TonyM
17-12-2008, 06:13 PM
A while back I read the responses to Birko's post about Bow mount Transducer placement http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=136981&highlight=BOW+MOUNT+TRANSDUCER and figured it was high time I installed the bow mount sounder in my hornet.
At first I tried the method most seem to use (as pictured in Nagg's response in the above post) and ran the Tranny cable through the coiled wire on the Minnkota. Whilst this worked I have to admit I wasn't happy with the way it bunched up when the motor turns - I have a nasty habit of twisting the coil around the motor until it's almost strangling it!
I figured some kind of a bush on the shaft should allow the cable to stay stationary at the mounting point if the bush can spin on the shaft as the motor turns - in the solution mentioned in the above post the cable is fixed at the top and bottom of the shaft which means the cable twists around both the top and bottom half of the shaft as the motor turns
After a dig around in the workshop I came up with a few bits that I hoped would give me an alternate solution that means the cable gets wrapped around the shaft half as much as it would going via the coil.
I stumbled across a few spools of plumbers tape, one which fit snug on the shaft, the other had a little freeplay in the inside diameter as opposed to the shaft of the minnkota. I cut through one side of the spools with a hacksaw which allowed me to slip them over the shaft, initially I only put one spool on although added another below it to stop the cable snagging on the height adjustment clamp.
A bit of fiddling and I've got it working pretty good! I added a cable tie above the top spool to ensure it spins better. Hopefully the pics explain it better than I have!
Next thing I need to do is find a suitable spring to take up the slack in the cable (thanks for the tip re the spring Nagg!)
Cheers
Tony
At first I tried the method most seem to use (as pictured in Nagg's response in the above post) and ran the Tranny cable through the coiled wire on the Minnkota. Whilst this worked I have to admit I wasn't happy with the way it bunched up when the motor turns - I have a nasty habit of twisting the coil around the motor until it's almost strangling it!
I figured some kind of a bush on the shaft should allow the cable to stay stationary at the mounting point if the bush can spin on the shaft as the motor turns - in the solution mentioned in the above post the cable is fixed at the top and bottom of the shaft which means the cable twists around both the top and bottom half of the shaft as the motor turns
After a dig around in the workshop I came up with a few bits that I hoped would give me an alternate solution that means the cable gets wrapped around the shaft half as much as it would going via the coil.
I stumbled across a few spools of plumbers tape, one which fit snug on the shaft, the other had a little freeplay in the inside diameter as opposed to the shaft of the minnkota. I cut through one side of the spools with a hacksaw which allowed me to slip them over the shaft, initially I only put one spool on although added another below it to stop the cable snagging on the height adjustment clamp.
A bit of fiddling and I've got it working pretty good! I added a cable tie above the top spool to ensure it spins better. Hopefully the pics explain it better than I have!
Next thing I need to do is find a suitable spring to take up the slack in the cable (thanks for the tip re the spring Nagg!)
Cheers
Tony