I am doing a thru-hull mounted transducer for my kayak. I know it is best to use Marine Goop and a piece of foam with a cutout for the TD to mount it, but will silicone work as well for a temporary application? 

 

I know duct seal is also used with great success, but I have foam and silicone and would rather not have to go buy anything if I don't have to.

 

Just to reiterate, I don't need the silicone to be a 100% permanent application, which is why I am wanting to know if silicone will work for now. 

I've never tried it, but it would probably work, just might reduce the sensitivity a little. It you have a flat bottom transducer and mounting it on a flat surface and keep the silicon paper thin, it will probably work just fine. Silicon being soft, will probably cause a small buffering affect, but that should be minimal with a very thin layer, the buffering should be minimal.

DO NOT use a foam. The air trapped in it would kill a lot of signal. Even small air bubbles trapped in a fiberglass hull can cause problems if you happen to be shooting through them.

I've never tried it, but it would probably work, just might reduce the sensitivity a little. It you have a flat bottom transducer and mounting it on a flat surface and keep the silicon paper thin, it will probably work just fine. Silicon being soft, will probably cause a small buffering affect, but that should be minimal with a very thin layer, the buffering should be minimal.

DO NOT use a foam. The air trapped in it would kill a lot of signal. Even small air bubbles trapped in a fiberglass hull can cause problems if you happen to be shooting through them.

 

The foam I was referencing to is just a piece with the shape of the TD cutout of it. Just to stabilize it and to hole the silicone in one area instead of spreading everywhere.

yeah sure it would work.  pretty much anything that can fasten it to the hull will work but i think you would have a tough time getting silicone to not have any air bubbles.

yeah sure it would work.  pretty much anything that can fasten it to the hull will work but i think you would have a tough time getting silicone to not have any air bubbles.

I messed around with it last night and was able to push the spout down on the surface and squeeze. It all spread out pretty nicely and had no air bubbles in it at all. Hopefully it works. If not, I have an entire tube! haha.

the"glue" to hold down the foam doesn't matter to the TD and the TD does not shoot thru it. The TD is inserted in the pocket which should be cut out on the bottom so the TD has no interference, like thru the foam as mentioned above. The foam "pocket" is filled with water before each use and the TD pushed into the pocket to form a seal which traps the water under it. Silicon will work fine for a temp mount of the foam pocket.