Mount Plate on Aluminum hull

[Avalonjohn44]

I have a aluminum Tracker 190TX that I'm getting ready to remove my stock Lowrent DS Fish finder and put on a Helix 7SI with the HD Transducer. Since the mounting holes for the transducer don't match up (and since I am slightly terrified of drilling holes into my new boat) I've mostly decided on using a mounting block/plate.

 

Since I don't want to put more holes in the boat, I want to epoxy the plate in place rather than screw it to the hull. Is this feasible as a long term solution or should I man up and just screw it down?

 

Second question, if epoxy is a good idea, do I need to rough up the paint first, or just go ahead and glue it down?

 

As another poster wisely said:

Thank you in advance everyone and Wayne.

 

[Wayne P.]

Epoxy is somewhat OK if both surfaces are properly prepared. THEN you attach a tether to the mount plate in case the epoxy fails so you don't loose your transducer and plate.

 

I would not trust just epoxy. That is used for installation of shoot-thru transducers and they come loose sometimes. The hull will expand and contract with temp changes and the epoxy/plate won't be doing that at the same rate. That doesn't even include hull flex due to shock loads on the trailer and the water.

 

[Avalonjohn44]

Looks good.

9 minutes ago, Wayne P. said:

I would not trust just epoxy.

 

That is what I was afraid of. I guess its time to put on my big boy pants and just drill into it. I don't trust the local shop marine shop to do the installation based on online reviews, and my BPS is a two+ hour drive one way which is a big PIA considering that this is something that I should be able to do.

 

Thanks Wayne, as always you guided me in the right direction...

 

 

 

[12poundbass]

What I did and I'm sure you could do it with the block. I predrilled my holes and then put silicone in the holes then install the transducer and have never had issues. What I'd do is the same thing plus run a bead of silicone around the back of the block and should be worry free for years.