temp was off. Specially when it gets hotter i dont want it reading the hull temp. I also filled the down tube full of silicone.

Looks like a good setup. My only concern would be the risk of damaging the transducer by constantly banging it into stuff, with it being outside the hull and exposed. . Do you think that would be a problem? I saw a Hummingbird unit the other day that is built with an arm that you clamp on the outside of the yak and can remove when not in use. Looks appealing, but I wasn't sure about it being in the way if it's hanging off the side. Will be interested to hear how your trial run goes.

Mine slides in and I remove it when its out of the water and I'm storing it. As for impact damaging it I dont think its much of a problem. It's a Hummingbird and they make a trolling motor mount for it and thats a lot harder on them. Only problem I've seen is it will tangle with my drift sock. It could be a problem with anchor lines or even your fishing line if you really have a fight with a monster.

im not worried at all bout the transducer getting messed up as stoddh said. Only problem I think im gonna have is it coming out of the drain hole. I put silicone around it to hopefully help hold it in but I dont think that is gonna do it. Im going to take some super glue with me and if it does come out Ill put a few drops on it which should do the trick.

I use one of these, liberator if it gets kicked up I can pull in the transducer arm and fix it rather than having to deal with a false reading behind me that I would have to get out of the boat to correct. It is a bit more costly to do this way but I have it on a ram mount and can use one depth finder for all of my kayaks.

Yea, I'm in the process of pulling mine out of the inside of the yak and making a bracket to but on the rear.
I was out fishing this weekend and looked down to see what the water temp was. I saw this.................


Now for some reason I'm doubting the accuracy of the unit a little.

I guess the inside of the hull was pretty warm.

Anyway I picket up some aluminum stock and started bending tonight.

Everyone may already know this, but a guy at Austin canoe and kayak told me if you have a mirage drive, it's a good idea to have the transducer ahead of the drive. Otherwise the water disturbance caused by the mirage fins, and even air bubbles caused by them, can interfere with the transducer readings.

Can you order the liberator straight from them? If not where is a good place to order one?? Thanks!

When I had mine mounted in hull it was ahead of the drive and I still got interference.

Here's a Malibu Stealth with humminbird side view setup.

http://www.kayaksportfishing.com/phpBB2/...3ec6b937f16a7c0

External Transducer



Right under the seat.